Customer Reviews

The Basics of Corset Building: A Handbook for Beginners

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book covers, as the title suggests, the basics of corset making. It is geared towards the home sewer who has never made a corset before. It does a good job of covering the materials, tools, and skills needed to make a fairly basic corset. She uses two commercial patterns as examples, both of which are easily obtained and affordable. There are clear, greyscale illustrations throughout the book, but few pictures. The only color pictures in the book are on the front and back cover, and only the front cover is large enough to show any detail. Only the most basic fitting concerns are mentioned, so it may be necessary to find other references.

While much of the book is useful and basic, there are a few places that might distress a beginner. For example, she recommends buying several of an expensive item, like a busk, from a variety of suppliers in order to test the quality. While this is a sound practice from a quality standpoint, it is generally impractical for a home sewer on a budget. A note to leave a larger seam allowance for mock-ups is mentioned at the end of the fitting section, and not with the directions for creating a mock-up. In some places the directions are confusing, and take multiple readings to understand, even by someone who has made a number of corsets with a variety of techniques. No instruction is provided on how to do the beautiful and functional embroidery on the front-cover corset - instead the reader is told it takes too much skill.

The text of the book can be overly casual and distracting, but may make a beginner feel more at ease. Grammar and punctuation are lacking, and the book does not have a polished feel - it is more like an instructor's handout that was simply bound in a pretty cover. It would benefit from even a few pages of larger, color photos for inspiration. For such a bare-bones book, the listed cover price seems somewhat high.

If you already understand the basics of corset making and wish to improve your techniques, this book will not take you any further. It is a solid grounding in the basics, but will quickly be outgrown in terms of fitting and fine details.

I've tried to make corsets in the past with mediocre results. This book told me what I didn't know and couldn't guess.

Because the author, Linda Sparks, is the founder of Farthingales, a comprehensive list of suppliers is not provided. However, the information about what supplies and hardware are needed is complete and comprehensive, including what products are best for different applications. All of the instructions are clearly and simply written and illustrated.

This book was an excellent investment for me as I believe it will be for costumers, re-enactors, or anyone who wants to try a unique sewing project.

I can't imagine why the previous reviewer only gave this book 3 stars. This is an excellent resource for anyone unfamiliar with creating a professional looking corset. no, it isn't perfect, but there are very few books available that detail corset building and of this is by far the best I've found. As the title explains, this is the Basics of corset building and that is exactly what it covers. THis isn't your Halloween costume type of corset, but one that can apply to wedding dresses, gowns, historical re-enactment garments, etc. It gives detailed steps for creating a quality corset making it accessible to the home sewer and professional alike. This is a valuable resource and should be credited as such. Some materials, such as spiral boning, may require you to mail order, but do you really want a corset that looks like it came from the craft department of JoAnns? As the owner of nearly every costuming, textile, and sewing book on Amazon, costumer of numerous community theatrical productions, instructor, and author I applaud this book.

When I bought this book I had made Renaissance corsets and had done a fair amount of costuming and so didn't really expect Victorian style corsets to be all that difficult. I was right but that was due to reasonable instructions on the pattern I bought at the same time not due to this book. Unfortunately I found the instructions in the book to be quite difficult to follow and it was only when re-reading it after making five or six and having done rather a lot of supplementary reading that I understood what the author was trying to say, by which time it was far too late to be useful. Most disappointing.

Its good, if you have never, ever made a corset before. I was looking for something a little more in depth. the fitting notes are good, but are kinda common sense stuff. She only deals with two patterns, one of which i have made before, which came with good instructions, so the book would be superfluous if you are making the Laughing moon pattern.

This book is great for those of us wishing to build our first corset. I think the step-by-step instructions are great and will be a great help when I am ready to start working on my first corset.

I would highly recommend this book to beginning corset makers.

I've been sewing for about 7 years now, and decided to try making a corset. I bought a pattern got everything ready, and then got stuck. The pattern instructions told me nothing. So, based on these reviews, I purchased the book. Completely wonderful! It's written kind of like a textbook, but nevertheless, it gets the point across and helps you build your first corset! I'm also a little sad there's no color pictures, but I'm sure I'll be okay. For the beginning corset maker, I feel this book does it's purpose.

This book, while informative, is quite short, and has a few editing errors. However, those flaws can be looked over as the book does describe the tools necessary to put together a corset that one wouldn't normally find out about until much later. I suggest that this book be the one that any beginning corset designer should read first.

This is a must have for the first time corset maker. It is detailed, easy to understand and very comprehensive. I have been a costumer for over 50 years and consider it an extremely valueable resource book.

I was expecting a more in depth book on the basics, But it was confusing at times. I would have loved to see a few black and white photo's of corsets from the inside out. It gave me all of the information that my corset patterns give me. I'm somewhat disapointed!

As an intermediate sewer, this is not the book for you. Save your money and get a better book!