While some corset makers out there will be familiar with this term, there will be a larger number, especially amoungst the beginners, who haven’t a clue what a ‘Gore’ is. This blog post is for you.
It sounds like some sort of horror film genré but in actual fact it’s a type of corset pattern piece. Yes the ‘bust gore’ or the ‘hip gore’ are just triangular inserts of material that allow you when you make a corset, to add extra curve to the top or bottom. They were used more in the Victorian times when waists were smaller but I have seen a number of modern corset patterns with them in. If you make older corsets or are learning how to make a bodice pattern historically accurate, then it’s worth acquainting yourself with them. They can be made into a design feature or discretely incorporated into the corset design. They’re also fine to use in corset training corset sewing patterns and should not affect the strength of the corset when sewn correctly.
If you’re just starting to learn how to make a corset, I wouldn’t recommend this style of corset design simply because you don’t need the extra difficulty in your first corset sewing pattern. Corset making is complex enough for the beginner without having to work out where your spiral steel boning is going once the seam you’re following forks in two to accomodate a bust gore. I’m not saying corset making is distressingly difficult but easy to follow corset sewing patterns do help somewhat.
Anyway to clarify exactly what a bust gore looks like, heres a close-up of one of my own patterns – the Cupid Corset Pattern, which can be found on the patterns page of this website if you’d like a closer look.
Click image to enlarge
