Creative Pattern Development

Innovative Seamlines & Silhouettes

by Barbara Pesendorfer
Intro
Have you ever wondered how you could create the unique and interesting
pattern shapes and designlines that you might have seen in couture corsets?

I have always loved to experiment with new silhouettes and to play with
seamlines and different proportions in my designs.
In this tutorial I will show you how to turn a basic underbust or overbust pat-
tern into a unique custom pattern with new panel shapes, decorative seams
or a completely changed silhouette.

When I develop a new pattern, I often use an existing basic overbust or un-
derbust pattern as starting point. That saves me the time and effort of star-
ting completely from scratch and going through various mock-ups to fit the
pattern to the body.

I would definitely recommend to start your pattern development with a basic

5 - 7 panel pattern as well, as it is much harder to create a complex pattern
with lots of pieces and sophisticated seamlines from scratch.

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Basic 7 panel overbust pattern Mock-up made from the pattern on the left

Any adjustments you make for fit purposes will change the pattern shape
and probably destroy the design lines you created.

If you start with an already fitted basic pattern instead, you can focus on the
design and not worry much about fit issues.

This could either be a commercial ready-to-wear pattern that you have adju-
sted to your measurements or a self drafted bespoke corset pattern that you
have already tested.

Here are a few sources, in case you haven‘t got a pattern yet:

- My colleague Aranea Black offers a wide range of free corset patterns in

standard sizes as digital download.
For example, the following two patterns from her range would work as base
for creative pattern development:

https://www.araneablack.com/modern-victorian-overbust-corset-pattern-syl-
via-with-6-different-cup-sizes/

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https://www.araneablack.com/pattern-corset-waspie-anna/

- My favourite commercial underbust pattern:

https://vanyanis.com/product/aeryn-underbust-corset-pattern/

- Classic 6 panel underbust corset pattern by Corsets by Caroline:

www.etsy.com/listing/542189913/corset-pattern-the-perfect-
customisable?ref=shop_home_active_29&pro=1

- Classic 7 panel overbust corset pattern by Corsets by Caroline:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/256282699/corset-pattern-melissa-a-modern-
14-panel?ref=shop_home_active_10&pro=1

Once you have a basic pattern that fits you well, the fun of creative pattern
development can begin!

1) Adjustments on the Paper Pattern

Some of my favourite designs were created with just a few simple adjust-
ments to my standard overbust patterns.

Corset pattern „The Concubine“ Corset pattern „Silver Thistle“

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If you don‘t have a specific design in mind yet and just want to experiment,
you can print out a picture of the mock-up on the body and then sketch dif-
ferent shapes and silhouettes on top, to find out what you like.

Sketching different designs onto a basic corset shape

Easy ways to change a pattern are shortening, lengthening or just modifying

the top and bottom edges of your pattern.
You can create round or pointy shapes, a sweetheart or deep plunging neck-
line, fantasy shapes like scallops or petal shapes, etc..

Changing the shape of the top edge of a corset

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Changing the shape of the bottom edge of a corset

The first step is always to align all

your panels next to each other from
front to back, so the waistline is ex-
actly on the same level in all pieces.

Once you have the pieces arranged

in that way, you can lengthen, shor-
ten or modify each piece as desired.

I also find it helpful to have a sketch

of the new design in front of me, as
reference for the adjustments I want
to make.
Adding horizontal lines at the bust, underbust waist and hip

In the following example of my “Concubine” pattern I dramatically lengthe-

ned the bottom edge, especially on the hips and at the back.

Apart from that I changed the center front to a deep plunging shape.
After a fitting with a mock-up I also tilted the bust part in panel 1 slightly
forward and heightened the back for more bust support:

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Lengthening the top and bottom edge and changing the neckline to a deep plunging teardrop shape

For my “Winter Solstice” pattern I used the same method.

I shortened the bottom edge slightly in the center front and elongated the
hips and back at the bottom.

At the top edge I added a lot of height in the front and took away a bit of
the bust curves to create a flatter look and a slight push-up effect.

