My last journal entry was on May 21 2009. That means that I didn't write anything for almost a year. Lazy girl. So, here we go. New journal entry, yay

Now, people are frequently asking me how did I learn to make corsets, and sometimes seeking advice. That is the primary reason why I decided to write this journal. Well, the answer is that I didn't learn to make corsets. In fact, I'm still learning. However, this is my story.

I don't use patterns or books, I'm completely self taught. There was no help from the other people or tutorials from the internet. I tried to find some, but none of them were useful. So it was all, in the end, based on logical thinking, looking at the pictures of corsets, trying, experimenting, learning on your mistakes and so on. Luckily, I didn't know how complicated the process of making corsets is, because if I knew, I would have probably given up at the very beginning. It seems that I didn't know what I was getting into back then .

This is how I started. I found an old leather skirt, bought some fishbones and found a needle. I had never made anything before that, and I was completely inexperienced. I cut the skirt into 4 pieces and started connecting them. When I finished, I just made some lacing on the front and on the back side. It wasn't very successful, but it was the first thing I made anyway: [link] It's more like some kind of top rather than corset. Then I got more leather and decided to make an underbust corset, because I knew that all attempts to make an overbust while being so inexperienced would be unsuccessful. I drawn the patterns on the leather, took a needle and started connecting them. I made canals for the bones on the edge of each piece. It took hours, because back then I didn't have sewing machine, so I had to work with the needle. It was hard, because needle would get stuck in leather, so I had to take some of my father's tools in order to pull it out. When it was over, I took it to the man who was working on the market to apply the grommets on the front for the lacing. This is what we got: [link] Soon, I made two more pieces using the same model: [link] [link] I was always wondering how the hell did I manage to make them completely fit my body. When you are making a piece of clothing that is so tight, it must really fit your body. Do just one mistake, and everything will go wrong. So I guess that the talent was also playing some role in my works.

Soon, I got bored from making underbusts and decided to make an overbust. It took long. My first overbust was not very successful: [link] , but second one I made is, I think, the best piece I ever made: [link]
The most important thing is that, even when you're self taught, you get better with each piece you make. You find out where you made mistakes on the previous works, and correct them. My biggest problem is that I can't find proper materials for corset making. I can't find, for example, busk, so I must use alternative methods of lacing. And I can only dream of metal bones.
This is my advice: don't do this the way I did, because you'll lose a lot of time and nerves. There are easier ways. If you never made anything before, first ask someone to teach you how to use sewing machine and how to connect pieces of fabric while sewing. Then try to make something using patterns from Burda. Then buy some corset patterns from the internet. But be careful. It is always more complicated to make corset than any other piece of clothing. If you decide to start making corset based on the patterns, make sure you have some experience. The more experienced you are, the better your first attempt of corset making will be. I can give you some suggestions which patterns to buy. I never used them, but I know that some online corset shops are using them successfully.

I don't know if this was helpful for anyone, but I must say that I am not a person with large knowledge or experience.