Linda Sparks was born in Toronto, Ontario and graduated from George Brown College in Fashion. Her career started in the Toronto fashion industry but a move to the country changed her direction and she began costume building for the Stratford Festival Theatre in the late 1980s.

After almost ten years in theater, she opened Farthingales in 1997, a company she created to supply architectural products to the theater industry of North America. Farthingales stocks unique products like corset making materials, that can't be found in most fabric stores.

In 2006 Linda opened Farthingales L.A. Inc. (www.farthingalesLA.com) to better supply the US market. Farthingales L.A. Inc. is a corset shop, selling the raw materials, patterns, books and both ready made corsets and custom corsets. The L.A. location is also where Linda teaches her corset making workshops.

Think of a corset as a blank canvas.

Here’s what’s included in this comprehensive guide to building your first corset:|

Section One: Tools and Materials for Corset Building

Discusses the tools you’ll need, plus types of steel, plastic, and textiles.

Section Two: Building a Corset

Everything you need to know about working with bones and busks, setting grommets and eyelets, and creating a beautifully finished corset.

Section Three: Construction Techniques

Covers all the steps, including making a modesty panel, making a mock-up, and building single layer, double layer, and fashion fabric corsets.

Section Four: Alterations and Fit

Discusses commercial corset patterns, as well as how to fit and style a corset for exactly the look you want.