Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Corsetery - Why is it so hard to find supplies?

I know we are now in the 21st century, but who would have thought it was so hard get your hands on some steel busks and boning! It's not like I live in the the middle of Montana either,where costume making supplies or specialty fabric stores might not be readily available. I live in Orlando Florida, surrounded by parks that employ costumes regularly, and one of the few cities in America that everyone recognizes by name.Despite this, it is impossible to find any supplies to make a corset, crinoline, or anything with boning. Sure, you can find mediocre patterns for some of these things at Joann Fabrics, but good luck making them without the notions that are listed. Maybe I should contact Joann Fabrics and inform them that they could have a one up on every other store in America if they would only stock a few busks. Sure, there are like five whole sites on all of the internet that sell some supplies, but paying 25 bucks plus shipping for a mystery busk that for all I know is made out of aluminum cans, does not sound appealing to me.

I did manage to get my hands on a 1/4 inch spring steel drain cleaner at the hardware store. It was pretty cheap and about the closest thing to authentic boning you can get without ordering it online from a specialty store. Granted I will have to cut the pieces to size and file them, but it will make my project that much more authentic.So, I have boning and a pattern but the list ends there. I still need fabric (preferably coutil), caps for the ends of the boning,a busk, and good laces. It looks like I have no choice but to order some supplies online, but that will have to wait until I have an extra 100 bucks to blow. Until then all I can do is stare in awe at other sewing aficionados completed works, longing for the day I can make my own.

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