Wonder Woman Corset Part III

My Wonder Woman corset combines the flexibility and strength of leather and the comfort of fabric with some additional support built in.  Similar to the WW gladiator skirt, the corset features two layers- a soft interior and a leather exterior.   Parts I and II show how to complete the basic corset construction and now Part III has instructions for painting and finishing.  I recommend you read Parts I and II first.

I started by painting a base layer- gold for the eagle and maroon for the rest of the corset.  For the maroon color, I mixed the alizarin crimson, autumn red, and black paint.  For the gold, I mixed gold and black paint.

Next, I added highlights, shadow, and a metallic sheen to the maroon portion to make it appear more three dimensional.  For this, I mixed several shades using alizarin crimson, thalo gold, and black paint.  Below you can see that I painted along the stitching with the darker shades and used the lighter shade in the center of each stitched section.

I then painted black 'seams' over the stitching and thin highlights along the seams to add further dimension.  The photograph below shows 'before' and 'after' I painted the seams and highlights.

 For the gold eagle, I used high contrasts in dark and light gold to add dimension.

I painted the belt using shades of gold, as shown below.

Originally I designed a back panel that would Velcro to the back of the corset to cover the lacing.  The design was simple- two rectangles of leather with soft Velcro stitched to the back of the bottom piece.  I glued the two pieces together and painted a base design, as shown below.

I added additional shading to complete the panel, which I planned to attach to the Velcro strips that I had sewn into the back of the corset in Part II.

However, it didn't stay in place as well as I had planned, so I had to reevaluate.  One of my friends informed me that this back panel is something that has already been invented for corsets- it is called a 'modesty panel' and goes on the inside, not the outside.  So, when I wore the outfit on Halloween, I placed the panel on the inside. 

It worked out well, but left the original Velcro on the outside of the corset exposed, which I didn't like aesthetically.   You may choose to leave the Velcro here out altogether in Part II.  To cover the Velcro, I cut four strips of leather- the length was sufficient to cover the exposed Velcro in the back and the width was 0.75".

I sewed soft Velcro to the back of two of the strips as shown below and then glued a second strip on top of each using Ecoweld to cover the stitching.

Then I painted the strips gold to match the corset, as seen further down in the final product.

I brushed the entire corset, including the panel and strips, with a few layers of acrylic finisher.  Once dry, I then sprayed it with two layers of Angelus repellant to add some protection.  I still would not recommend getting this outfit wet!  Here is the finished product:

Wonder Woman Corset Part II

My Wonder Woman corset combines the flexibility and strength of leather and the comfort of fabric with some additional support built in.  Similar to the WW gladiator skirt, the corset features two layers- a soft interior and a leather exterior.   Part I showed how to create the interior and now Part II describes how to construct and attach the leather outer portion of the corset.  I recommend reading Part I carefully before starting on Part II. 

The exterior of the corset will have four leather sections, similar to the fabric interior.  First, I put on the under corset from Part I and used masking tape to mark where I wanted the seam to fall.

To keep the shape of the breast armor, I created cups out of EVA foam.  The cups will go between the fabric under corset and leather outer portion.  To shape the cups, I bought a half sphere made out of hard foam and covered it in foil.  I heated 6mm EVA foam with a heat gun and molded it to the half sphere while it was hot.

I molded a total of four pieces, two pieces for each cup.  Below you can see the shapes I cut on the left and the actual positioning of the pieces on the right.

I taped the foam to the corset temporarily as I was stitching, as pictured on one side.  (Obviously, the photo below was taken further along in the process.)

Next, I cut a piece of leather for the front left side (left side of the person wearing the corset.)  I cut more leather than necessary, as I can trim it down later but can't add more material.  You can see the general shape below.

Then I pinned it to the fabric (the pinned areas will be cut off- generally you don't want to put a lot of pinholes in leather.)  I used the ruler and a marker to sketch the lines of the costume design.

Then, I stitched along the lines as much as I was able using the sewing machine.  I used a thin, flexible leather that worked well with my machine, but you will have to determine if your materials and machine will work together or if you will have to hand stitch.  I had to hand stitch part of the lines near the bottom of the breast.  I also stitched by hand underneath the foam cup.  You should not stitch over the foam.

I ended up needing to cut a small slit in the leather in order to stretch it correctly on the outside of the ribcage area next to the seam.  I cut out a small piece of leather to slide in underneath and stitched it down as shown in the finished piece below.

Using leather cement, I glued the leather to the foam cup and smoothed the leather out as much as possible.  If there are any blemishes/wrinkles left in the leather, make sure they are at the top so you can hide them later with the golden eagle design.  I then folded the leather under at the top and stitched it onto the bra on the underside so the stitches were not visible on the front. 

I cut off the excess leather and repeated the process for the right front panel of the costume.  Below, you can see one completed side and one side still in progress.

Next, I traced and cut the left and right back pieces.  I cut a slit in the center near the seam, as seen below, and sewed a piece of leather underneath just like I did on the front.  I also sewed  coarse Velcro to the ends for later use.  Read on to Part III- you may decide to omit the Velcro here.

I repeated the same process for the back of the corset as I did for the front- drawing lines and stitching over top.

For the front of the outfit, I created a pattern for the golden eagle design at the top of the corset. (Each square = 0.25" for scale.)

Based on your measurements, you will want to add enough length to the left and right sides of the eagle to wrap around the top of the corset until it meets the end of the seam, as shown on the finished piece below.

I traced my sketch onto both the leather and a piece of 2mm EVA foam.  Originally I was going to use the heat gun on the foam, but it wasn't needed on such a thin piece.  I used leather cement to glue the leather and foam together to reinforce the leather.

