Bonara corset sewing pattern

Skill level: Intermediate

Bonara is a good first historic corset for makers who are ready to step up from the modern range. It is more technical than a beginner corset, but simpler than the more intricate historic styles because it avoids some of the additional design complications found elsewhere in the collection.

You’ll build confidence with a steel busk, external boning channels, spiral steel boning, vertical piping, laced back fitting and bias-bound finishing. It asks for patience and accuracy, but it gives you a clear route into historic corset making without dropping you straight into the deepest end.

This is the kind of project that makes the next historic corset feel less intimidating.

Coming from a modern corset? Read modern and historic corsets: the difference, and which to sew first.

Fabric usage:

• Decorative fabric: 140 cm wide × 33 cm
• Structural coutil: 140 cm wide × 64 cm

Fabric suggestions:
Use structural coutil for the base layer. Bonara relies on support, shaping and stability, and the coutil is what lets the corset hold its line properly.

For the outer layer, choose a decorative fabric that can show off the curves without becoming bulky. Satin gives it a high-shine historic mood. Lace softens the silhouette. Cotton keeps it crisp and clean. A fine decorative net over selected panels can add texture without fighting the shape.

Bonara is especially strong when the fabric choice supports the panel lines, piping and belt detail. Keep the decoration deliberate. Let the construction do some of the talking.

Supplies:

• 300 cm × 1.2 cm bias binding
• 570 cm × 0.8 cm bias binding
• 26 eyelets with backing washers, 0.8 cm diameter
• 4-loop steel busk, 26 cm maximum length
• 570 cm × 0.6 cm spiral steel boning
• Decorative fabric
• Structural coutil
• Matching thread

Equipment:

• Sewing machine
• Needle & thread
• Pins
• Paper scissors
• Fabric scissors
• Eyelet press
• Metal pliers or suitable cutters for spiral steel boning

For what each item does and the amounts for every pattern, read our corset making supplies guide.

Bonara is available in UK 4–20 / EUR 32–48 / US 0–16. Choose your size by comparing your bust, waist and hip measurements to the size chart. If you fall between sizes, make a toile first and adjust for your shape before cutting into your final fabric.

Included in your download pack

• PDF sewing pattern in A4 and US Letter, tiled pages for home printing, all sizes nested
• PDF sewing pattern in A0, one sheet for a copy shop, all sizes nested
• Step by step sewing instructions PDF
• How to print guide PDF: print settings, scale check and how to piece the pages together

File structure

├── How to Print Documentation.pdf
├── Sewing Instructions.pdf
└── Sewing Patterns
    ├── A0 (one sheet)
    ├── A4 (tiled pages)
    └── US Letter (tiled pages)

The size chart is on this page and on the Size charts page. It is not a separate file in the pack.

This is a digital product. No paper pattern will be posted.

After checkout, you can download the corset sewing pattern pack from your order completion page, from your download email, or later through My Account → Downloads.

• PDF: Open the PDF files in Adobe Reader and print at 100% scale, not “scale to fit”.
• Downloads: Save the ZIP file to a laptop or computer rather than downloading it to a mobile device.

For personal use only.

You may not sell garments made from this pattern, and you may not resell, lend, share, or redistribute the original pattern files. Please read our Terms & Conditions for more information.

Bonara is the corset you choose when you want the shape to do more.

The silhouette is built around the curves of the late 1800s: fuller through the bust and hip, narrower through the waist, and structured enough to feel very different from the modern beginner range. The separate belt panel gives the design its character. The steel busk gives it authority. The external boning channels and vertical cord piping give the surface that unmistakable historic-corset language.

It is not the most complex corset in the collection, and that is exactly why it works. Bonara gives you a proper introduction to historic construction without making the first step feel impossible. You still get the hardware. You still get the shaping. You still get the slow, satisfying build. But the project stays focused enough to finish.

Make it in satin and it becomes polished. Make it in cotton and it becomes crisp. Add lace or fine net and it turns romantic without losing the line. However you style it, Bonara is a corset with shape, structure and purpose.

Intermediate, yes. Overwhelming? No.

Bonara is where historic corsetry starts to curve harder, and look like it means it.