How do you add boning to a corset?

Answer 1

There are a lot of decisions to be made before adding boning to a corset to inform how you should do it. First, you need to determine design. Then, function. And, lastly, technique.

Design:

1. Is the corset historical or contemporary? If historical, is it going to be accurate, or inspired? (this affects the types of bones you'll use, and how you'll use them)
2. Do you want the boning channels to be visible on the outside of the garment? (if so, you won't need to worry about stuff like mulling or flatlining.)
3. Where are you placing the bones and why? What purpose is it serving?

Function:

1. What is this bone doing?
2. Is it shaping the body? (If so, you'll most likely need a stronger bone which means that you'll need a bone casing or channel of some kind.)
3. Is it adding minimal support to the garment? (You'll most likely use rigilene, which can be sewn directly onto a garment, the trade off is it doesn't have enough strength for anything requiring soft-tissue shaping)
4. Is this bone meant to curve around the body? (Yes? You'll likely need a spiral steel bone, or synthetic whalebone - both of which offer multi-directional flexibility, unlike regular steel bones,- Both of which also require a channel/casing)
5. Is it historical? You can also consider using reed or straw for boning, as it was common in stays poorer women wore historically.

Technique

1. Rigilene can be sewn directly onto the garment, as it is soft and takes well to machine stitching.
2. Other boning will require some kind of channel or casing as mentioned before.
3. Channels can be made in many ways. If the corset has multiple fabric layers, you can make a channel by straight stitches parallel 1/8" wider than your chosen boning(bones need ease or else the garment will pucker) wherever you patterned your bones to be and slip the bones directly between those layers. You can also turn over seam allowance, stitch it down and create a channel that way.
4. Alternatively, you can add a channel using boning tape (which is often bulky, and undesirable in couture garments. Or, you can use twill or something called Prussian tape. It's very fine, durable, and commonly used to create channels in high-fashion garments. Both are placed on the inside(wrong side) of your pattern pieces, where you wish your bones to be and are stitched on their edges.
5. Once you have the tapes sewn in, you can slip bones either in the center of the casing, or under the tape between the layers.

There are many, many, more decisions to be made and ways to sew boning into a corset. And, while I know this question was asked a year ago, I hope this provides a good starting place for anyone else asking the same thing in the future!

Answer 2

There are three types of boning that you can use: rigilene, plastic, metal. The one I use often is rigilene because you can sew it directly on your fabric. Unlike the plastic and metal boning, you need to create a casing first. Also, rigilene is bendable and it's more comfortable.