Month: February 2011

Skulls & Roses Corset

Skulls & Roses Corset

Here’s what I’ve been working on this weekend – a matching corset for the skulls & roses outfit. The intention is that the skirt, bra and corset together should give the overall impression of a dress.

I drafted the corset myself – I needed to update my pattern because all the corsets I made for myself two years ago are now just a little bit too big. The irony is, of course, that I must have made a mistake somewhere in the maths for this one because it’s rather a lot too small!

Still, it looks lovely from the front, which is a good start. I designed the shape to fit the bones that I had already, so it comes up a bit at the centre front and back, and fits perfectly below the underwires of the bra. I only had a short busk, so I placed a full length bone next to it and used another pretty red frog fastener at the top.

A friend who’s also an experienced corset maker suggested adding an extra panel into the gap at the back, and having the corset fasten with two sets of laces instead of one. As luck would have it I do have another corset lace and plenty of eyelets, so I think I might just take up that suggestion. I’ll let you know how it works out!

Skull & Rose Print Bra

Bra & Pants

While I was on a roll with this matching-everything outfit, I wanted to have another go at making a bra. This is Kwik Sew 2489 again, with a couple of modifications based on the fit of my first attempt.

I widened the centre front panel slightly at the top, and adjusted the shape of the cups to fit. I’ve also added underwires to this one, so I’ll see what difference that makes. (I haven’t tried it on since I added the wires.)

As you can see, I added the elastic on the outside, to match the pants. The front part of the straps is made from matching fabric, while the back part is made from ready-made bra straps. I bought those, and the red bra fastener, from Sewing Chest, along with the red elastic and a few other bits and pieces. I feel as though it was somehow cheating slightly to buy the bra straps ready-made, but I couldn’t find all the individual components in red. I could have bought black ones and made the straps myself, but I’d already bought red stretch fabric for the back strap panels and I wanted the findings to match.

I rather like the slightly long-line effect of this bra, caused by sewing the elastic onto the outside without trimming off the seam allowances first. (The pattern instructs you to turn the elastic to the inside.) I think I might make the next one even longer, and see how comfortable (or not) it is to wear.

Skull & Rose Print Knickers

Red and black skull print knickers

This is pair of knickers number five. This time I started with Kwik Sew 2100, the most striking aspect of which was the ridiculous width of the gusset, especially as the sizes increase. I modified that part of the pattern to make more anatomical sense, and I was impressed by the instructions for putting together the lined gusset. It’s a bit fiddly but you end up with no raw edges on the inside, which makes these knickers very comfortable to wear.

I didn’t like the way that the original knickers were so puffy, so I decided to combine a stretch and a woven fabric to try and make them a bit flatter. They are more streamlined than they look in the picture (the mannequin’s so small I can’t stretch them right out), but they’re still not how I want them. I really need to buy a lingerie-drafting book, so I can work out how to do this properly.

I’m trying really hard to avoid using entirely stretch fabrics because there’s so much more interesting variety in wovens, but I’ll have to get the pattern absolutely right if this is going to work. These need the print panels to be smaller and the jersey panels to be bigger, to allow more stretch around the legs.

I also tried two different ways of applying the elastic – the waist has the elastic turned to the inside, and around the legs it’s on the outside. Each method is a two-step process, so there’s no time-saving in doing it one way over the other, but I think aesthetically I prefer the elastic on the outside, which I didn’t expect. Maybe because it looks more like something you’d buy from a shop, which is what I usually try to avoid.

[Later…]
In fact, I liked the elastic on the outside so much that I trimmed off the waist elastic and sewed it again to match the legs. Much better.

Vivienne Westwood for Comic Relief

Yesterday my friend Lettice blogged about this year’s Comic Relief t-shirts, designed by Vivienne Westwood. This meant that I had to get myself down to TK Maxx as soon as possible, and buy one for myself.

As a fan of Blackadder, I’d had every intention of buying the same t-shirt as Lettice, the one with Miranda Richardson as Queenie (Queen Elizabeth I) on the front. And then I saw this one, and simply couldn’t resist!

