• corsetry,  personal projects

    1911 Corset Sewing the Actual Corset

    I know it’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted about this. There was the week I couldn’t stop dropping sharp objects on my feet, and then there is the part about how I am really bad about taking photos or writing blog posts. Really bad. But here I am to finish what I have started. Now that I have made a mock-up, and it fits, I have adjusted the paper pattern pieces to reflect my fitting changes; it is time to cut out the real thing and start sewing! This corset is unlined, so I have to make it using flat felled seams. This method involves sewing the wrong…

  • corsetry

    1911 Corset Sew Along Fitting & Altering the Mock Up

    Now I am on to the boring and tedious part of the process of things. If you were ever wondering why it takes me so long to get a new design out into the world here it is in a nutshell, AND this isn’t a pattern that I am developing. This is an already existing pattern that I am altering to fit myself. No working up a new design. No fitting of numerous different size bodies. Not testing of the durability of particular materials. Just saying. So back to this lovely 1911 corset. I tried on the muslin, and the bottom half fit too loosely in the hip. Now it…

  • corsetry,  personal projects

    1911 Corset Sew Along – The Mock Up

    So or those of you who hadn’t seen this yet, I am doing this fun sew along project that goes along in bite sized pieces through January and February, and I should end up with a 1911 corset for the Titanic centennial. So far, I have drafted the pattern in my size and have made a mock up which is called a “muslin” which is what one does to ensure proper fit of a garment made in some sort of cheaper fabric to practice on so one doesn’t ruin expensive fabric. As I said before in a previous post, I am only posting a couple of photos of my progress…

  • corsetry,  costumes,  personal projects

    1911 Corset Project

    I came across this blog when I was doing research for my new corset line. I have been reading it here and there. I hadn’t checked it in a while, but came across this sew along last week. And because it is in nice bite sized pieces, I decided it would be fun to do. The 1911 corset is to go along with the centennial of the Titanic this year. When I mentioned that to a friend, he asked if there would be any re-enactments. Not sure that is something that I would really like to re-enact, but to each their own I suppose. I am not sure if I…

  • personal projects

    Fixing the Holes

    once in a while i will get a crazy idea born out of some twisted idea of necessity. part of this is a fixation with repairing much loved things. a good long time ago, i received a vintage faux fur coat as a gift. it became my primary winter coat. and one day there was a hole in the lining. i patched that hole with a crazy quilt fan block i pieced together from some random scraps. the outside of the coat was fine, but the lining was disintegrating. over the next couple of years as the lining continued to fall apart, i continued to patch up the holes. finally,…

  • personal projects

    fixing an old friend

    many years ago i discovered quilting. i think that if i could make my living this way, i would be a quilter. it is a secret madness, quilting. the constant eye out and collecting of calico (the printed cotton fabric used for traditional quilting) with every trip to the fabric store, and the hoarding of scraps of fabric in plastic bins. i have several unfinished quilts that i work on every now and then resting in a neatly folded pile at the foot of my bed. about 10 years ago i made the quilt that covers my bed. it is made out of 1930’s reproduction prints in bubblegum colours. a…