Hi! I've been following this blog for a while and your suggestions and tutorials are so helpful! A while ago you mentioned (in a post about corsets I think) how there was a stitch people used to keep the corsets' ribs from sticking out and...well, there' a couple of nice bras that have been trying to skewer my poor tits for a while now, and I'd like help to stop them from doing that without having to put them in the trash bin. Can you share the corset-rib-taming stitch tutorial?
Always happy to hear my blog's helpful to people. :)
If the underwire of your bra is trying to stab you, check out my post on how to fix underwire bras to learn how to keep your underwear's bloodlust in check.
Corset flossing
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm going out on a limb here and assume this ask is about Tumblr-user Skuldsbane's comment on corset flossing on my underwire bra post.
(Image source) [ID: Tumblr comment by @skuldsbane: "To help keep this from happening in the first place, take a page from our elders' book - look into corset flossing! The flossing is embroidery with a solid purpose. It was (and still is) used to keep the boning from moving around, and also helped to fortify the fabric at the end of the boning so that holes would not be rubbed through the fabric. Since the underwire of a bra is essentially causing the same problems with wearing holes through the fabric, the flossing serves the same purpose on underwire bras.]
Traditional corsets are usually boned (or corded) to give the wearer more support and to help the corset retain its shape.
Just like bras, corsets went trough daily wear and tear. Sometimes some of the boning would start to poke through, like underwires in bras. Corset flossing, a type of embroidery, was used to strengthen the parts of the fabric where the bones could poke through, and to keep them in place.
While flossing served a functional purpose, it was also used as an opportunity to add extra design details to a corset. If you're going to stitch something up, you might as well make it pretty.
I've personally never encountered a modern flossed bra before, but Skuldsbane's suggestion is a very interesting idea. Worth a try, I'd say!
If you'd like to learn more about flossing, take a look at these flossing tutorials by Sew Curvy and Sidney Eileen.
(Image source) [ID: a boned black corset with black and white lace, embroidery, and ribbons, white flossing, and two blue garters.]
(Image source) [ID: close-up of white flossing at the bottom edge of a black corset.]
(Image source) [ID: a flossing sampler by Sidney Eileen showing multiple different flossing stitches on a beige piece of sample fabric.]
(Image source) [ID: five flossing embroidery diagrams by Sidney Eileen.]













