u/arsi_sk1

I finally managed to complete another one of my crazy projects. Since I honestly had no idea how this experiment would turn out, I ended up doing a lot of testing and improvising along the way.

One thing I really wanted to test was my theory that materials this rigid can effectively work as a kind of distributed waist tape across the whole corset structure. So this is actually my very first corset with no waist tape at all — and surprisingly, it seems to work really well.

As for thermal comfort, the linen lining is once again doing its magic and the corset is actually very comfortable to wear temperature-wise.

The rigidity of this thing is absolutely brutal. In total I used around 300g of glue, with most of it going into laminating the puffer layer onto the TPU base material, and that contributed massively to the stiffness of the corset.

More detailed technical information can be found in my posts on r/corsetry.

This project was definitely a bit of a battle, but I learned a lot again and I’m honestly really happy with how it turned out.

I’ve already worn it for a few hours and surprisingly the thermal comfort seems really good. I used a slightly softer TPU as the structural layer this time, but the roughly 300g of glue added a lot of extra rigidity. It actually feels even stiffer than my previous favorite, the mirror TPU corset.

If people are interested, I can post an update after wearing it for a few weeks.

Now for the technical details 😄

The corset has 32 bones in total. Two flat steels are placed next to the zipper and there are two spiral steels inside the zipper extension panel. All bones except the ones in panel A are hidden in the lining and the boning channels were made the classic way from seam allowances.

This time I wasn’t afraid to experiment, and I finally found a sewing setup that works perfectly for these insane projects.

I lubricated the thread with silicone oil, which solved the glue-related issues and also slightly lubricates the needle itself. I also finally found a needle that works incredibly well: ORGAN Embroidery ANTI-GLUE size 100. Size 90 works fine for thinner sections, but during binding the size 100 is the only one that sews consistently without skipped stitches.

I also tested SCHMETZ BLACK SUPER UNIVERSAL needles, but they weren’t as reliable.

Another thing that helped a lot was using Amann SABA 120 thread. It seems to have the lowest twist out of all the threads I’ve tested so far, and together with the silicone oil and the ORGAN needle I finally have a 100% reliable setup.

I also spent quite a while figuring out how to make the puffer layer for the zipper extension panel. In the end, I cut a larger piece of puffer material, drew and stitched the outline, then removed the filling from the seam allowance area and cut away the inner layer there. I folded the modified seam allowance along the stitching line, glued it using HT2 adhesive, then laminated the whole thing onto black TPU before attaching it to the zipper module.

The outer layer is done. For now, I’ve only installed two bones next to the zipper—the rest will go into the lining.

I found that 0.7 mm TPU combined with the puffer layer is already pushing my sewing machine to its limits, especially where multiple layers stack up. The puffer tends to push sideways against the needle while sewing, and combined with my favorite adhesives, it’s basically a recipe for trouble. So for version 2, I’ll switch to denim or another more stable base fabric.

My first attempt at attaching the zipper module to panel A was a disaster. The trick that worked was to stitch along the fold line from the inside first—this stabilizes the puffer. After that, attaching the zipper module and sewing the boning channels became much easier, and I think the result looks pretty decent.

Next step is attaching the lining and finishing the edges. Sewing the lining in with a hidden stitch inside the channel seams will be a challenge—but I’m hoping I can pull it off.

Wish me luck.