Adding length at the center front top edge, the hips and back bottom edge and taking away the bust curve

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 If you are uncertain about how much
to shorten or lengthen the pattern
at the top and bottom edge, just put
the basic pattern or mock-up on the
dressform.
Then you can check the lengths with
a tape measure to get a better fee-
ling for how much to add or cut off.

I personally prefer to use my sketch

as reference. I look at it and then
estimate how much to add or remove
in certain areas on the base pattern.

If you keep practicing pattern ma-

nipulation you will eventually get a
feeling for these adjustments.

Checking adjustments on the dressform with a tape measure

One way of reworking your basic pat-

tern is to trace all panels to a new
sheet of paper and then draw in the
new lines.

If you are tracing the basic paper

panels onto new paper, make sure
to leave enough room above, below
and between each panel, so you can
make the desired adjustments wit-
hout the panels overlapping.

Transferring the pattern and adjustments to new paper

Another way to modify your pattern is taping paper to the existing panels
where necessary and cut away paper in areas you want to make smaller.

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Taping additional paper to panels you want to add to and cutting paper off in areas you want to take away from

For both of these methods it‘s necessary to tape all new pieces together at
the top and bottom edge and “walk” the new lines.
That means evening out any bumps or weird curves that might have emerged
through adding or removing length on the panels.

„Walking“ or evening out the edges of a pattern

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 If you haven‘t changed any of the
vertical seamlines, you won‘t need to
make a new fabric mock-up for the
adjusted pattern. The fit shouldn‘t
have changed in any way.

However I do find it helpful to tape

the paper pieces together, to see if
all shapes look as expected.

You can see such a paper mock-up

in the picture on the left.

Checking shapes and proportions with a paper mock-up

2) Creative Seamlines
Changing the seamlines on your pattern from basic vertical lines into ex-
citing curves, angled shapes or even horizontal seamlines will change the
whole look of your corset dramatically.

„A La Spirite“ underbust corset „New Look“ overbust corset

Based on a 6 panel underbust corset with vertical seamlines Based on a 7 panel overbust corset with vertical seamlines

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Both of the designs above are based on standard patterns with vertical pa-
nels, but the finished pieces look completely different to the original pat-
terns.

If I want to change the seamlines of a pattern, I don‘t do that flat on the

table. Instead I cut out and tape all panels together, to create a threedimen-
sional paper mock-up.

Taping the paper panels of the base corset together Paper mock-up

At the top and bottom edge I leave

some extra paper on the mock-up,
so I have room to make it longer.

Then I put this paper corset on the

dressform and start sketching the
new seamlines on with pencil.

At first I just draw light pencil

strokes to figure out the shapes and
then I refine the lines step by step
into the desired new seams.
Sketching the new seamlines onto the paper mock-up

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Once I‘m happy with the lines, I take the paper corset off the dressform and
start cutting along the new lines.

Paper mock-up with new seamlines marked Edges trimmed off and all pieces labelled

I would recommend numbering and labelling all pieces carefully, especially

if you are working with lots of lines and small pieces.
That, and adding notch marks will make it easier to put the “corset puzzle”
back together correctly.

Cutting along the marked lines Cut out new pattern pieces

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The cut out pieces will be quite wonky and uneven in some areas, due to the
tape and the curved original seams. For that reason I always transfer them to
new flat paper and smooth out any bumpy seamlines while doing that.

Tracing pieces onto new paper Refining the seamlines

Some of the curvy pieces might need cutting and overlapping or spreading
in certain areas to lie flat on the paper. In that case it‘s necessary to add or
take away length to the traced new shape.

Cutting and spreading curvy areas to lie flat Cutting and overlapping at the waist

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In order to figure out how much you have to add or remove from the piece,
just measure the seam on the adjacent pattern piece. Then remove or add
the excess or missing amount and connect the new endpoints to the se-
amlines above or below.

Measuring the length on the adjacent pattern piece Removing length at the bottom edge

Measuring the length on the adjacent pattern piece Adding length at the bottom edge

When you trace your cut out pieces it‘s also important to transfer the origi-
nal seamlines, any horizontal lines like waistline, underbustline, hipline,...
and the grainline of the fabric.

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 I usually place the boning channels
along the vertical seamlines of the
base pattern, as vertical bones are
important for the shape and support
of the corset.

