Laughing Moon 100 Victorian Corset

Older project:


As the summer drones on and I have been posting my projects past and present, I think it's a good idea to put them on my blog in case my hard drives crash again and therefore I can store my images here.

Well, I did this project back in 2008.  As it was in those days I was a couple of pattern sizes larger than the present day and this corset is probably too big for me right now, so I would have to start again from scratch as corsets are a HUGE pain to alter.

Anyway, prior to making a Victorian style corset, I have made 3 others that includes two 18th century stays and a Regency (Jane Austen era) stay all courtesy of the Corsets and Crinolines book.

Now, as a beginner, my first set of 18th century stays were not that pleasing to look at.  It takes a lot of patience to get the channels sewn in straight lines and hand sewing the binding also trys your patience.  But with 18th century stays, the heavily 'whaleboned body' shape was en vogue and a heck of a lot of channels to sew.

Here is a general guide line for supplies that I used for my projects:

18th century stays( ca1730-1789):

1. Purchase plastic whalebone 6mm wide 2.5 mm thick from Farthingales
2. Use 2 layers of fabric.  Be authentic as possible.  I use silk taffeta or heavy cotton twill and linen lining
3. Sew channels 9 mm wide to accomadate the Wissner boning (6 x 2.5) square mm
4. Purchase up to 40 m of boning depending on the pattern
5. Single laced spiral zig-zag (offset) lacing holes were common
6. Hand sew eyelets in the back for authenticity using overcast stitch

!8th century heavily whaleboned body shape with whale baleine was so popular back then.
Amen to the use of plastic these days

19th century Regency stays( ca1798-1825):

1. Use Hemp cord for thin channels
2. Use the Wissner boning as in the 18th century stays
3. Use heavy cotton twill or use coutil if you want and linen for lining
4. Single laced (offset) lacing holes authentic lacing techniques.
5. Has removable centre busk.  I bought a permanent sewn in metal busk.  Somewhat flexible

Regency stays have a lot less boning material than previous century

Victorian corsets ( ca1835-1900):

1. Use metal spiral boning and straight white metal boning (1 cm wide channels)
2. Cotton twill, silk taffeta, linen lining
3. Metal busks
4. DO NOT use plastic boning.  Not tough enough
5. Frilly lace for edging
6. Criss Cross lacing with "bunny ears" in the middle for waist tightening

So, a Victorian corset can use metal boning as is quite authentic and products these days don't rust.
For a beginner, Laughing Moon #100 is a good starting point.  I found it to be rather straight forward and the instructions were quite easy to follow

*** Do not use any man-made fibres for your corset.  Your skin needs to breathe and the fabric is generally not strong enough***

Here are my pictures

I used a tan coloured silk taffeta and linen lining:  worked well

Front Busk installed

Corset sewn with channels without boning 1 cm (10 mm)
wide channels



Looks like it fits with metal boning



Finished front. I left out the centre waist reinforcement..Just cuz

Finished grommets and lacing. See the bunny ears in the waist area?

Now, the fit with the metal boning looks as though some boning is too short for my channels.  I bought these in pre cut sizes, so I tried my best.

****This is very important for sizing the boning for each channel*******

Measure the length of your  unfinished channel eg 25 cm

Subtract 2 cm from the total length.  This is the length of boning needed for your channel. (23 cm)

Why do this? 

Well, think of your closed channel as a propane tank.  NEVER fill a propane tank 100%. There needs to be air space for expansion just like a corset boning channel needs some space for the boning material to move, otherwise, it contorts out of shape and can poke out of your channel in awful ways that can ruin your corset. Plus, the boning material can dig into your ribs or hips that can make it sooo uncomfortable.

Know what a proper fit looks like (Hard and fast rules):

When your corset is tightened enough without hurting, the gap in the centre back should be 2 inches or 5.08 cm wide.  Give or take a 1 cm , that should be a good fit.  If tightened and the gap is too wide, your corset is too small.  When tightened, and the gap closes, and your corset shifts slightly, it's too big.

Yeah, I know I would rarely wear these things except for Halloween and such, but it is such good practice and a challenge to get skills down right for any future projects that makes anyone a more experienced sewer.
Anyway, a quick post but more's coming...

