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Making a Corset
I'm making a corset at home (I know it takes skill and dedication. I've been sewing since I was 10 and I'm pretty nifty at it now & summer just started so I have all the time in the world).
1. Should I make it lace in the front or back? Should I make the non-lacing side just sewn or hooked or the like? Reasonings? Pros and cons of lacing in the front/back?
2. I'm having trouble getting boning and busk (I don't want to make a fashion corset. I'm making one that will effect my body shape) & I'm not going to be able to get them online or good substitutes at a store. I was planning to cut pieces of plastic (I know, it's not the best material) from a plastic top or the like. Or I was thinking about using the metal wire from a hanger (has anyone tried?). Is there anything better?
Thank you & any advice would be appreciated =)
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Maybe give some free advice about: Fashion and Styles?
1.)1.) Lace in the back for a better fit, by far, a better fit and shape. The only reason to lace in the front is because you like the look (which is okay, but that is only reason to really do it). Do not use hooks and eyes, use proper grommets. The kind of grommets that are used for curtains and upholstery are the strongest and best.
2.) MAKE YOUR LIFE 1000% easier by buying a busk here: [Link](Mouse over link to see full location)
There is NO way to fake a metal busk that I know of, and I work in theatre. We specialize in trying to fake these things. If you can't purchase a metal one, best to make a wooden one. [Link](Mouse over link to see full location) has some pictures of wooden ones and has them for sale. If you can’t buy one you will need to find someone to help you cut one out of a hardwood piece which can be relatively cheep at any home improvement store.
As far as boning, there is one kind of plastic you can buy that works reasonably well: zip ties. Not the small ones, but the long honking ones for garden work or cables.
That is the best kind of makeshift boning possible, and frankly, even it isn’t strong enough to make a corset that will effectively cinch (i.e. make your waist any smaller). If you try to make plastic boning, even real plastic boning, shrink your waist, the plastic will bend and twist inside the bone casing. Plastic is simply insufficient for a corset to significantly change your waist size. You can get about a half inch off with a corset made with plastic boning, if you want any greater reduction you really must use metal.
Coat hangers will NOT work, and will be a bitch to even try out. Worst of all, they will rust, rip through your fabric and I would bet they will also warp from your body heat after a few wears. Metal boning which is meant for corsets is specially treated and sealed to prevent those problems.
I have built (or helped to build) almost a dozen corsets, a good number of them drafted from scratch and both for modern wear and period costumes, and you simply cannot make one that will reduce your waist by much more then a half inch without the right materials. I’m sure you are a very smart and skilled sewer, but it is just about gravity and materials. You can’t make a chocolate cake out of ground beef, or functional swimsuit out of wool, and you can’t make a really functional corset out of odds and ends.
My advice to you, is to go ahead and make your corset with what you have at your disposal now, but don’t get to disappointed when it isn’t quite as great as you would have liked. For Christmas or your next birthday, ask someone to order you a corset making kit from one of the two sites I gave you links too and you’ll realize just how much more is possible when you have the proper tools and materials at your disposal.
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