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Hi Friends,

I recently purchased pink cotton corset lacing & decided to replace the set of "shoelaces" I had been using in my corset.

I laced it from top to bottom & after having someone tighten the lacing, there was this huge amount of lacing left over. What does one do with the excess lacing? Or...do you cut it in 1/2 (it is 8 yds total) & lace one from top to middle & the other from bottom to middle?

If I cut the lacing in half it is acceptable to knot the cut ends? Thanks for your help!!

Kim W.
Anderson, IN

I have my corset laced from top to bottom, skipping a set at the waist. In other words, instead of crossing over at the waist set of grommets, the laces go straight down into the next set. The lace is tied in a square knot at the bottom, so it won't come undone. When my corset is tightened in, I have a huge amount of lacing left over at the waist, in the form of two long loops (from where the lacing skips a crossover). I wrap it around my waist and tie it in the back. There are some corsets with a hook near the bottom of the front; it's been conjectured that this hook is for holding the laces down from the waist area after they're wrapped around.

I hope that makes sense (and answers your question!)

edited to add a picture: this is what I mean by the lacing:

[Heather]

Just to clarify what Sara P said... The loops at the waist are where you pull to tighten the corset. This allows you to tighten the waist area first, giving you a better shape in the end. And because you never unlace the corset, you need the extra to allow the corset to expand enough to slip it on and off. You can alway tuck excessive laces up under the corset to hold them out of the way

On the other hand 8 yards seems a bit long. I like to have about 6 yards. But you may need more or less depneding on the gap size, and the number of grommets in your corset.

Those little loops in the center of the corset - do those serve any other purpose than just tightening the waist area first? I've heard some people mention that they lace their corsets with two or even three sets of laces so they can adjust everything differently.

Ok, so now I'm way confused! I thought you used two sets of laces that meet in the middle(waist), cross them in the back and tie off in front. Please help straighten me out.

[Heather]

There is no right/wrong way to lace a corset, so you will find many different versions.

I use the one that Sarah showed. It seams to work the best. It is no different from using 2 set of different laces that meet in the middle. The loops act the same as if there was a beak in the lace there, and when you tie them off, you are tying the 4 strings in one bow, instead of 2 strings in 2 bows.

The reason to tie the strings in front, rather than behind, is more about whether you are tying the bow yourself, or someone else is doing it. It can be very hard to tie the bow behind your back, but it is very easy to cross the laces to the front and tie it there. I don't like to do it that way if I can avoid it, as the knott will often add a bulge to the front of your bodice. Hence the low hook to drop the lacing below the waist is good for self lacing corsets.

Thanks so much for all the replies...I feel much more confident now about how to tie my corset securely & accurately!

One more question along the same lines...how did the Victorian ladies tie the corset themselves if they didn't have a "helper"? In other words...if I have no one to help ME, can I tighten it myself?

Thanks again for all the helpful responses!

Kim

Whether you can tighten your corset yourself depends a lot on how flexible you are. If you can put your hands together at waist height behind your back, you can probably tighten your own corset to an extent. Just reach behind, find the two loops (or the ends, if you have two laces with the ends at the waist), and pull. Wiggle a little bit to work the tension up and down into the bust/hip areas, pul again. Repeat until your corset is comfortably snug. If you're more flexible, you can hold the laces with one hand, and use the other to pull the crosses part, like you're tightening shoe laces. My laces are actually so long that they wrap completely around my waist, then tie in the back (again with the flexibility, I'm lucky to be able to tie my own strings behind ).

http://www.laced.biz/corsetvideo.html

I found this online video quite helpful: "Putting on a corset by yourself"

Thanks for sharing that. It was very helpful.

Oh my! Thanks SO much for posting that video link... it DID help! I just put my corset on by myself (I'm so happy to discover I can still reach behind me LOL)....

It was very helpful and also explained why I had trouble originally with the busk closure. I knew it took some time before your corset starting molding to your shape.. but I never really realized it would effect how easily it close... I thought it was because I wasn't able to place the knob-side of the busk as close to the edge as I had intended... now it's getting easier.

Thanks again for posting that!

My helper (hubby) found the video educational, too. I could never see what he was doing behind my back to give him any direction.