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DIY step by step: Ann Demeulemeester corset belt

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  • marc1975
    Member
    • Dec 2010
    • 77

    DIY step by step: Ann Demeulemeester corset belt

    Hi !

    Yes, I am still working on my Gareth Pugh jacket (I just started vacation, so I have more time for some projects now), but that's not my only project

    As I was browsing the net, I found Ann Demeulemeester's corset belt from a few seasons back in a blog. When looking at it, I thought that this isn't *that* complicated to make, so I ordered some material and gave it a try.
    I am not finished yet, but I have progressed so far (and this is sooo easy) that I did not only want to share it with you, but provide step by step instructions on how to make this belt on your own. If you have a friendly cobbler nearby, you do NOT even need a sewing machine.
    Here we go.

    1. Ann Demeulemeester's corset belt
    ******************************

    Ann Demeulemeester came up with a simple, yet quite interesting corset belt in her fall/winter 2009 collection:



    Spreading it on a flat surface, the belt looked like this:



    It's doesn't look that hard to make. It's basically some leather and buckles, cut in the right form and punched with a few holes.
    It is not lined, the leather is not neatened at the cutting lines, it's very simple and basic. Yet this puristic style is what makes it interesting.


    2. Materials required to make this corset
    ********************************



    a) Fake leather (PVC, visible in white left upper corner)
    I recommend to make a basic pattern of the corset first before cutting the (more expensive) leather, so you should get some cheap PVC-based fake-leather, non-stretchy. As fake leather is thicker than normal fabric, it gives you the best approximation of how the final product will feel (also important for taking measurements).

    b) Real Leather (black, visible right upper corner)
    The leather I ordered is split leather with a PU (polyurethane) coating, which makes it more shiny, just like the original. The thickness should be at least 1.3 mm (0.05 inches). Mine is around 1.5 mm thickness, but I think 2 mm would also be fine. 3 mm would probably be too thick. The surface of the leather is completely smooth, without any visible grain.
    I ordered my leather online at a German leather store. If you are ordering online too, ask them to send you some small leather samples first, as leather is quite expensive.
    I ordered the smallest size - a douple butt ("croupon"), which was 1.63 square meters (17.54 ft) and cost around 80 Euros (114 USD). The material actually required was 0.48 square meters (5.16 ft).

    c) Roller buckles
    Ann used black buckles on her corset, which I wasn't able to find (the only black ones I found in a store had already some rust on them, so I didn't want to use them).

    You will probably be able to find nickle plated roller buckles more easily.



    The size of the belt that goes through the buckle (dimension A) is about 1 inch (that's the original size of AnnD's belt - thanks to Pak who measured his belt and sent me the measurements). You can make the belt wider or smaller - up to you. Mine do have a 25 mm size A, which is 1 inch.
    Depending on how tall the corset should be, you can decide how many belts your corset should have. AnnD's original has 14 belts, mine does have 15. Depending on how many belts you would like, you will need 14 or 15 buckles.

    d) Ruler and measurement tape
    A long metal ruler with an edge for cutting (lower edge of the picture) makes sense to be able to cut nice, straight lines. A tape ruler can be helpful for quick measurements but is not required.

    e) Knifes / Leather cutters
    The Swiss army knife on the picture is actually not used for cutting (as you will see later), and you cannot use it to cut the leather.
    I recommend getting either a special leather knife (like the "ARU Messer"), which is a special leather knife with exchangeable blades, or using a simple cutter with snap-off blades. There are even better alternatives for cutting leather, but those specialized leather knives are quite expensive (> 40 USD). A simple cutter will suffice for this project, as long as the leather isn't too thick.

    f) Optional: Scissors
    A household scissor will do. If you don't want to cut the fake leather with a knife, a scissor might be helpful.

    g) Hole punch
    This is very important for punching the holes into the belt. In addition, you will also need holes were the buckles go, so this is something you definitely need for this project.

    h) Office stapler
    If you don't have a sewing machine or are lazy (like I am), you can use an office stapler for putting together the first, fake-leather based draft of the corset.

    i) Chalk pencil or ceramic based fabric pencil
    In order to put the final pattern onto the leather (backside!), you will need some sort of marker or fabric pencil. You can use the standard chalk that is sold quite frequently at sewing stores, but the line that you get with the normal chalk pencil is quite thick. It's actually too thick for my taste to be useful for this project, as I want my cutting to be precise.
    The little red pen that you can see on the lower part of the picture is a Sewline fabric pencil with a ceramic-based lead, which gives you a 0.5 mm THIN line, which is absolutely fantastic for cutting the leather later on. Please note that it works if the leather has a velour-type backside. If the leather is very smooth, you may want to get yourself a silver-based pen that is normally used for leather works.

