Beginner Corsetry:
-shapes
-patterns
-fabrics
-hardware
-construction
-lacing
Drafting an Underbust Corset:
~Type One~
-measurements
-calculations
-drafting instructions
~Type Two~
-measurements
-calculations
-drafting instructions
Lacing Your Corset
Once your grommets or eyelets are made and your corset is completed you are ready to lace up your corset. There are many different ways to lace up a corset, but they all work on the same idea. A cord is passed through a ring or eyelet and used to hold the two edges of the corset together. What type of lacing you use depends on many things: how historically authentic you want your corset to be, whether it has a front opening or not, how often you want to re-tighten your laces, whether you want your lacing even down the entire corset or you want a tighter pull in one area such as the waist, and whether or not anyone will be around to assist you in lacing up your corset. Some of these factors point only to one form of lacing, while some just help to eliminate kinds.
Most
beginners will try to lace their corset with a style I call shoe lacing.
Everyone knows how to do it; it’s how we lace tennis shoes. The
problem with shoe lacing is that the cords pass between the two sides
of the corset as they go from top to bottom, which means the corset can’t
be tightened until the sides close. The shoe lacings also cross each other
with every pass, so friction between the laces where they rub makes it
harder to tighten the laces. This has another advantage, though, in that
the harder it is to tighten the laces, the harder it is for the corset
to pull the laces looser. You will have to re-tighten the cords on this
corset less often than other lacings. It is also better for a corset where
you wish to have tighter spots and looser spots because the crosses will
help keep the tension in the areas you tighten.
An
easy variation on shoe lacing is cross lacing. They look very similar,
but in cross lacing the cords stay on the top or bottom and don’t
pass between the two sides of the corset so the corset can be tightened
until it is closed. The cords still cross each other with every pass,
so the lacing is tight and stays tight, and can be varied along the length
of the corset.
If
you are lacing the corset yourself it can be hard to get tight, even laces
and tie off without loosing your tension. One of the ways corsetieres
have found to counter this problem is a special lacing system I call self-lacing.
It is very similar to cross lacing, but it has pull handles at the waist
to tighten the tension and tie off. An additional bonus is that lacing
will stay the tightest at the point you tie the knot, so if you are wearing
your corset for waist reduction it is to your advantage to tie the knot
at your waist.
Some
people claim that self-lacing gaps at the ties and offers less waist support,
so they use self lacing with a cross, which is almost the same, but the
ties are crossed on the waist. This can be confusing if you’re trying
to tighten your laces yourself, though, because pulling on the top of
the loop tightens the bottom of the corset, so it takes time to get used
to.
If
you are doing a historical piece, look into spiral and ladder lacing.
Both were very common before Victorian times, and reproduction pieces
can look inaccurate with other lacings. Both kinds of lacing are done
with one cord tied off to the top or bottom of the corset, then laced
to the other end, where the cord is tied to itself or tied off against
a short tie sewn to that end of the corset. These laces are easy to do
up yourself. Since there is only one cord to tighten it is less confusing.
These laces rarely cross, however, so they don’t stay as tight over
time. Some people make up for this by using a double ladder lacing instead
of ladder lacing. Because the laces cross in numerous places, even lying
against each other on each rung, it’s very secure and stays tight
for long. I haven’t any evidence of it being historically accurate,
but it looks very close. Also, the two cords allow you to tie off on the
cords without sewing an additional piece to the corset. Another disadvantage
to spiral lacing is that it has to be planned for before the grommets
are set. Unlike other lacings, spiral lacing holes don’t match on
each side. They are equally offset from each other so that when the laces
tighten the tops and bottoms are even. If you try to lace a normally spaced
set of holes with spiral lacing, the even tension will pull one of the
sides up and push the other one down so that the top and bottom edges
don’t meet. If you’re going for a more historical look but
forgot to space your lacing out, try using ladder lacing, which requires
commonly-set holes. Some people prefer a tighter fit than spiral or ladder
lacing gives, so they use a double ladder lacing, which is essentially
a ladder lacing done twice with two laces. The friction of the two laces
rubbing against eachother makes it much harder to tighten, and therefore
much harder for the laces to loosen during wearing, but still gives the
wearer a historical look.
The
last kind of lacing is most commonly used when the corset is getting a
little too large for the wearer. Overlap lacing and double overlap lacing
allows the wearer to tighten the corset until one side is on top of the
other. These lacings are the hardest to tighten and stay tight the longest.
The biggest disadvantage of these lacings is that they rub against the
cover fabric in many places, which can fray and damage delicate pieces.
Of course, there are many other ways of lacing as well, and tons of variations
on these lacings depending on the number of lacing holes and laces to
be used. The main thing to remember when deciding on a lacing style is
that the more crosses and holes the cord passes through, the harder it
will be to tighten the laces and the longer they will stay tight while
wearing. Also remember that the knot will be the tightest part in your
lacing; so if you are going for more cleavage, tie the knot at the top
of your corset. If a smaller waist is your aim, try to tie the knot there.
. . . On to Buying a Corset!