Busk Knobs... Done!!

Don't listen to anyone who tells you that you can use any ol' thing to poke holes in your fabric, such as, knitting needles, chopsticks, an ice pick from the hardware store, etc. No!!!! I used my 40% off coupon at JoAnn's and got an "ergonomic" tailor's awl. What a difference compared to the sadness and frustration of using the ice pick a couple days ago.

I brought the project to the office and used a little of my lunch hour. Comfy in a brightly lit room, full of coffee, I had the serenity to pry clean holes into the fabric. The idea is not to punch or cut big holes but to squeeze the fibers apart enough to slip the busk's knobs in like very tiny buttons.

Thanks to Bishonen Rancher's YouTube channel, I got the tip of poking one hole at a time and inserting the knobs up the line. Instead of poking all the holes at once and then getting frustrated with trying to force them all through. This polyester nylon brocade is kind of like glorified plastic wrap, so when you pry open a hole, the fibers want to close up right away.

I used my big paper clips to hold the busk strip in place while I poked each hole up the line. I also folded cut-up bits of old business cards so the clips wouldn't snag on the brocade.

I tested the fit, and wooo-hooo!!! It works!  The fabric looks weird in the photo because I took it outside to the parking lot in the sunshine.