    j) Tape
    Required for holding the belt loops in place before stapling them. Will make more sense when I get to it in my description.

    k) Cork block / professional tacker / universal pliers (leatherman tool)
    We will use a professional tacker (blue, center of picture) to put together the belt loops. As these are very small, we use a cork block as a support plate and bend the staples with a universal plier later on.

    l) Leather / textile glue
    Before sewing (which can be done by your friendly cobbler), it makes sense to glue some parts together upfront (I will show you which). There are specialized leather glues on the market which will glue the leather in a couple of minutes. I use the German "Gütermann HT2" glue (yellow tube).


    And finally, there is one thing you need, but won't have at home. Your cobbler will probably have something like this (or a similar) one:

    m) Your cobbler: leather sewing machine (Pfaff 570 or similar)

    I tried sewing a sample patch of the leather with my household sewing machine. Yes, it punches through the leather, and you will get a clean seam (yay!), but you can hear the whole mechanics being stressed. If my sewing machine could talk, it would probably ask me whether I want to kill it.
    So... I went to my cobbler who happens to have a Pfaff 570 leather sewing machine. This has two advantages: It's powerful (punches through several layers of leather like butter), and it has a special foot that allows the seam to be much closer to the buckle than what I could do with my sewing machine.

    I asked him whether he could do the seams for me, and he told me that I could come over, take a seat in front of his machine and do it by myself (yes, we are friends).

    If you have a cobbler nearby, many cobblers also do repairs on leather belts and other leather goods. They should be able to do these seams for you for very little money, as there are only 28 seams (14 buckles + 14 belt loops) that need to be made.

    Materials summary:
    Before you go out and buy all of this stuff, read the complete guide first. You may find that you want to do things differently, so you don't require everything depictured here. I am just showing what I used to make the corset.
  • marc1975
    Member
    • Dec 2010
    • 77

    #2
    3. Construction / Draft
    ******************
    The leather that you will use will be the most expensive part of this project. I therefore recommend to first develop a draft version of the corset with some cheaper material. The PVC-based fake leather I bought was 11 Euro per meter, and I needed less than that. So for about 5 Euros, you can get a draft version which allows you to try out everything first before doing the real stuff.

    As your body is different than mine, you will need different measurements. Therefore we first have to find out what your exact measurements are to make this belt your belt. Not Ann Demeulemeester's size S, M or L belt, but a belt that fits you like it has been custom-tailored to you.

    We will start off with a basic one-size fits all-pattern:



    Using the fake leather and a pen (I recommend a permanent pen), draw a rectangle which is approx. 43 inches wide and 14 inches tall.
    Starting from the left, make a mark at 19 inches. This is where the center of the belt starts. The center (or front) of the corset is approx. 10.5 inches wide in the original version (mine is 11.41 inches wide, it depends on whether you are a girl or a guy).
    Make another mark at 19 inches + 10.5 inches = 29.5 inches.

    Draw a vertical line at these two marks.



    In the area which is marked "straps" and which is marked "buckles", make marks for the different belt straps, each 1 inched spaced apart (assuming that you have bought buckles that accept 1 inch wide belt straps).

    You should have a pattern on the fake leather that looks like this:



    Make cuts at those lines that are marked in red color in the figure above. Make sure that you don't cut the center, as we want the corset to be made from one single piece of leather.

    The final cut-out piece of fake leather should look similar to this one:



    Please note that yours will have a straight cutting line on the left edge and won't have any holes or other markings on it. Don't worry... we will get to that.

    Now we need to put the buckles onto the right side. Measure approx. 5 cm (2 inches) from the right side of the corset (of each belt) and draw a line at that position.

    The following figure shows where the line should be (in red):




    Attaching the buckles on the draft design:
    *********************************

    Now we need to attach a buckle on each of the straps. We will need the hole punch for that.

    First, locate the position that you just marked on the belt:


    Using the hole punch, move a little (approx. 5 mm) to the center of the belt and make a hole that is as wide as the middle pin of the buckle.


