"In The Mood"

Now that MisCon is overwith this year, I can return my focus to the box of unfinished corsets I have in my sewing things, and to other projects/orders.

Today, while there where massive sales at JoAnn's, I purchased fabric for one of the outfits I'm making custom for my friend Melanie. The prices were too good to pass up, so I dipped into some of my savings and she will reimburse me when she can. So far I have just about everything except for the corset boning and binding, but that won't be needed until the end of construction, so all is well.

The fabric I picked out will, I think, look awesome on her. She did pick out the material for the skirt since I did fabric "recon" and emailed her pictures of the choices. The dark brown with a leaf pattern cotton will be used for the top portion of the bodice. The brown next to it, the faux suede fabric will be used for the corset. And finally the lovely leafy green patterned flowing material will be used for the wrap skirt, and the short sleeves.

Since the sales were too awesome to pass up, I did splurge a little on some fabric for myself/Lily.

This fabric actually matches some fleece I bought to make her a blanket (I still haven't made it, imagine that). The center fabric actually matches it exactly. My plans are to make her some little summery dress tops to wear with capri pants or leggings. It works really well since she loves all of those things! Turtles, frogs, and especially ducks!

This fabric I bought to make her a Halloween blanket, :) I'm going to get either black or yellow blanket binding and some sort of backing, be it a satin or even just a plain cotton and maybe do some white stitching around the ghosties, just to give it a neat effect. But we will see!

Tomorrow Adam has the day off so I'm going to have him watch our little girl so I can get to work on starting to draft up a corset pattern for Melanie, then work on the skirt. So excited for progress! :)

MisCon 24; Completed!

The panel at MisCon is OVER, I was so nervous! But I think that Eden and I did a very good job on it, :) a bit disorganized, but thats okay. When we do it again, we'll be more in order! I think I did pretty good at speaking infront of a crowd, we'll see if I can do it again! The attention of SpoCon was gathered and thats in the end of July, they want to have me speak there too! Crazy! I may have to see if I can get Adam a pass so he, Lily and I can all go, and he won't be stuck in a hotel room while I'm doing my thing. When I get an email from the gal, I'll see what its all about.

I attended the Dark Dreams as a VooDoo/Creole inspired Steam-Punker, I like to think I looked pretty darn cool, but thats just me. For this the only things I made were my mini-top hat and the rag-doll falls. Something I don't really spend much time with, although I have been breaking them out more often for Dark Dream's Events.

Now that my MisCon responsibilities and stresses are over, I can return my focus to projects. Tomorrow (Sunday AM) I will be going to price out fabrics for a custom outfit for a friend, and then Monday if my friend takes her day with Lily, I will work on drafting patterns and finishing corsets that are sitting in my "unfinished projects" tote.

Preparations for this weekend...

Never have I been so anxious about something! This weekend is KILLING me, I swear it. Not only am I stressed about the panel (me and public speaking = no good), atleast I'm not the principle speaker! That makes it better. But I'm also freaked over the Dark Dreams. The theme is SteamPunk, and I don't have alot of Victorian inspired wear. But I put something together and I'm hoping it will work. I just wish I had green and black striped stockings, which is what I'm going to go on the hunt for today. Lily's mood pending.

I've been hard at work on my mini-top hat for the dance, and I made an eyepatch for it as well. I didn't end up sewing anything for the outfit, I grabbed things from my closet (yay! no additional work for me!) and threw them together on my mannequin. I'm going for a Creole/VooDoo style that from what I've reasearched online, no one else has done with the Steam Punk look. I just need to find a few other items, I'll be going and buying a $1 deck of playing cards and putting the King of Hearts on my hat... playing cards were a poor man's Tarot deck, so I think it will work. I was thinking of doing a tarot card, but I don't feel like struggling to get a hold of one (my printer is out of ink... :( ) just to glue to a hat. So, a playing card should suffice.

I'm hoping I'll get pictures of the entire get up this time. Whenever I dress up, somehow I don't get pictures. I would love to do a photo "Shoot" with this outfit, with candles, some of the decorative skulls we have floating around and our "potion" bottles, but who has time for that? Hehe. I'm thinking of doing heavy heavy green eye makeup and possibly black lipstick to add to it. I don't have "tooth paint", otherwise I would do the black teeth to go with the theme. I also need to track down the little voodoo keychain doll my hubby's mother bought me awhile back so I can hang it from my belt.