It wouldn‘t make sense to bone the

new diagonal or horizontal seamlines,
as the corset would distort and ga-
ther at the waist without vertical
boning.

The bones are following the original seamlines.

For the grainline you can either follow the grain on the original pieces as
closely as possible or you can experiment with tilting the new pattern pieces
and use the bias of the fabric to achieve a smoother fit.

Pattern pieces cut parallel to the waistline The diagonal panels are cut on the bias for a smoother fit

Changing the grainline in corset panels isn‘t an exact science and usually
requires some testing, as even small shifts can affect the outcome greatly.

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Panels cut slightly on the bias might wrinkle less over the hips than panels
on the straight grain, but might also distort the whole corset if it is under a
lot of strain in those areas.
Furthermore bias cut panels will stretch around the waist over time.

If I create diagonal panels / seamlines, I often use historical patterns as

reference for the grainline.

In historical patterns you can often find diagonal panels cut on the bias and
I have achieved good results when I have angled my pattern pieces the same
way as seen in historical patterns.

Historical pattern from the book Corsets & Crinolines Tilting the diagonal panels in the same way

by Nora Waugh / Routledge

In the example above I have tilted all diagonal side panels forward, similar
to the pattern pieces in the historical Sbend pattern on the left side.
It worked really well and the corset wrinkled much less than it did with all
panels cut on the straight grain.

For the „New Look“ overbust pattern in the following example I also tilted
some of the panels in the same way.
In most areas that worked out quite well, but I found that the round panels
over the hips needed a different grainline.

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Diagonal panels cut on the bias Wrinkles on some panels, due to the grainline

These panels wrinkled quite a bit on the finished corset, so I will try a diffe-
rent grainline in the future if I work with that pattern again.

If you are adding a lot of complex new seamlines to your pattern, I would
definitely recommend making a new fabric mock-up.
Flattening the paper pieces and shifting the grainlines can change the fit to
a certain degree and if you want to avoid any surprises on the final corset, a
mock-up helps to figure out pattern issues beforehand.

3) Changing the Silhouette

The most dramatic way to change a pattern is by modifying the silhouette.

This could for example be a bigger exaggerated hip shape, or you could flat-
ten the bust area for a less curvy look with more push-up effect.
You could also add three-dimensional shapes like big stand-up collars or
diagonal low shoulderstraps...

Experimenting with different shapes and silhouettes is a fun way of develo-

ping interesting new designs.

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Pattern „Black Butterfly“ with angular hips and a flattened bust Corset gown pattern with diagonal off the shoulder straps

Minor adjustments like making the hips a bit bigger and angular can still be
done flat on the paper, which is what I did for my “Silver Thistle” design.

Pattern „Silver Thistle“ with exaggerated hips and a scalloped bottom edge

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For this design I used a basic cupped overbust pattern as my starting point
and added some width to the hip area in the side seam. I also added a pointy
shape at the apex of the hips and elongated the bottom edge into scallops.

Both the extra width and the pointy shape required additional boning to pre-
vent it from collapsing, which I tested with a new mock-up.

Adding width, length and pointy shapes to the hips Additional horizontal and diagonal boning in the hips

For bigger silhouette changes like very dramatic hoop inspired hips, big col-
lars or off the shoulder straps I prefer working on the dressform instead of
flat on the paper, as I find it hard to get the size and proportions right wit-
hout a body as reference.

As above, I cut out and tape together the original pattern and put the paper
mock-up on the dressform.

Paper shows the three-dimensional shapes really well and I prefer it for this
kind of draping work. Fabric might collapse and not show the shapes as well.

As a first example I‘m showing you how I created the exaggerated hips on my
“New Look” design.

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 I already knew that I wanted to in-
crease the volume on the hips to the
sides and to the back, but I did not
want to change the front, as I liked
the stomach area to stay flat against
the body.

Therefore I cut the hip seams open

on the sides and on the back, but
left it taped close in the front.

Basic paper mock-up on the dressform

Opening the hip seams at the side and at the back The lower front part stays closed.

Then I took small strips of paper and started pinning them in between the
cut areas, so the panels would flare out.