    Your hole should look like this:


    Now, move approx. 5mm to the opposite side of where you placed the mark and put another hole in:


    Your holes should look like this:

    Comment

    • marc1975
      Member
      • Dec 2010
      • 77

      #3
      Make an opening for the center pin of the buckle by cutting & connecting the two holes:


      The completed hole will look like this:


      Now put the the buckle's center pin through the whole as depictured here:


      ... and put the fake leather around the buckle, so it is enclosed by the leather:


      If this was the final version, we would require a sewing machine now. But as this is a simple draft, we can use our handy office stapler to attach the buckle semi-permanently:



      Do this twice, so the buckle is attached firmly:




      4. Try on / taking measurements
      **************************

      I couldn't take pictures of myself trying on the draft, so I am simulating what you have to do on my table.

      You should have a draft version with all the buckles attached by now, and with the 14 or 15 single belts dangling down on each side of the center. What's still missing is the holes in the belts, so the buckles can be closed. You could just punch in a couple of holes and find the one that fits best by trying on the corset.
      As I had a thing fake leather that could be punched quite easily, I did it a little differently:

      WHILE TRYING THIS ON (so with my hands fiddling around at my back), I put the belt through the buckle...


      ... pulled the strap so it would fit snugly:


      ... and punched through the material with the pin of the buckle, so I would get the hole were I needed it for a best fit:


      Final result:


      This way, I found the position of the best fitting holes for each of the belts. You will notice that the buckles are not located at the center of your back, but might be shifted to the left or right very much. This is what we want to change now.

      Comment

      • marc1975
        Member
        • Dec 2010
        • 77

        #4
        Starting with the first belt, take the measurement of the hole that you punched (measurement A) and the measurement of the buckle (measurement B):



        Measurement B should be 13.5 inches.

        Lets assume measurement A is 15 inches. In order for the buckle to close exactly at the center of your back, you need to calculate the following:

        ((Measurement A) + (Measurement B)) / 2 = new length (A* B*)

        In our example:
        (15 + 13.5) / 2 = 14.25 inches




        So we would have to adjust the length of each strap according to the newly calculated measurement:

        A* shows us where the new hole needs to be placed (in our example at 14.25 inches). This does not mean that the belt ends there. You can add a few inches to the belt, so the hole is not placed at the edge of the belt.

        B* shows us where the buckle should be placed. Again, you will need a few inches more to enclose the buckle and sew it to the belt strap.

        When you have completed this exercise for each strap of the corset, you have found the position for each hole / buckle that will make align all buckles at the center of your back.

        Some people like to have everything aligned in one line, but this leads to a problem that is also visible in the original AnnD belt - depending on who is wearing it:



        As the height of each buckle is bigger than the belt itself, this will lead to the belts being spaced apart a little. In addition, each buckle sitting on top of each other can be irritating when wearing the corset for a longer time.
        It becomes more evident in the following picture:



        When aligning the buckles in a straight line (right-hand side), they require more space than if they are aligned in a left-right-left-right pattern (left-hand side).

        If you would like to have the single belts sitting very snugly on top of each other, you must make sure that the buckles are aligned in the left-right-left-right pattern.

        In order to do that, we take our measurements and tweak them a little.

        Let's assume you had calculated the following measurements for belts no. 1 and 2:

        belt 1: 11in A* / 11in B*
        belt 2: 11in A* / 11in B*

        This would lead to both buckles sitting on top of each other.
        Measure the buckle you are using:



        Take the buckle size B and divide it by two.
        My buckle's size B is 1 inch, the measurement we need is 1 inch / 2 = 0.5 inches.

        Now for each uneven belt number, we add / substract this amount from the hole / buckle measurement.
        For each even belt number, we substract / add this amount to the hole / buckle measurement.

        In our example, this would mean:

        belt 1: 11in A* - 0.5in / 11in + 0.5in B*
        belt 2: 11in A* +0.5in / 11in - 0.5in B*

        ... so our new measurements would be:

        belt 1: 10.5in A* / 11.5in B*
        belt 2: 11.5in A* / 10.5in B*

        For belt #1, the buckle shifts a little to the left (looking onto the back), for belt #2, the buckle shifts a little to the right.

        If we do the same for each of the belts, we get a perfect left/right alignment for each of the buckles.

        Taking the new measurements, you can do another version of the draft belt with the fake leather to be absolutely sure that everything works out.

        Comment

        • marc1975
          Member
          • Dec 2010
          • 77

          #5
          5. Creating the final version
          *************************

          Using our finalized measurements, we can now use the real leather to create the belt.

