-
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…
-
believe that everything is possible in 2012
Behind the scenes here in Piper Ewan land, I have been slowly coming to terms with the changes that I am needing to make in my business that I have been working on with numerous distractions for the last while. I have finally given up on the idea of an ETA or a deadline. The best I can do is keep on task. I have made every attempt to live my life on my own terms, and have been attempting to run my business on my own terms since I started back in 1998. There has been some straying from this here and there in order to try things out…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Holidays in Review
I am not the most fond of the holidays; I have spent too many years in one form of retail or another, and the holidays boil down to two things for me: 1. I have to make a ton of stuff. 2. I have to sell the stuff. A long time ago when I was in college, I started making all of my Christmas gifts myself because I was too burnt out on selling to do much shopping. Nowadays, I still make quite a bit of my holiday gifts, but not all of them. This year was especially cumbersome even though I only did two shows. I spent November getting…
-
My Troubled Relationship with Discount Sales
It is so hard to not get sucked in. I can have my resolve in place, but then people keep asking “When is this going to go on sale?” My answer is that it isn’t. This is really hard as a person who sells things to not have sales. The pressure comes from all sides. It comes from customers, from fellow craftspeople, from society. With things out there like Groupon and Living Social. From all of the peer pressure to participate in Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. It reenforces the idea that it is not okay to make your living selling things. That may sound hyperbolic, but that is…
-
Some Garters
On a beautiful fall day, Bettie Newell of Little Paper Cities took some lovely photos of my handmade silk garters. I have had this strange habit of numbering each and every garter I have ever made. In a little notebook there are 60+ handwritten pages with 1650+ garters written down; their colours, the date sold, and whom it sold to. I am not sure
-
Do You Really Want To Quit Your Day Job?
In talking to people about what it is that I do, I end up getting asked for advice on all kinds of things. Sometimes I feel like I should bite my tongue in order to be more encouraging of people to follow their dreams, but I am not sure that is doing them any favours. Don’t get me wrong. I am all about people leading the life they want to live, but that is kind of part of it. The whole doing what you love for a living is a dream for many and a goal for some. I try to share my experiences with people to help them learn…
-
Putting Yourself in the Right Place At the Right Time
photo: etsy labs I am such an occasional writer these days, but I have had many ideas to share with little time to share them aside from twitter. These end in long form rants that are in fragments that get my point across, but may sound a bit insane. As you may or may not know I have been a part of a group called I Heart Art PDX that has been putting on low or no cost programming around building your small creative business, professionalism and valuing your time. Okay, maybe that isn’t the official tag-line, but that has been what it has turned out to be. We are…