Today I'm going to buy a Nerf gun to paint up and turn into a steam-punk-esque weapon, and some little pistols to go with.

Wish me good-deals on shopping! :) and hopefully I'll have some pictures posted from this weekend!!

On the work side of things..

"Bella" for Eden 99% Completed

All that remains on this is for me to press the finished edges and redo the laces. And it's all finished! I'll just need payment before I can return it to her.

"Lillith" for Meg 90% Completed

I set the grommets on Monday (and my arm is STILL killing me) and all that remains is for the edges to be ribbon finished and the buttons sewn down the front!

Slow Progression

The last few days I haven't really made much progress, I've been on something of a little break to draft up some designs for a few potential orders from friends. But today my 1000 sets of Grommets and Washer's arrived in the mail so I did two things: I reset the eyelets on the Rose "Bella" for Eden and set the eyelets for Meg's "Lillith". Now all that is left to do on Meg's is finish up the bottom, sew the ribbon binding down and finish sewing the button's down the front.

I didn't have a chance to pull out the sewing machine and work on completing a few that are at that stage where they just need to be sealed up and ribbon bound, but I will work on that mayhaps later this week. Maybe even Wednesday if I have the time.

I'm getting really anxious for this weekend! Panel at MisCon, and I'll also be putting in an appearance at the Dark Dreams. I will be, to the best of my ability, SteamPunked out!

MisCon 24

So I just realized that next weekend is MisCon. A friend of mine, Eden La Trobe invited me as a guest on her panel, Corsets Through Time, and I'm actually really nervous! I've never been good at speaking in public. When I worked at Mr. Tux, I got used to it a little because I had to put on little "Speeches" about men's formal wear daily, but its been almost a year since I worked there!

I'll be bringing a few corsets for show, and I will be dressed up according to the theme, which is said to be along the lines of Steam-Punk. Time to break out those bustle skirts!

If you are local to Missoula, and would like to attend this panel, it will be at the Ruby's Inn and Convention Center, at 5pm  on Saturday, May 29th. MisCon will run from Friday the 28th through Monday the 31st, with a Dark Dreams event on the 28th at 9pm, located in the basement of Jokers Wild, $7 admission fee 18+.

Steel and Plastic Bones

Today I didn't break out the sewing machine, but I worked on finishing inserting bones. I've got all but one fully boned and ready to be finished.

"Untitled" 70% Completed

This design currently has no name! It is a three-panel corset with adjustable straps, inspired by 18th Century stays, but without tabs. There are sits on the front bottom that will be embelished with eyelets to "lace" them together. This corset is missing plastic boning. All the steel has been added, but I'm missing all but two of the plastic bones. When money comes around, I will go and buy more. This corset also needs the eyelets to be reinforced by embroidery.

 "Lillith" for Meg 80% Completed

A long over-do re-do. This corset is fully boned and all that remains to be done is finishing the bottom and top ribbon binding, setting the grommets and sewing the buttons down the front. It's all cake from here now that the boning is finished. Hopefully it will be done very soon.

"Bride" for Madeline 95% Completed

All of the boning has been inserted and all that remains for this corset is for the bottom to be finished! Yay! I'm really pleased with how this came out (the re-work, that is). I was very upset when I found out that the material stretched in a rather unsavory way. I'm so pleased with how its turning out now, and I also added more steel bones.

"Bella" 99% Completed

I'm finally nearly finished with this one! I've got one side of eyelets to embroider and it will be all done and ready for pictures, then to sell! Yay! I'm very happy. This one has taken me forever.

 "Lillith" 85% Completed

I actually started this corset nearly two years ago. I started it when I was working as the store manager at Mr. Tux and before I got pregnant. It's finally getting finished! Yay!This is the first time I've used a zipper in a corset. When it is finished, I will test-drive it to see if zippers can withstand the pressure of lacing. This corset is boned with plastic and steel, and today I finished inserting the bones. 

A rather productive week...

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures, but today I was rather productive. Well, all week rather. Instead of taking time to veg like I wanted to, I put myself to use.