          Note: As leather is a natural material, take a look at the surface of the leather and search for any blemishes, scratches or other things that might be ruining your work. If you are ordering leather from an online dealer, tell them the total measurements of the rectangle you need in perfect condition. My dealer looked for a leather skin that was absolutely spotless in the measured area that I had provided to her.

          Once you have got the leather, follow the steps of drawing the basic pattern onto the leather, just like in the fake one.

          Start by cutting the straps where the buckles go:


          first four...


          all 15 belts... my hand hurts. Should have bought the more expensive leather cutting knife...


          Preparing the belt loops:
          We still need belt loops for each of the buckles. If the straps are 1 inch wide, I recommend cutting a 1 cm x 6.5 cm wide strap (0.39in x 2.56in) that will be formed into a belt loop:


          Cutting the strap...


          ... forming a loop ...


          ... securing the loop with tape ...


          ... tape goes around the loop to the inside ...


          ... center where the two ends meet is marked ...


          ... ends are stapled together (on top of the cork block, so we can remove the staples easily. If you have a small stapler that will staple through leather and fit through the loop, you can leave out the cork block). First at one side ...


          ... then a second time on the other side...

          Comment

          • marc1975
            Member
            • Dec 2010
            • 77

            #6

            ... removing the loop from the cork block...


            ... now we need to bend the ends...


            ... leatherman tool comes in handy...


            ... finalized belt loop.

            Do this 14 or 15 times, depending on how many belts you want to have.

            Attaching the buckles:
            Again, we put in longish holes for the buckles:


            ... put the belt loop onto the belt BEFORE putting on the buckle (sorry... forgot to take a picture).

            Then we place a small amount of glue at the side of the longish hole:


            ... and press the leather together firmly. After a minute or so, the buckle should be looking like this:


            With all buckles finished, the one side of the corset looks like this:


            Next I will make a seam where I placed the glue, so basically just next to the buckle. A second seam will be placed near the belt loop, so it cannot move further to the center. I will do this on Monday (if he has time) at my cobbler and will be posting the pictures of this tomorrow.

            Comment

            • KodakII
              Senior Member
              • Sep 2008
              • 388

              #7
              The dedication and the level of craftsmanship that you continue to show throughout your projects is really inspiring. Keep up the good work and I can't wait for the next installment.

              Comment

              • mingrui
                Member
                • Aug 2011
                • 34

                #8
                wow. this is unreal

                Comment

                • marc1975
                  Member
                  • Dec 2010
                  • 77

                  #9
                  Back from my cobbler. Cool guy


                  Sewing on the buckles
                  He showed me how to operate his Pfaff 591 sewing machine...


                  ... which has a special foot that allows to stitch very closely to the buckle. In addition, the transport mechanism is different to a normal household-sewing machine, and the machine is *really* powerful. Sewing the leather was no problem at all.



                  This is the part that could be completed by your cobbler, not by you, if you don't have a sewing machine like this at home:
                  As you can see in the photo above, I used a piece of tape as a guide to get a straight stitch line. After completing the buckle seam, I moved the belt loop close to the buckle and completed a second seam near the other end of the tape. So the tape basically served two times as a guide.
                  Note: These are industrial sewing machines. If your cobbler let's you work on one of his machines, make sure to bring a sample piece of leather first. Contrary to my sewing machine, this machine's slow stitch mode is still much faster than mine, so you have to be very careful when sewing.

                  Here's the result:


                  Here ends the part what your cobbler may have to do for you.

                  You could
                  - simply cut the thread off (most people do)
                  - put knots into the thread to secure it or
                  - use a lighter to melt the polyester thread, which also secures it

                  I used a lighter. I cut the threads, so there would be only about 2 - 3mm left and used the blue flame part of the lighter to slowly melt the polyester. Make sure that you don't burn it, as this doesn't yield the desired effect of securing the thread.


                  The final result should look similar to this picture:


                  Cutting off the excess leather belt near the belt loop delivers the following result for the backside:


                  All buckles in total view:



                  Belt straps
                  Again, using the measurements that you took with your draft version, mark the position of where the belt holes should be. I created a small template (the white cardboard thingy) that would show me the exact center of where I had to mark the punching point. This should look similar to this:


                  As you can see, I made two markings for each belt.
                  • The first one (with the punch dot in the middle) marks the point where I need to create the belt hole.
                  • The second one is spaced approx. 15 cm (5.9 inches) apart from the first point and marks the spot where I cut off the leather. This way, the belt still has some leeway and you can punch in additional holes if you like.

