Everyday I'm Bustlin'

My bustle is basically done. I still have to stitch the buttonholes, but otherwise it's all good. The pattern was drafted using American Duchess' Lobster Tail Bustle tutorial. The fabric is muslin, the bones are buckram-covered hoop wire, the ties are grosgrain ribbon, and I used some pre-packaged grey bias tape and some grey buttons I got in a sewing kit years ago.

This is before the top of the waistband was bias bound and the buttons were added.

Back view.

Collapsed on the table. The wires stack on top of each other and it folds down pretty flat.
I'm happy with the size of it. Once I make a petticoat my foundation garments will be done. I also did a mock-up fitting of Castiel's corset. It needs enough modification that I'll be doing a second mock-up, but all in all it was pretty good. Just need to adjust some curves, but adjusting curves is what a corset is all about.

A Wild Corset Appears

Sorry for the disappearance, I've been busy of late. (Busy watching Haven on Netflix, but who's counting.) I wasn't able to do the latest HSF challenge, because I already was busy with the second corset, which is now finished.

The corset before binding. The blue fabric is a silk dress I purchased for $3 at Goodwill. My phone isn't good with details, but it has a floral and paisley design to it. There wasn't enough to do boning channels as well (it was only a size 4, and knee length, but it had a wrap-front skirt which yielded almost half of the corset pieces on its own), so after conferring with Samifer, black silk was chosen. It is stitched with white silk thread.

Samifer in her finished corset, also wearing her chemise and drawers . . . which I'm now realizing she had her chemise inside out since that's not what the embroidery is supposed to look like. Anywho, she likes it. It's a good fit, though the bust could have been tighter, and she hourglasses well. I may need to pick up more lacing, as it's more difficult than it should be to get the busk closed, but otherwise I'm happy. (The fact that Samifer's corset is in TARDIS colors is completely coincidental. Also, awesome.)

Next up on the list is Castiel, but since I'm going to have to order more busks (when I went to Richard the Thread they only two busks in the size I need), I may start intermittently working on my bustle.

I'm going to try for the next HSF challenge, but I honestly cannot think of a favorite fairy tale, so I may skip it due to creativity block.

Corset Update

In knitting, particularly colorwork, there's a trick if you screw up and use the wrong colors in the pattern. You simply make the same mistake for the rest of the project, and then it's no longer wrong but an 'interpretation of the pattern.' In sewing, some trim or decorative embroidery turns a flaw into a 'design feature.' I didn't like the space between my busk and the first bone. (About 1/8th of an inch.) I seemed a tip off that it was my first corset. But now?

Herringbone stitch down the length of the corset and it's a pretty design element.

Even though I said this corset was more me than my character, I couldn't help doing a little Supernatural-theme flossing.

D.W. on the inside lacing bones (My character is Dean Winchester.) The Aquarian Star, symbol of the Men of Letters, and a pentagram.

The little triangles on all of the other bones were inspired by the center of this sigil:

used to open Purgatory.

And for those of you reading this who don't watch the show and are wondering about the strange symbols and giving me suspicious glances,

I don't have a good answer.

Sew Historical Fortnightly #4

For this fortnightly challenge, I made a corset. Like a real, actual, using a Victorian pattern and corset fabric and metal bones corset.

Dude, you guys, I made a corset.

Technically, it is not yet finished as I still need to floss it, but my back has been hurting me for weeks so I was in a hurry to finish it on the thought that maybe the extra back support would help. It does, a little. The compression and trapped body heat stopped the muscle spasms, but I think it's more a situation of it giving me new sensations to concentrate on rather than an actual lessening of pain.

The pattern that I used was this one, from Waugh's "Corsets and Crinolines":

I resized it to fit my measurements, made a mock-up of duck canvas, made alterations, and then made my final corset. It is in no way perfect, my stitches are wonky and there's little frayed bits where the pretty fabric frayed too much (the coutil was all sewn through, though, so there's no structural instability.) However, what my corset lacks in a clean finish it more than makes up for by being so very pretty.

The corset is a lovely silver/grey stitched with teal thread and bound in teal ribbon and white lace.

I bought some matching teal cord to use as lacing, but I was apparently unable to brain this morning as I bought a laughably insufficient length. Right now I have it laced with this black shoelace-style cord that came with a store bought corset.

It gives a nice nipped waist without being too restrictive. It also has great bust support, though if I were to make it again I would make the sides of the breast section higher, so I don't have so much side spill.

Close-up. You can see the grey has different shades depending on the lighting.

And the back. You can see I still have a gap, so I could lace it tighter if I so wished. Also, the things in my hair are beads.

Lastly, a close-up of the bust. The diagonal lines at the bottom of the picture are the stitching lines of the cording. Hey bro, I heard you like lace, so I got you some lace to go with your lace.

These colors aren't really Dean, but I figured that since I'll no doubt be using this corset for other costuming adventures I should make in 'me' colors, not character colors.

