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Corsetry

Corset materials estimator

Works out cloth, boning, busk length, eyelets and binding for a corset from three pattern measurements, and includes the mock-ups in the cloth figure rather than leaving them as a surprise.

The question this answers: “How much coutil, how many bones and what length busk do I actually need — including the mock-ups nobody warns you about?”

Top edge to bottom edge at the centre front, from your pattern.

The garment measurement your pattern is drafted to. Used for binding length only.

Six is the usual starting point.

Three is normal for a first corset.

Coutil is commonly sold at 140 cm.

Result

Coutil to buy, including mock-ups
4.32 m
1.08 m per garment × 4 (3 mock-ups plus the real one), at 140 cm wide.
Bones
24 at 28 cm
6.72 m of boning in total. Spirals where the body curves, flat steel beside the busk and the lacing.
Busk length to order
28 cm
Ordered to the same length as the bones. Busks come in fixed sizes, so round down rather than up — one that is too long digs in when you sit.
Two-part eyelets
22
11 a side at roughly 2.5 cm spacing. Two-part grommets rather than single-piece, which pull through under lacing tension.
Bias binding
1.94 m
Top and bottom edges plus a working allowance.

Worth knowing about this answer

  • These are quantities for a garment, not a fit. Nothing here says anything about what a corset should measure relative to a body, and this tool deliberately does not accept a target waist or compute a reduction — see the corsetry page for why.
  • Panel layout varies enormously between patterns, and a pattern with strong hip spring will not lay out as economically as this assumes. Treat the cloth figure as a minimum and buy a little over.
Show the working
  1. Bone length30 cm centre front − 2 cm for binding28 cm
  2. Bone count((6 − 1) × 2 + 2) × 2 sides24
  3. Cloth per garment(30 + 10) cm × 2 layers × 1.35 for binding1.08 m
  4. Cloth in total1.08 × 44.32 m
  5. Eyelets28 ÷ 2.5, both sides22

Coutil to buy, including mock-ups: 4.32 m. Bones: 24 at 28 cm. Busk length to order: 28 cm. Two-part eyelets: 22. Bias binding: 1.94 m

How it works

Bone length is the centre front measurement less 2cm, allowing 1cm at each edge for binding. Bone count is derived from the panel count — each internal seam carries a channel on both sides, plus one at the centre front and one at the lacing edge, doubled for two sides. Cloth is the panel height plus a seam allowance, doubled for the two-layer construction and multiplied by 1.35 for bias binding and the modesty panel, then multiplied by the number of garments including mock-ups. Eyelets are spaced at roughly 2.5cm along the lacing edge on both sides.

What it assumes

  • The two-layer construction with a strength layer of coutil, which is the standard method.
  • Panels of one side lay out in a single course across a standard fabric width, which holds for typical cloth at 140cm and typical patterns.
  • Bones stop 1cm short of the bound edges at top and bottom.
  • Eyelet spacing of roughly 2.5cm, which is conventional rather than fixed.

Where it stops being reliable

  • This computes quantities for a garment and says nothing whatever about fit. It deliberately does not accept a target waist and does not compute a reduction — the corsetry page declines to make any claim about what wearing a corset does to a body, and a calculator that took a target would be making that claim by implication with a number attached.
  • Panel layout varies enormously between patterns. A pattern with strong hip spring lays out less economically than this assumes, so the cloth figure is a floor rather than a quantity to order exactly.
  • Narrow cloth may not take a full course of panels across its width, at which point the length needed rises sharply above the estimate.
  • It knows nothing about your pattern’s actual piece shapes, only their height and count.

Runs entirely in your browser — nothing you type is sent anywhere. Last reviewed 2026-08-16. More on Corsetry.