Karin

Simplicity 4496 View E Plum blossoms

Yes, another skirt!!

This one was inspired in part by my phone's skin,  and a bunch of blossoms from a fruit tree (plum I believe).  These photos I took in 2007 in the beginning of April from the ones lined along the town streets, so, great, Crown Land!



Flowering Ornamental Plum Blossoms



On closer inspection

Yep, there we have it!  There is snow on these spring blooms!  Although I didn't use snow on my blooms in my project, I got the right colour of perle thread to use anyway.

I believe I ended up putting 53 blooms on my skirt.  I wanted this to be a quick project and I did this entirely with only 3 types of stitches

Detached Buttonhole-flower petals
French knot-flower centre
Stem stitch-branches

The work isn't depicting real life-like subjects by any means but it got the job done. I usually do it as real life as I can but the time involved for this project wasn't needed as much.  I might have done that on a different scale on a purse or tote bag.

So, for the construction:

Using pattern Simplicity 4496 View E which is probably discontinued (bought it in 2003?).  But any pattern can be used that has a full flowey skirt without loads of gores.



Scanned picture

Also, this is one thing I don't like about bought patterns.  I almost never follow their applique ideas directly from the patttern itself because I often don't like the look it gives.  Therefore, I just go for what I want.


The front halves.  I put the branch on the right side this time



Close up on branches

I wanted this project to be more 3D and bulky so I chose a No. 5 perle thread from Presencia in colours 1975,8080 and 2240.


Now, I know that a plum tree would actually have 5 petals per bloom but the bulk of the thread and the space allowed room for four.  And, like I said, this was a quick project.
**Make sure when you install the zipper that the waistband seams actually line up from both sides**

It is easy to make this mistake without even thinking because I have done it, so a good thing to do is mark the zipper tape on both sides, then the waistband halves will line up when the zipper is closed

If you mark the zipper tape on both sides, both halves will line up on both sides
Makes it easier and less work in the long run

I have actually made this mistake of misalignment and when I closed the zipper the waistband seam actually was out by a centimetre, which looks terrible!  So, I do it this way and it matches up!

Finished skirt consisting of 4 pieces. No gores.

I know this is a quick, more plain and less detailed than what I normally do, but this skirt will always remind me of the fabulous spring blooms I look forward to every year.

But, I realize that there are as many ideas to work on as there are cards in a Hallmark store.  It never ends.

Anyway, onto the next project!!

Bye for now!

Butterick 5404 View A handbag

***Discontinued Pattern....whatever...****

Well, another project documented on subjects that roam free in the wild just outside my door!
(Well, a 20 to 40  minute drive away and we have spotted some of them no joke!).

But seriously, I have always wanted to embroider butterflies for awhile now and I started this project between semesters and didn't finish until...March...I think...of this year.

Now, usually, I get accurate colours of subjects in a variety of reference books that I own and one of them was the Lone Pine Published Butterflies of British Columbia, by John Acorn and Ian Sheldon  and the subjects I chose were:

1. Mourning Cloak (Nymphalis antiopa)
2. Hydapse Fritillary (Speyeria hydapse)
3. Pale Swallowtail (Papilio eurymedon)
4. Silvery Blue (Glaucopsyche lygdamus)
5. Sweet violets (Viola odorata)
6. Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis)
7. English Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)

The thing is, you can't spot these all at the same time unfortunetely, but, butterflies are just so cute!

The other thing I would like to mention here is that when you decide to embroider insects and other animals, it is always best to put them as you would see them true-to-life by movement or appearances of scale or weight of the subject.  You can also give them emotion by choosing the right angle of eye coordination etc etc.
We all know that the work put into it isn't real and can't mimic real life subjects 100% but we sure can try as much as we can!

Okay, as for the nuts and bolts of the operation, putting together a bag by Butterick shouldn't cause anyone to pull their hair out, but what I will show is the alterations I made to the square shaped bag that can pretty well go with any damn outfit. 
Granted, this bag didn't have a huge area to work with and that is either a God-Send or a nightmare. Smaller areas mean I can finish up sooner but subjects then lose a lot of real life detail-major trade off)

Onto the progress pictures:

Mourning Cloak finished

Finishing up Lavander

Pale Swallowtail progress



Finished work on bag. The fritillary on the violets gives the impression that the butterfly is weighing down the flower.
The bend in the stem is the result of the weight of the fritillay.