It usually takes some trial and error to figure out the ideal distribution, size
and position of the paper inserts, so don‘t get discouraged if the shape looks
completely off in the beginning.

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Pinning paper strips into the opened seams

Finetuned finished hipshape

Once you are happy with the pinned paper shape, you can stabilize it with
additional tape from the inside.

Then it‘s time to draw on the new lines for where the boning will be placed
and the bottom edge.
At this point I sketched all the new diagonal seamlines onto the paper mock-
up and changed the neckline to a deep plunging shape with pointy cups.

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Marking the new seamlines on the paper mock-up

Now you can take the paper mock-up off the dressform, cut along the new
seamlines and trace the pieces onto flat paper.

Cut out pieces, traced onto new paper and finetuned

Such big hips usually require lots of additional boning to keep the shape.
I would definitely recommend making a fabric mock-up to figure out the best
bone placement and to see how the pattern behaves on the body.

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Experimenting with horizontal boning to support the hips Final bone placement in the hips

In my final example I will show you how I added a low off the shoulder collar
to a standard sweetheart neckline.

Corset gown pattern with diagonal off-shoulder collar

I used the same basic 7 panel overbust pattern as before in this tutorial.

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 I cut out all pieces and taped a pa-
per mock-up together.

The paper corset didn‘t fit the

dressform at the waist, but since
I didn‘t want to alter the waist or
hip part of the pattern anyway, that
didn‘t matter.

I just left it open in these areas and

focused on the bust and top edge of
the pattern instead.

Paper mock-up - left open at the waist

Next I cut open the top area of the back and added a significant amount of
length and some width to this area, to extend it above the neck and make it
gape away behind the head.

Opening the seams at the top edge in the back Pinning paper into the cuts to lengthen and widen the panels

Then I connected this high back edge to the cleavage in the front with addi-
tional paper strips.

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Creating off-shoulder straps with additional paper Connecting the paper to the front neckline

For the first draft I used 5cm wide straight paper strips to figure out the
angle, length and position of the shoulderstraps.

Once I was happy with the general shape I added little darts to the shoul-
der area to slightly curve it inwards and I refined the top edge of the whole
neckline into a nice swooping curve.

Adding shape to the shoulderstrap with little darts Refining the top edge into a smooth curve

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Finally I finetuned the armhole in the same way.
I also adjusted the bottom edge of the corset to mirror the neckline, using
the methods I explained earlier in this tutorial.

Finetuning the armhole Altering the bottom edge to match the neckline

With this pattern I created a new fabric mock-up to see if the neck and
shoulder area needed any further adjustments.

Paper pattern Final mock-up

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5) Draping with Fabric
I‘m only mentioning this method very briefly at the end of the tutorial, as I
personally draft all my patterns flat on the paper and don‘t have much expe-
rience with draping fabric on the dressform.

A lot of designers are trained in

developing their patterns by draping
and achieve great results that way.
I attempted it a few times myself,
but definitely prefer drafting on pa-
per, so unfortunately I can‘t give in
depth instructions for the so-called
“moulage” patterning method.

If you would like to try draping on

the dressform, it‘s important to use
a dressform that either already fits
or is padded as closely as possible
Pattern sketched on the dressform with draping tape
to the desired measurements.

Then you can mark your seamlines

with satin ribbon and pins or self-
adhesive draping tape.

Afterwards you pin a piece of calico

fabric over every panel, covering the
marked lines.
Here it is also important to use the
correct grainline of the fabric.

Finally you would trace along the

lines onto the fabric, cut the pieces
Pinning pieces of calico over the marked lines
out and transfer them to paper.

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Tracing seamlines onto the fabric pieces Covering one panel after the other with pieces of calico

I‘m sure it‘s possible to achieve just

as good results by draping fabric
on the dressform, as with my paper
methods.

As so often good results are a mat-

ter of practice and finding a method
you feel comfortable with.
So don‘t be discouraged if it takes a
little longer and keep experimenting
with shapes and lines.

Cut out fabric pieces

I hope this tutorial has inspired you to try out creative pattern development
for your own projects and that you found it helpful and easy to understand.

Happy Sewing and thanks for reading!

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