As this was my first true corsetry adventure, things I thought would be hard (exterior boning channels, installing the spoon busk, sewing the binding once the boning was in) really wasn't. It took me a while to figure out exactly how to put the damn thing together since I wanted a single layer instead of an easier to sew sandwich. I went slow (hand turning the drive wheel on my machine to make each stitch as I did the binding instead of using the petal so I wouldn't hit a steel and damage Edith (Yes, I named my sewing machine. Edith is a classy lady and deserved a proper name.)), took the easier path when able (such as removing a few bones that weren't necessary to the fit), and generally enjoyed the experience. The worst part is that SoCal is currently experiencing weather, which messed with my Wifi and made it hard to re-watch Ripper Street while hand-stitching the inside of the binding. I learned a lot, and I think each consecutive corset I make will be that much better. Until then, the breakdown:

The Challenge:  #4, Under it All

Fabric:  Undyed coutil, flatlined with silk dupioni and treated as a single layer.

Pattern: Norah Waugh's Corsets and Crinolines

Year:1880s

Notions:  Spiral and spring steel, spoon busk, grommets, silk thread for sewing, and cotton yarn for cording.

How historically accurate is it?  Pretty dang. The pattern is accurate, and while I haven't seen this color combination in a corset before, the 1880s did have some pretty wild color schemes. The spoon busk is right for the time period, as are the fabrics and thread. Same with metal grommets and steel boning, though I personally don't know whether spring steels were in use then. The major issues are that the ribbon for binding is polyester, and the lace is rayon.

Hours to complete: About 18-20, broken up over three days.

First worn:  Right now.

Total cost:  $80-100. I didn't own any of the bits for making corsets, but since I'm going to be making so many I bought what I could in gross so it was cheaper per corset than if I had just bought enough supplies for one.

Psst...Over Here

Just a note, I'm still alive. I've been working hard on my piece for the Sew Historical Fortnightly challenge tomorrow, and hopefully it will be finished in the evening. I would be working on it now, except I ran out of thread. Le suck. But a quick trip to JoAnn's in the morning and I will be back to work.

I also have a secret project that I'm nearly finished with, and pictures will follow as soon as the details are done. Yes, in the middle of this crazy project I added another project just because.

Onward!
To bed, because I'm tired.

Sew Historical Fortnightly 2014 #3

So this challenge was giving me some trouble in that I don't really like pink, and none of the costumes I'm making for the Victorian Femme Supernatural Cosplay utilize pink (considering they are all based on men's outfits from a show where the bad guys are mass murders and the good guys are also mass murders, this is unsurprising). I considered skipping the challenge, until I found this article about Victorian hair falls. It's too early in the period for the costumes I'm already making, but ever since I got my dreadlocks, I've realized how awesome I look with hats and other head accessories. I stuck with a floral look, and I this is what I came up with:

The supplies: a beaded garland, fake pearls, jute ribbon, a St. Patty's day headband with the clover ripped off, and some fake flowers.

I used wire to secure the pieces to the headband, and then covered the whole thing in jute ribbon.

Pearls were then sewn on to give a little extra detail. I was going to have dangling pearls, but I got lazy.

My completed hair fall, with pink beads and fake mini-roses, allowing it to qualify for the challenge. It's very "spring" without being overly girly. And finally, me wearing the finished product:

I tied my dreads into pigtails and then put on my headband. It's a lot going on, but I think I can pull it off.

The details:
The Challenge: Pink

Fabric: Not actually sewn, but the supplies are a headband, garland, fake flowers, beads, and some ribbon.

Pattern: Just made it up as I went, following The Pragmatic Costumers general guideline.

Year: 1840s or 50s.

Notions: Beige thread to match the ribbon and wire to secure everything.

How historically accurate is it?  The flowers and the beaded garland are plastic, but I know that fake pearls have been used since the Renaissance (I doubt mine followed an accurate faux pearl recipe, but cheapness is always accurate)

Hours to complete:  Two, maybe three. I had it done in an evening.

First worn:  I've yet to wear it, but once it's closer to Spring I think I'll give it a spin.

Total cost:  About $15. All of the supplies were on sale, plus I get a sweet, sweet employee discount.

Ups and downs

Did the corset fitting on Samifer today, unfortunately I had to do it right before she left for work, so I wasn't able to get pictures. The waist was good, so was the back support, and I marked all the alterations to the top and bottom edge. It seemed a bit loose at the bust, but after reading an article about a woman did the fitting in duck, took in where needed and made the corset in coutil, and then found the hips to be FOUR inches too small due to bias stretch of the mock-up, I'm terrified to take in anything at the bust or hip. When I make the corset proper, I'll do a fitting after sewing the seams but BEFORE I flat-fell them, so I can be certain of fit. I'm going to sew the non-seam boning channels on to the pieces of the corset before sewing it all together because it's easier that way, so when testing size I'll still have boning, just not at the seams.

On the downside: my left hip is out. Not all the way, screaming in pain out, but sitting is an exercise in tolerance and my back keeps spasming due to the unevenness out. I screwed up my joints years ago, due to my habit of shoving every book I owned into my backpack and then only wearing it on one shoulder. Now one or the other hip will go out occasionally, but most of the time I can get them get in. Not today. Hopefully sleeping will help and I'll free better in the morning. Or at the very least maybe I can pop it back in in the morning.