I attached the eagle to the front of the corset top, being careful to cover the few wrinkles at the top of the corset. I used leather cement to glue the pieces together and also used needle and thread to stitch.  In the front, I sewed as shown below, in the section that will later be covered with an additional piece of leather (hence, the stitching will not show.) 

I also stitched the ends of the eagle to the corset top (seen in next photo.)  I also created a 'tail' for the eagle and glued it onto the corset (seen further down in this tutorial.)

I cut strips of leather for the back of the corset to align with the eagle on the front.  For the left side, I cut two identical shorter pieces of leather and stitched one strip to the corset.   On the second piece, I sewed Velcro onto the top (both pieces are shown below.)  Lastly, I glued the second piece onto the first piece so the stitching does not show.

I repeated the process for the right side except I used longer pieces of leather (length will be based on your measurements) and sewed soft Velcro on the bottom of the bottom strip.  The Velcro is designed to fasten so the back straps can align as shown below on the finished piece.

The next step was to create the belt.  First, I sketched a pattern for the belt center. 

The pattern I drew ended up being smaller than I expected so I magnified the image on my printer and reprinted.  I tried on both the corset and skirt to determine the exact angle and size that I wanted the belt strap to be.  I cut additional strips of paper to create the rest of the pattern.  Then I traced it onto two pieces of leather, as shown below.

The belt is designed to attach directly onto the corset.  Once the belt shape was complete, I stitched soft pieces of Velcro to the back of one of the belt pieces and corresponding pieces of coarse Velcro to the front of the  corset top.  (Photo below shows placement on top at a later point.) 

I also sewed Velcro to the back of the ends of the belt to fasten it in the back.  Then I glued the second piece of leather on top to hide the stitching.

This photo shows progress of the unfinished corset top up to this point. 

I added two small embellishments as well:

Using my golden eagle pattern, I cut a 'v' shaped strip of leather and cemented it onto the golden eagle to create more dimension and to hide the stitching underneath.

I also cut the 'v' strip from my belt pattern and glued it onto the front of the belt (which you will see in Part III.

This is the end of the major exterior construction.  Part III will include painting and finishing of the corset.

Wonder Woman Corset Part I

My Wonder Woman corset combines the flexibility and strength of leather and the comfort of fabric with some additional support built in.  Similar to my WW gladiator skirt, the corset features two layers- a soft interior and a leather exterior.  When originally sketching my idea, I imagined how convenient it would be with a built in bra and then decided to make that a part of the final design.

Materials needed: Fabric, sewing machine, needle, thread, pins, white charcoal pencil, scissors, Velcro, ruler, leather punch, measuring tape, eyelets, eyelet tool, marker, masking tape, 6 mm EVA foam (2 rectangles 9"x12), 2mm EVA foam (used small portion of roll).  Not pictured: bra (will be used in costume), non-stretchy shirt (just for measuring, will not be used in actual costume), lacing for back of corset.

Materials, continued: Leather, acrylic paint (I used the same thalo gold, black, and alizarin crimson paint from previous costume pieces plus the Angelus autumn red to thicken up the base layer), paintbrushes, matte acrylic finisher, water and stain repellant, Ecoweld (leather cement), q-tips,  foam ball (whole or half sphere in your desired cup size), heat gun, foil.

If you are making a full costume, you will want to make the corset top after the skirt so you can adjust the length to line up well with the skirt.  I am using photos with a dress form to help illustrate- a dress form is not required and I did not use the dress form for measuring.  You want the measurements to match your body, not the dress form's.

Part I encompasses the fabric under layer of the corset.  I started by wearing the Wonder Woman skirt and a fitted shirt that wasn't too stretchy.  I used masking tape to mark the shirt approximately where I wanted the corset top to begin on top and end at the bottom.

I traced the shirt onto a sturdy, non-stretchy fabric (same material I used for the skirt) in four pieces with the white charcoal pencil and cut them out, as shown below.  (The outside edges will go in the back, where the top will fasten corset-style.)  As with any corset, be careful not to use too much material.  (You can always let the strings out a little if it is too small but there is a point at which you cannot fasten a corset any tighter if it is too big.)  I did leave enough length in the back so I could fold the edges under and stitch later.

I pinned the material as shown below.

Then I sewed the four pieces together.  For the  middle seam, I did not stitch all the way to the top (see next photo- the top center needs to be open.)  Note that I also did not stitch the top edge or back edges at this point.

The costume has a bra stitched in for support, fit, and comfort- you will either cut off or hide the straps at the end, so an older bra with fraying straps would be ideal.  While wearing the bra, I pinned on the material and tucked excess fabric under the bra band to create a fitted piece.   Below, you can see the pinning.

Then, I stitched the fabric to the bra by hand.

I stitched the material to the band, as shown below, with excess fabric tucked under.  I did not stitch the band all the way to the back- I want the band to be able to stretch in the back without being attached to the fabric.  Also, note how the back edge is folded under and pinned.  This will be stitched after support is added and excess material underneath can be trimmed.

I sketched and cut out two leather strips that matched the length of the corset back.  Then I stitched the leather in between the two layers of fabric where I had folded it over.   

Next, I punched holes through the fabric and leather and installed eyelets using an eyelet tool.  The leather inside serves to provide support and to prevent the eyelets from being ripped out.  I cut out a section out to accommodate the tuck in the fabric.

Then I stitched it to align with the tuck.

The under corset is complete.  You can see how it fastens in the back (again, the dress form is just for show- it was not the same as my measurements.)  The piece fits me more uniformly than it does the dress form.

See Part II for directions on how to construct the leather outer layer.