Corset lacing and seasoning
March 24, 2020 1:27 PM Subscribe
I recently got a corset with the intent to do tight-lacing. Questions below the fold.
I had a hard time lacing it by myself with the “bunny ears” style lacing, so I brought it to a tailor, who laced me into it. While seasoning it at home, I noticed that the top has been gapping. When I removed it, I saw that he laced it top to bottom instead of starting in the middle.
Is there a way I can lace this by myself while still in the corset, or should I find someone (after the curve has been flattened, of course) to lace me into this correctly? Also, have I done any damage by seasoning the corset when it’s laced top to bottom?
I had a hard time lacing it by myself with the “bunny ears” style lacing, so I brought it to a tailor, who laced me into it. While seasoning it at home, I noticed that the top has been gapping. When I removed it, I saw that he laced it top to bottom instead of starting in the middle.
Is there a way I can lace this by myself while still in the corset, or should I find someone (after the curve has been flattened, of course) to lace me into this correctly? Also, have I done any damage by seasoning the corset when it’s laced top to bottom?
I can’t speak to the damage to the corset. What I recommend is restringing it with the bunny ears in the middle.
This is how I would do it. I put it on - then take the cord from the right side into my left hand and vice versa. Then wrap the cord around my hands once or twice and pull until there was no easy slack left. At this point you should have a lot of excess at the top and bottom of the corset. Then I would go to a door and partially close it so it is at like 45 degrees. Then I would loop each side on each handle, facing the edge of the door. Then I backed up until the cord had no slack. This freed my hands to work on getting out the excess, starting from the middle. As I got more excess out, I would back away from the door so the cord was still taught. I often did one side at a time so I would be turning a bit to the right or to the left.
This method let me get as tight as I wanted, and didn’t take much time with practice.
posted by Monday at 6:46 PM on March 24, 2020 [3 favorites]
This is how I would do it. I put it on - then take the cord from the right side into my left hand and vice versa. Then wrap the cord around my hands once or twice and pull until there was no easy slack left. At this point you should have a lot of excess at the top and bottom of the corset. Then I would go to a door and partially close it so it is at like 45 degrees. Then I would loop each side on each handle, facing the edge of the door. Then I backed up until the cord had no slack. This freed my hands to work on getting out the excess, starting from the middle. As I got more excess out, I would back away from the door so the cord was still taught. I often did one side at a time so I would be turning a bit to the right or to the left.
This method let me get as tight as I wanted, and didn’t take much time with practice.
posted by Monday at 6:46 PM on March 24, 2020 [3 favorites]
Best answer: I also did bunny ears in the middle, and I usually kept my wrists on my body and used that as the fulcrum for pulling instead of trying to pull from the shoulders.
posted by batter_my_heart at 10:00 PM on March 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by batter_my_heart at 10:00 PM on March 24, 2020 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Monday, should I take the cord out before doing as you suggest?
posted by pxe2000 at 5:45 AM on March 25, 2020
posted by pxe2000 at 5:45 AM on March 25, 2020
Yes, I would recommend replacing it into the bunny ears style. (With the bunny ears at your waist)
posted by Monday at 1:31 AM on June 20, 2020
posted by Monday at 1:31 AM on June 20, 2020
This thread is closed to new comments.
It just takes practice. Even someone else lacing you is going to have a learning curve if theyve not tight laced before.
Watch some self lace tutorials and see if you can develop a method that works for you, and keep in mind it can take some time to develop the shoulder flexibility and hand strength to get a good even lace up. You'll get it eventually!
posted by ananci at 5:08 PM on March 24, 2020 [1 favorite]