This is for all of those who have wanted to make a corset with a busk but thought they had to buy the front closure [the busk] off the internet. This will save you a few dollars and even help you recycle! If you're looking for authenticity...sorry this is very unorthodox. You might as well buy the online busks from ebay or a vendor that specializes in corsetry supplies. [I might make a video, depending if my camera cooperates.]
You'll need:
1 pack of hooks and eyes [I suggest the bigger the better but there are packs with various sizes in them. $1 - $3 at your local fabric store. I get mine from JoAnns]
1 piece of sturdy cardboard that is at least the same length of your corset's center front and 2 inches wide. [You can use a cereal box or posterboard but nothing as thick as an actual packing box.]
A hot glue gun w/ one stick of glue [you won't use all of it trust me]
Ruler
Pencil
Scissors
[Note: If you don't want to buy hook and eyes you can always use the metal wire from your notebook. [This idea was inspired by Kelly on Project Runway, 1st episode] Just unwind about a foot or so of the wire, clip it with a wire cutter. Use pliers to create a simple loop for the eyes. The hooks however, are created out of a loop that is bent backwards on itself. Try to squash it down as much as possible so that the 'eye' doesn't come out of the 'hook'. This is time consuming, takes practice, and can be painful if your fingers aren't protected and if you're making them too small.]
Let's get Started:
1. Most corsets have 4 or more pairs so you can go ahead and seperate the pairs of hook and eyes you want to use.
2. Measure the center front of your corset. Now take this measurement and subtract 1/2". Mark this new measurement onto your cardboard. You don't want it to be the same length or else it'll be hard to sew in. The width of the busk will be 1/2".
3. Cut out this strip and line it up with the center front of your corset. There should be at least 1/4" or more of room from the bottom and from the top. If not, cut accordingly and rounding the edges to prevent the corners from rubbing through once sewn in.
4. Take your hook and eyes, store bought or handmade, and seperate them into their respective groups. [You know, hooks with hooks, eyes with eyes.] Now take the measurement of your busk and divide it by the number of hooks and eyes you have to get the number of inches you will put between each hook and eye. Mark on your busk with a pencil where each piece will go, saving a little room from each end.
For example: Say your busk is 10" and the number of hooks and eyes you have is 5. Divide 10 by 5. The number you get, 2, will be the amount of inches you will put between each hook and each eye.
5. Once you've marked where each piece will go, plug in your hot glue gun. Glue down the eyes first, leaving the spaces to hang off the edge.
6.For the hooks, glue with curved side down and away from you. The glued side will be facing the inside of your corset once sewn in. Also it's better if the hooked part is overlapping with the cardboard. It prevents a small gap from forming.
7. Once you've let the glue dry, you can hook the matching pairs together and tadda! You've got a busk! If the sides are a bit mismatched, like one being higher than the other, you can trim them down to match.
[The 1st picture below is courtesty of Laracorsets.com, shown as an example of what a sewn in busk looks like. The second picture is courtesy of cosplaysupplies.com showing what a seperated corset busk looks like unsewn and seperated. Again, the one I made is just a DIY substitute that I find works just as good without having to spend money and wait a week for snail mail.]
this looks quite interesting, i'll read through it a few times to see if im capable of doing it lol but muchos gracias about the notebook for hooks and eyes, i did not know that so now i feel all inspired ^_^
Captain Planet, he's our hero Gonna take pollution down to zero He's our powers magnified And he's fighting on the planet's side Captain Planet, he's our hero Gonna take pollution down to zero Gonna help him put asunder Bad guys who like to loot and plunder "You'll pay for this Captain Planet!" We're the Planeteers You can be one too 'Cause saving our planet is the thing to do! Looting and polluting is not the way Hear what Captain Planet has to say! "The Power is Yours!"
good idea in theory. Have you tried one? In my experience, all the busks I've seen are hard core and metal (coz a huge amount of stress is put on them they need to be tough to take it).
How do these ones go, in a corset all laced up?
All the same, very creative.
Sevas Tra
Yesterday, upon the stairI saw a man who wasn’t thereHe wasn’t there again todayI wish, I wish, he’d go away. "Antigonish"
good idea in theory. Have you tried one? In my experience, all the busks I've seen are hard core and metal (coz a huge amount of stress is put on them they need to be tough to take it).
How do these ones go, in a corset all laced up?
All the same, very creative.
ya idk if hot glue will hold well enough...especially when you have to bend over and move etc...
It's a good idea, but I would definitely stitch instead of using hot glue. And I'd probably say use two-sided fusible interfacing to cover the cardboard in fabric first, so that if it is damaged in use you won't die of embarassment.
:Update:
yes...
the hot glue
does not really hold
too well but
stitching does as well
as a bit of
gorilla glue [I got frustrated
and decided that that might
work instead.]
[It did.]
Corset Busk -
10-01-2008, 02:03 AM
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