Re-Weaving Around Those Pesky Grommets
I love using dupioni silk as the cover material of corsets. It’s gorgeous, interesting, hides sins and imperfections (yes, yes it does), and is less expensive than most silks. Silk taffeta is fantastic too, gorgeous, smooth, and luscious. The problem with both these materials (and a lot of inexpensive polyester materials too), is that sometimes when you grommet you end up with something that looks like this:
This is the plum dupioni silk corset I just finished. This particular dupioni was a soft enough weave that the silk threads split terribly along the entire length of the grommets. The gaps to the right of the above photo have already been fixed, which is the only reason they are not displaying brilliant white as well. If I had planned ahead for this possibility I could have used black coutil for the core instead of white, which would have been significantly less noticeable. The other way to avoid it with dupioni is to orient the textured threads horizontally instead of vertically, but you still might end up with little arrows of coutil to the left and right of each grommet.
Thankfully, it’s not too difficult to fix in dupioni using a technique called re-weaving, most commonly used to mend small holes in wool. When this happens in taffeta you can use the same technique, but it’s likely to be far more noticeable when finished because the re-woven area will have a less smooth texture than the rest of the cover material.
Find a matching thread, or pull threads from leftover cover material. I chose to use threads from the cover material because they were a perfect color match. The downside is that these threads are not meant to be used in a needle and won’t hold up to hand-stitching for very long. I had to pull a new thread for every patch and the threads did break multiple times while I was working. The softness of the threads won’t matter once it’s woven because this use is zero-stress.
Secure the thread at the back of the affected area, hiding the tail in the corset. (For some cruel reason, the splitting was far less severe on the back side.)
Pull the thread through to the front as close to the grommet as possible.
Now comes the tricky part, and this is a prime example of why I only use very high quality needles. You want to work the needle through the cross-threads of the cover material, being careful not to catch the coutil. Ideally in re-weaving you would pick each cross thread to re-create an even weave, but with the grommets in the way it’s really not possible here. Hence why doing this in taffeta will produce a less-than perfect result. In dupioni it just looks like another interesting spot in the weave.
So, yes, you are fighting against the needle, the boning to either side of the grommets, and the grommets themselves. This will bend your needle!
Do not use brittle needles or they WILL shatter and do bad, bad, bad things to you.
Even high-quality needles will eventually snap when used like this, so be aware that you might get speared. Use caution!
You have been warned!
I only use needles made in countries which I know produce high-quality, non-brittle steel. That includes the UK, Germany, and the US (nearly impossible to find US-made anymore). I specifically avoid needles made in China, Japan, or Korea. I don’t know about any other countries. In any case, when you are trying a new brand test one of the needles. Put on safety glasses and leather gloves, take a couple pairs of pliers, and bend one of the needles. If it shatters Don’t Use Them. If it snaps Be Very Careful. If it bends, you’re probably all good.
Go through to the back of the corset as close as possible to the grommet.
Repeat the above weaving pattern until you are left with a little arrow of offending undermaterial showing.
Horizontal stitches are by far the most effective for covering the area directly next to the grommet.
waow I wasn’t expecting such a long answer lol (I asked for it I know XD)
Hum, I love your answer as I never considered some of the points you’ve raised , especially about the PH.
I made a few silk corsets without interfacing and they were not more difficult to build nore had more wrinkles but i’m really used to the stiffeness it adds and i’ll admit, it eases a lot the construction step and the cutting, making it more precise, I also like the fact that it keeps the fabric from fraying. (I fuse first then cut my fabric, it also stabilize the grain and is a life saver on satin)
And i’ll admit that in terms of money/time , interfacing cuts down the construction time enough to be worth it.