I finished the "Abigail" corset for Jez, I haven't had a chance to make the modesty plate yet, but I will get around to it, as well as a modesty plate for my "Sweetheart" prototype. I completed the "Orient" prototype and got the Ice Queen "Bella" to the point where I just need to reinforce the eyelets. before I post a few of them for sale, I need to get good photo's of them for my website/catalog.

"Bride" for Madeline 80% completed

Today I finished sewing in the boning casings and started to bone it. Currently all thats missing is the steel for the back pieces. Tomorrow I'm getting those cut and tipped and hopefully on Monday I can finish the boning process, then work toward finishing the bottom so Madeline can pick it up on Wednesday! We will see however. Hopefully illness won't strike me. Again.

"Orient V. 2.0" Prototype 90% completed

I started inserting the boning, all thats left is a few steel bones that need to be cut, then I can finish the seams on the bottom, bind it and press the bindings.

"Lillith" for Meg 85% completed

All that remains is one steel bone to be cut and tipped, the buttons to be sewn down the front, grommets set and the finishing binding to be done. This one is moving along smoothly.

"Lillith" for me 80% completed
This one I started way back when I worked at Mr. Tux. I need to cut and tip the boning, bind and finish the bottom seams, do some clean up work and then press the bindings.

"Bella" Rose for Eden 90% completed

I retrieved this back from Eden so I could do some clean up work as well as fix the back ribbon binding (I did such a rushed job I didn't realise the stitching had come out until I was at the event she was wearing it for) and I'm going to reinforce the eyelets.

"Untitled Black and White, strapped" for sale 50% completed

I have quite a bit of work to do on this one... I need to reinforce the eyelets by embroidery, cut and tip the boning, finish the bottom edge and press. I also need to sew one more casing for boning along the back. This design is currently un-named.

I also have a few other projects in the works. I had done sketches and figured out material yardage and cost for one outfit for a friend, and I'm now working on sketches to determine fabric yardage and more on a second outfit for her. Images and information to come on those soon.

"18th Century Stag Gown" 80% completed

This is a re-do of my first Georgian gown I ever made. I redid the sleeves, fixed the bodice and changed the stomacher as well as petticoat in color and style. The stomacher was completely embroidered by hand (images to come!). The petticoat hasn't been constructed yet, but I have hung the material to get any creases in the material out before I press it. I'm really excited to finish this costume, but I am taking my time!

"Swing Dress" Prototype 10% completed

Something I'm working on, on the sidelines. It is a design I hope to include in my collection once I finish it and see how it looks. It's inspired by a 1940's style dress, but with a full circle skirt, which is more 1950's. The material has been cut out and the pockets are all that has been sewn at this stage.

Progressing nicely..

It's been a day or so since I've posted my progress. It's coming along rather nicely! I finished the "Abigail" corset for Jez, I just need to work on the modesty plate, and she is wanting to order a matching pencil skirt from me. As soon as I finish up work on a few corsets I have sitting in my progress tote, I'll get to work on that!

Currently, progress stands as thus...

"Bride"  for Madeline 50%
Still where it was. I haven't pulled out the sewing machine for a few days. I've been focusing on hand work.

"Bella" Ice Queen for Sale 95%

I finished this one tonight as far as the ribbon binding goes, I'm currently working on reinforcing the eyelets with a different embroidery technique.

I really like it, it almost has a floral like pattern to it. It doesn't take very long either. So that's a plus..

"Lillith" for Meg 60%

I started cutting the boning and setting it. All I'm missing for the boning is the two front pieces. I will sew the buttons done the center before I set these bones and then all left will be to set the grommets and finish the bottom.

"Orient" prototype for me 50%

Started to cut the boning. Not much progress has been made on this one unfortunately, but there is no real rush on it since its a prototype I will be keeping.

"Untitled" for sale 60%

A semi-tabbed, strapped design that currently has no name! I started cutting the boning for this piece, and reinforcing the eyelets with embroidery thread.

Updates, with pictures.

Today I got alot of work done. I sat down and embroidered eyelets for most of the day, and then after my daughter went to bed I pulled out the sewing machine and made some headway there.

"Abigail" for Jez 95% completed

Today I finished adding the boning, sealed up the bottom and it is now for the ribbon binding to be finished! I also put some snap backs for the modesty plate I plan to make for it. Tuesday I will finish the ribbon binding and she'll be able to pick it up. As soon as I have the modesty plate I'll be able to get that to her as well. I may be able to work on it later this week.