So, as I was pointing out, the fritillary is bending the stem by its own weight because this butterfly is feeding on nectar and is probably travelling from flower to flower.  The Silvery Blue is angled in flight and facing downwards because the butterfly is coming down to feed as well.  It also looks as though the Pale Swallowtail is leaving the scene by its particular angle in flight. 
Anyway something to think about.  Of course all of that is up to each person's interpretation but that was my intention.

I did use cotton broadcloth for this bag so it turned out floppier than I wanted it to, but it still worked. And don't forget medium weight sew-in interfacing and buckram interfacing for the tab closure. 
I also used the pattern suggested magnetic snap tab for a closure.
I used a plum coloured plain weave silk shot with gold for the lining, which the pictures didn't turn out well because of continuous cloudy days here...sorry, I will try again.

Anyway, a simple project used on serious shopping rounds...when I can...

Thanks

Karin

McCalls 3830 Skirt

View E-shortest one!

Hey, since I am between classes, I might as well make another skirt for the going-out-to-dinner mini skirt (with fab boots or wedges) or perhaps the ideal look for the typical mall rat at any usual shopping centre. 

But here is where my imagination takes flight sometimes.  It usually happens when I have enough fabric left over in my storage for anything to come into existance, so, I go on an embroider bender and try and finish up any projects that I can do so that I can free up some valuable square footage in my apartment.

So, since my last black skirt was black with white lillies, I  used Trish Burr's Long and Short Stitch embroidery book template for my mini skirt and went with the arum lily project.  Now, keep in mind I do have my own pictures to create my own templates but it was just so much quicker. 

(Anyway, Trish does some good projects in her book, so thank you)

Now, I also must confess that this idea spawned even earlier than I realized.  When I bought the DVD to the 'Other Boelyn Girl', Anne Boelyn had a couple of arum lillies on one of her stomachers in a scene.  However, I didn't choose to do that particular arum lily but actually settled on Trish's lily.  This looks a lot like the species ' Spathiphyllum sp' but may be another of the type like 'Arum maculatum'.  Either way, this plant belongs to the Arum family (Araceae).(AIR-A-CEE-E)

Anyway, the size of the flower was right for the mini skirt.  It didn't take me 3 weeks, but less than one.  Yes, I guess this was a "quick and easy" project, but still finding myself back to the fabric store buying invisible zippers for the closures to dresses and skirts.( And you may well have guessed that I like making skirts, handbags and fancy dresses.)

So, after completing the hand work I always buy the prescribed colours for the project and end up using way less than required.  I don't get that.  So, here are my progess pictures:

Trace out and place drawing on fabric




 






Out line back split stitch and begin work









Near completion


As you can see my trace for the leaf of the arum lily is somewhat faded.  This is the part that gets me.  I usually have to keep redrawing the outline until I can do a split backstitch on it especially on black fabrics
In the picture below, work is completed but next step is to get rid of that nasty hoop crease left on the outside of the work.

Completed

As for the rest of the skirt, all the hard work is done and what is left is the construction-to-completion jobs.  So, as you may have guessed, I do put in 8" invisible zippers in matching colours, this one being black.  Easy to find anywhere.  So, I hemmed the bottom at 2 " or (5.08 cm) instead of the pattern prescribed 2-1/4 ".  I just needed it to be a bit longer.

2 " (5.08 cm) hem hand stitched

When adding optional belt carriers, a common rookie mistake of mine was to let the weight of the machine foot to keep it in place while sewing in the permanent stitch.  I must say, DO NOT do this!!!  Basting is the way to go. I don't want to say how crooked your carriers can look if you don't baste them in place.

I also don't like the companies instructions on how to construct and sew the carriers until finished.  I have another way that works better.  Until then, I won't do it their way.

Basting on belt carriers.