I guess it’s just a matter of preferences and what works for you^^
It’s definitely a matter of personal preference. That’s a good point about reducing (eliminating?) fray, too. I’ve found most silks only fray so far, though, and then stabilize, so unless I’m doing embroidery or a lot of other hand fussing it’s not a problem. Linen, on the other hand… OMG does it fray sometimes. Satin is a real pain that way, too. A lot of people like the way it looks so I use it, but I honestly HATE polyester satin. Silk satin is amazing, but also very, very expensive.
In cases where fraying is a problem I edge stitch the pieces with very, very tiny stitches to keep them from fraying past the point of usefulness. It does take a lot longer than fusing. though. ;)
Have you found that the fusible interfacing makes the corset breath less? That is, are you more likely to sweat in it and get clammy, like wearing a polyester shirt? It’s something I’ve always wondered about, but never was willing to make a corset for myself using fusible interfacing to check.
On most fabrics it really eliminates the fraying, so far the only case where the edges were still fraying was with chinese silk, I had to stitch the edges.As for satin well I haven’t used it in a while but fusing it was really the right thing to do in my case , assembling became less a battle and it was wrinkle free and “bubble” free (I don’t know how to describe it better, some fabrics if not treated properly will create some big bubbles but i’ve only seen that with polyester fabrics)
I don’t think fused corsets breath less, at least not mine, I use a very lightweight interfacing ( 25g/meter and it exists up to 60 in which case it really feels like cardboard) , there is also not that much glue and once it’s fused the fabric remains very flexible, the interfacing adds just what’s needed in terms of stiffness to give me the advantages we’ve been talking about^^
It sounds like you use a very different interfacing from the one I tried. I may give it another try at some point, if I can find a lighter weight, more flexible interfacing.
hum… I use a lot of silk and never had that problem, is it because I use fusible interfacing? Do you? (and if not I would love to hear why^^)
Fusible interfacing probably would prevent that from happening. I only used fusible interfacing once, years ago, just to see how it worked and I doubt I ever will again. There are a couple reasons for this. First, the glues in the fusible interfacing are high pH, so after a while they will cause yellowing of the cover material, and eventually eat it entirely. I once made a repair to a period Victorian man’s vest which had at some point been altered using fusible patches to extend the shoulders. The damage caused by the fusible material was so extensive that the entire back of the vest had to be replaced. I’ve been told that the fusible glues used now are far more pH balanced than they used to be, but with my background in fine art I’m not comfortable using questionable materials. I know fusible interfacing is extremely popular with modern corset makers, and I expect that in fifty years a lot of those corsets will be dead even if they are hardly worn, unlike corsets from the previous century which have survived beautifully unless they were worn out. I make my corsets with the expectation that they should last years if worn regularly, and pretty much indefinitely if they are rarely worn.
Another reason I probably won’t use it again was the way it altered the material. It made it very stiff, which I’m sure can be an advantage, but I didn’t like it.
I do market my work to re-enactors, and even though most of them are not ordering exactly period correct items, when I can avoid non-period materials at no extra cost to myself I will. Fusible interfacing is not period to any re-enactment pre 1950’s.
Lastly, most of the advantages I saw to using fusible interfacing don’t matter if sewing techniques and quality of workmanship are high enough. Fusing to interfacing stabilizes the cover material so it acts as a structural layer, eliminating any disadvantages from using a single layer of coutil for the foundation of the garment. It solves any problems that might arise from imprecisely cutting or assembling multiple identically shaped layers, or from needed differences in shape to get the layers to lay smoothly due to differences in the nature of the materials used in those layers. The added stiffness also helps prevent wrinkles even if very little boning is used. Those are all very good reasons why it is so popular, and can make it much easier to create a nice-looking corset, so I completely understand why people swear by it. It’s just not my personal preference.
thanks,I’msure that will come in very handy.I find my needles curve gently over time.the smaller ones at least.I,ll have to see how they go around grommets and bones.
The small, thin, flexible needles should be ideal for this. They’ll be easier to weave through the fabric, too. The needle I was using there was the smallest one I had with a large enough hole for the thick dominant silk thread. Let me know how it works for you! :)