                  Comment

                  • marc1975
                    Member
                    • Dec 2010
                    • 77

                    #10

                    Cutting the single belt straps...


                    ... punching in holes and cutting off the straps at the second marking (no picture, sorry).


                    Final result:







                    A fit pic will follow soon :-)


                    Last thoughts on this project

                    There are two things that could potentially be done:
                    1. There is only ONE hole per belt strap punched in right now. Regular belts do have multiple holes punched in, although most people just require a single hole. Still, we are used to seeing multiple holes in a belt.
                    Question to the audience: Would you punch in an additional 2 or 3 holes for aesthetic reasons?

                    2. The end of the belt straps could be cut in a little more rounded way. AnnD's original belt has rounded ends. I actually prefer rectangular ones, although they are a little more difficult to feed into the belt loops.


                    All in all, the project took approx. 20 hours from start to finish (searching and ordering materials, visiting a shop in a city nearby for buying the buckles, intitial draft, tryon, left-right-left-right idea, modification of draft, tryon, final version), not including this writeup.

                    The one thing I would change if I were to do it again: I would buy a really good leather knife. It might be expensive, but your hands will thank you by not hurting that much after cutting several strips of thick leather.

                    If you want to do an even better version, you might want to get a second leather for an inner lining and sew both parts together. As this requires access to a leather sewing machine, I didn't consider that. Besides, I wanted to stay close to the original.

                    I hope you enjoyed this DIY step by step guide as much as I did

                    Comment

                    • michael_kard
                      Senior Member
                      • Oct 2010
                      • 2152

                      #11
                      Awesome work once more Marc, looking forward to the fit pics!
                      ENDYMA / Archival fashion & Consignment
                      Helmut Lang 1986-2005 | Ann Demeulemeester | Raf Simons | Burberry Prorsum | and more...

                      Comment

                      • alex.a
                        Senior Member
                        • Aug 2008
                        • 217

                        #12
                        i think it looks better without the regular 2-3 more holes, makes it more minimal and different i guess

                        Comment

                        • marc1975
                          Member
                          • Dec 2010
                          • 77

                          #13
                          Fit pics of corset belt

                          Hi,

                          as I had already assembled all of the photographic equipment today, I used the time to make a couple of fit pics of the corset belt.
                          I decided to punch in a couple of more holes to each belt, as this allows me to wear it either with a more thicker sweater underneath, or a little more "relaxed", as it can be a little breathtaking when you buckle up every single belt... well, I wanted it to sit tight...

                          I haven't found the ideal trouser to wear it with, as the belt-loops of a jeans are suboptimal. The ideal trouser would have no belt-loops or pockets at all, so the belt loops of the corset couldn't get stuck to one of these.


                          Front


                          Side


                          Back: Notice that the buckles form a left/right/left/right/... pattern when closed completely.


                          Front, like in the runway pics with some buckles open. This is also the way I will be wearing it most of the time I guess.

                          Edit: One funny thing: My cobbler wanted to see the corset in the finished state, as he allowed me to use his sewing machine, so - fair enough - I put on the corset and my Rick Owens heeled boots (basically the outfit you see on the pic) and went to the parking lot in order to drive to him. While doing that, a couple of cars passed, and *every* single one of them slowed down to get a better view.

                          Comment

                          • darkbydesign
                            Senior Member
                            • Sep 2010
                            • 817

                            #14
                            You make some of the sickest leather repros ever! Also, your details and instructions are fantastic.

                            You should be doing this full time! (Maybe you already do...)

                            Great work
                            DxD

                            Comment

                            • lowrey
                              ventiundici
                              • Dec 2006
                              • 8383

                              #15
                              nice work and write up, but I have to say that this is not a piece that works well on a typical male body shape, it just looks awkward.

                              I think you need to either be stick thin and wear it more like an accessory (like the original piece on the runway - its not super fitted like corsets usually) or have an hourglass figure and wear it skin tight, like a typical corset. either way, its more likely to work on a woman's figure imo.
                              "AVANT GUARDE HIGHEST FASHION. NOW NOW this is it people, these are the brands no one fucking knows and people are like WTF. they do everything by hand in their freaking secret basement and shit."

                              STYLEZEITGEIST MAGAZINE | BLOG

                              Comment

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