"Bride" for Madeline 50% completed

The eyelets were finished today and I'm hoping to finish working on the boning casings either tomorrow or later this week, depending on when I can get some work done.

"Orient" for sale 100%

I finished embroidering the eyelets today and this one is finally ready to post for sale!

"Bella" for Sale 85% completed

I added the ribbon binding to the bottom, it just needs to be finished up. I am debating on reinforcing the eyelets with white embroidery thread. The more I think about it, I think I may end up doing so. Just to make sure.

This picture is actually before I put the ribbon on the bottom. I haven't posted any of pictures of this corset so I wanted to show what it looks like. It is a one of a kind since I no longer have any of the Chrysanthemum overlay material I used.

"Abigail", "Bride", "Orient" and Others

So I've been a bit busy the last few days! My replacement die's finally arrived for my setter and it works like a dream. It makes me so happy! Now I just need a 1/4 die setter and to find out where to get decent priced grommets and washers and everything will be peachy.

I've put in some work on finishing the repairs on two of the corsets that I promised to be done weeks ago (I feel horrid about that...) and I've made some major headway.

"Abigail" for Jez

85%

The steel was cut, tipped so the next step there is to insert it, seal up the bottom, sew on the ribbon binding and that part is finished. One side of the eyelets have been reset and the cherry applique has been resewn on, and pressed again to get the glue to add extra hold again. I'm hoping to have it 100% by, the latest, Wednesday. I want to try and also make a modesty plate for this.

"Bride" for Madeline

45%

The other day I started embroidering over the eyelets to reinforce them, and to give it a more period look. The Silver eyelets are being reinforced with lilac embroidery thread. 70% of the boning casings have been sewn in and after that is finished, I will measure for new bones to be cut.

"Orient" for Sale

95%

I've been working on reinforcing the eyelets with a muted gold embroidery thread before posting this one for sale. One side has been finished.

"Bella" for Sale. One-of-a-kind Ice Queen edition

85%

I finished boning this cincher and sealed up the bottom. Next is to sew the ribbon binding down to finish it and I'm debating on reinforcing the eyelets with white embroidery thread since some of the paint chipped off the eyelets during the setting process.

"Sweetheart" for me

90%

I was originally going to sell this simple three-panel corset with halter straps, but it seduced me. All that remains to be done is the corset sealed and finished. I'm taking my time on this one since it is going in my collection.

These aren't the only corsets I'm working on currently, but they are the ones that I'm closest to being complete on. Keep your eyes peeled for more projects and progress!

Today's Progress: Halted!

I did however get some things done!

I started to map out the boning casings on Madeline's "Bride" corset. Finished inserting the bones in the Ice Queen "Bella" cincher so its ready to be finished. Then I remembered a technique for eyelets and I tried it out on one of the more period-esque corsets and I think I may use it on Madeline's to finish it.

In the early days of corsets, they didn't have metal grommets or eyelets, they were all hand embroidered, sometimes over metal rings. So I think I may do hand embroidery over the eyelets that are in Madeline's stays, holding the eyelets secure and giving it a more period look and feel. I tried it on a loose one on my black and white corset I aim to sell and it held it really well in there. So when I get to that stage, I think it will be the technique I use!

I really need to get all these corsets done. I've forbiden myself from working on a new 18th century corset for myself until I get all of this done. I have this wonderful fabric I was given awhile ago that I'd like to use... the base is a cream color and it has 18th century-esque burgundy florals on it. The color's are a bit dark, but I really like it. I would like to try and do it period accurate (except for maybe the zig-zag lacing...) and have it appropriate for stomachers to attatch to. One day!

Today's Progress: "Abigail" Corset for Jez & Random

Progress 30%

Today even though I was feeling massively crappy, I managed to get a little work done. Yesterday I took off the ribbon binding at the bottom, measured for a few more bones and began to sew the applique back on. Today I finished sewing the applique on and set it aside to press it again to try and get some of the adhesive to try and take again. As soon as the boning is cut and tipped, I'll be able to finish it.

I'm still waiting for the replacement die's for my setter. I recieved an email from the seller saying the manufacturer would be shipping them out and I should expect them any day now. It's been quite awhile. I really need them so I can set better eyelets on these corsets!