I’m rather glad that the red “noses” don’t sit in the same place on me as they do on “Costume sous Louis XVI” by Andre Deveria, and I think that after Red Nose Day I might dye the t-shirt red to make them a little less obvious. But I do like to support Comic Relief, and if I can get a Vivienne Westwood t-shirt out of it, then hooray for charitable causes!

Clarks & Laura Ashley Desert Boots

Every now and then I have a little look at Clarks Originals, to see what this year’s desert boots are like. (I last wrote about them in 2009.) I may have fallen a little bit in love with this super-girly pink floral Laura Ashley pair. Could they be any more cute?

There’s also a men’s desert boot collaboration with Pretty Green, Liam Gallagher’s clothing line. They have a rounder toe and lower profile heel, which I wouldn’t have thought was possible in a desert boot, but apparently it is!

I’d been hoping to learn to make desert boots, but unfortunately for me the London College of Fashion have discontinued their course. I am saving for a place on their Footwear Summer School, a five-week intensive shoemaking course, but I don’t know whether I’ll be able to afford it this year. I’ll have to wait and see.

While I was looking around the internet for articles on how to make your own boots (as you do), I came across this interesting piece from Gentleman’s Corner on the history of the desert boot.

Matching Jacket

Skull print bolero jacket

This is Simplicity 2478, view C. I made it exactly as per the pattern (for once!) and then embellished it with the very last tiny pieces of my broderie anglais trim and a pretty red frog fastener.

What can I say? It went together really easily! It helps if you have prior experience of sewing together convex and concave curves, otherwise attaching the band can be a little tricky, but there are no separate sleeves to set in, and it was a very fast piece to sew.

Obviously it’s intended to go with the little skirt I made the other day, but I think it would also smarten up plain black jeans and a t-shirt very nicely indeed.

Pink Suede Loafers

I wouldn’t normally even consider wearing a pair of loafers, they’re simply not a style I’ve ever been terribly fond of. But these? I might just have to think about making an exception. How great would these look in the summer, with a smart pair of cropped jeans?

They’re Dr Martens, and if you don’t fancy the pink they also come in grey, midnight blue, teal (all suede), burgundy and dark brown.

I might have to try and track down a store where I can try these on…

Skull Print Skirt

Mini skull skirt

So, this is a bit of a departure from the type of thing I’ve been sewing lately – in fact it’s a skirt pattern that came from my first business, about eight or nine years ago.

There are four layers of skirt altogether, each with four panels for fullness. The inside three layers are black net, trimmed with red gathered lace. The top layer is skulls-and-roses print cotton, trimmed with the very last piece of black gathered broderie anglais in my stash. Fabric Land haven’t had any of this in stock for a long time, and I don’t quite know what I’m going to do without it. It really is absolutely my favourite kind of trim.

(Is it silly to have a favourite kind of trim? I do, anyway.)

The waistband is another favourite – red bomber-jacker elastic, also from Fabric Land. it’s made in the same way as all of my elasticated skirts – simply divided into quarters and zig-zagged into place.

I haven’t worn a skirt this short for years – in fact I’m not at all convinced that it’s actually long enough to cover my bottom, or that a person of my advancing years should be seen in it at all. I suspect I will be very grateful indeed for a pair of black leggings to wear underneath!

The Red Shoes.


Image © Koronya

Oh. My. Goodness.

Aren’t these shoes simply gorgeous? The uppers are made from a single piece of leather, and I adore the delicate little detail on the toes.

They’re handmade in Budapest by Koronya, who writes a blog about making shoes by hand.

It’s been really interesting to read the posts about the making of these shoes, looking at all the little details that make up their construction. A real contrast to the simplicity of the finished work.

Beautiful.

Koi Carp Knickers

Koi Knickers

From Cloth Magazine again. These are made from a lightweight printed cotton, leftovers from a skirt and a corset.

This time I experimented with applying the elastic in a different way. First I stitched it to the outside of the knickers, and then turned the elastic to the inside and used a three-step zig-zag stitch to finish it off. I also modified the pattern slightly, cutting in in two at the crotch and adding a seam allowance. This allowed me to separate the front and back, so that I could use this directional print without any of the fish being upside down.

I’m still not totally convinced that I like the style of these knickers. However, I can confirm that they’re really comfortable to wear, and they’ve survived the washing machine – so that’s a plus!