Corsetry fun – Stitch and Bitch2 -August

 Well, I did warn you…. it was hardly a fortnight and I was back in Oxford with Julia from Sew Curvy for another stitch and bitch session. if you missed the last one – here it is… Stitch and Bitch JUly

 The day started with a cuppa and the newest bits of gossip – all the latest news, especially those relating to the  Oxford Conference of Corsetry Julia organizes for the end of August – were thoroughly discussed. I brought some more bits and pieces for the Conference Embellishment bar – silk satins, taffetas, brocades and trims, all for the participants to pic and choose and use:-)

 Gossiping continued for another hour or so, i am afraid, but at least we weren’t idle – we packed all the orders for the shop together, and i learnt how to wound spring wire and pack things nicely, the Sew Curvy way.  Naturally, there was some silliness involved – I think I know what to use as a lasso for my Steampunk Amazones collection photo shoot…..

 Julia also introduced me the the range of leathers from G.H. Leathers – and as it turned out they have a warehouse just around the corner from where I live ( already paid them a visit…)

 After that work started in earnest. Julia was working on producing a flossing sampler, and I had an experimental corsetry idea. Nowadays everybody is making sheer corsets – a bit weird as in this hot weather the plastic  makes you sweat a lot! still, it is an attractive look, and I wanted to explore the possibilities offered by the sheer nature of the nylon mesh. in short, i came up with the idea of using two layers of sheer and stuffing things in between them, for decoration purposes.

 I came up with a sketch, in which i was using synthetic plastic boning as decorative ‘ribbing’ on the corset.  Julia was a bit skeptical, but I decided to give it a go anyway, I do enjoy a challenge…

 I used Julia’s underbust pattern ( the same I used for the red underbust), but in smaller size – I didn’t want to waste too much sheer!

Below are the stages of how the idea was transformed into a tangible object…

cutting out…

stitching the channels…

using my brand new Janome HorizonMC8200 QC!

the non-sheer panels are in black sateen – love it!

then it was time to join the panels together…

the backs

and the fronts…

 and then the most dreaded task – cutting out the synthetic boning

and filing every single bone….. . here done, and pieces connected!

 at that point it was time to pack the things and finish the work for the day and get to Julia’s – after all, a delicious meal awaited – this time it was a healthy chicken salad…

with not so healthy G&T in the background…

 The next morning saw us packing the orders again, and with serious work out of the way I was able to  concentrate on my experimental  underbust…

just the binding and the proper boning to do. and the eyelets…

I finished just before lunch – an ideal time to try to lace ourselves into the thing, never mind it was too small, you always have to have a go…

here’s me:

then it was Julia’s turn…

Very happy with the experiment, so the idea will be expanded and i think there will be some more playing with sheer – especially for steampunk market. This one looks a bit sci -fi, indeed we may need to name it Darth corset…

 I had just two hours left before i needed to hit the road – could I make a corset in that time? I did say I enjoyed a challenge….

 In the end, I did not make one in 2 hours, and I blame Julia for it – she suggested that I embroider the panels on my new machine and I simply couldn’t resist it… that’s the state of the corset at 4.30 when we had to leave..

 Still,  all I had to do back home to finish the thing was eyelets and binding, and her’s the finished thing, snapped the same evening. the corset i made in sateen coutil in ‘Moroccan sands’ colour, with exterior castings and a wide busk – all provided by Sew Curvy!

and the side…

It was the fastest I ever worked on a corset – and I believe it was only because I was by that time so familiar with the pattern and didn’t need to do mock ups and alternations in it that made such speedy work possible. Also, I found it amazing  that one pattern can produce three different looks – very versatile:-).

 Am looking forward to trying out Julia’s overbust pattern now…

you can find the beige and the red underbust for sale on etsy, the Darth corset will be offered for sale after the conference:-)

 all the corsetry provisions can be bought from Sew Curvy!