Okay, that is it for now.  The skirt looked  exactly like the finished picture from McCall's with a silly arum lily slapped on the left front.  More pictures updated soon.  But it's done!

Bye for now.

Marfy 9263 size 48 Completed!!! Attack of the Dog Roses

Another project done....well I actually finished this project a year ago (July 2011) but didn't get to document it until now because of 2 failed hard drives and lost data but we are getting it back slowly.

Okay, so, as you know Marfy patterns aren't for beginners but skirts are quite easy to put together if you

1. Follow and match points of letters to letters and notches from each piece
2. Add all seam allowances and hem allowances
3. Use the company's visual reference picture
4. Translate the concise instructions of the pattern piece if you can
5. Rely on your experience to put it together or consult some books if you want

I love skirts and this style was sooo cute and summery I just couldn't resist it.  I believe it may only be available by email request now through Marfy alone.  I don't know which year this was catalogued in, but check it out, it may stll be available (as of 2012).

Here is the visual reference from the company:

(I had to scan my printed file here because I did lose this original file)
*Now, looking at this reference, you got to hand it to the company for having an imagination for trendy awesome clothing. I see here in the seam of the top half and the flounce that there is a idea to stitch on a chain stitch, feather stitch or fly stitch, not to mention a hand stitched running stitch for aesthetics*

Now, I am aware that some newer and specialized machines can sew a running stitch which would save time, but doing it by hand is just as effective and costs pennies.

Can you imagine I may have done more than that?  You bet I did.  Not only did I sew a running top stitch, I also hand stitched a heavy chain stitch along the seam line and embroidered a mess of wild roses growing into each other along the flounce hem line.  What's a life without challenges?

Anyway, here are the pics:




Heavy chain stitch with perle thread

Wild roses on the first third of the flounce

Wild rose of white variety on the back of the flounce

Rose of local variety at home(R. nutkana) on last third of flounce



Finished skirt!!!

Well, along with this skirt came a waist band.  I used sew-in interfacing as I always do.  I also made this skirt out of a light plain weave cotton that isn't that opague in one layer,so, I have to wear a slip for modesty reasons. As for the colour scheme except Rosa nootkana, I had to make several photos of wild roses at the college so I can get my colour blending to meet certain criteria, and hopefully at the smaller size to look somewhat real.

And, don't forget the invisible zipper in cream colour sewn into the left side.  I only used a 1 cm allowance here.

Well, that is this Marfy skirt completed in 3 weeks.

Thanks!
(BTW, I know this skirt is wrinkled.  I have been wearing it a lot with the few hours of whole sun days we have every year)

Simplicity 5259 Skirt completed!!

Yay!  It's done.

This is my second skirt from this pattern that I made.  This one is View F with the slit in the left front.  This was a very easy skirt to make, but in my case it always takes longer because I tend to do a lot of thread painting on my pieces which can stall a project for up to 3 weeks depending on my work or school schedules, so I usually give it a good 3 weeks to finish the handiwork anyway.

Looking at the envelope, the finished project is supposed to look like the one featured on the front, so,

And I made mine in black, not fushia(YUCK!!)

I had an idea come to me as I was thinking of making view F and thought about putting a white flower above the slit on the left front along the seam line.  I have lots of books with projects of white flowers and I came across one that I copied (with minor alterations to leaf structure)from Trish Burr's Redoutes Finest Flowers in Embroidery, that was labelled Le Lys Blanc and I had to do this one.  So for reference, here is the book front cover, in case anyone is familiar with it:

So, in having a nice white flower on the front it gave it a nice contrast which is what I was going for.  I did make some substitutions for colour schemes in the buds of the lillies, and I also didn't pad the work for dimension because I figured it would be kind of messy when it comes to dry cleaning time.

For this project I used:

1.5m of cotton twill in black
DMC embroidery floss in off white, ecru, optic white, varying shades of green, yellow, orange
1- 18cm invisible zipper (black)
black thread(I love JP Coats-always works for me)
black serging thread (if needed)
black medium weight sew-in interfacing for facing at waist level.

Now, onto the actual pictures:

Step 1:

Put the skirt fronts together.  DO NOT sew the 2 back halves to the fronts yet.  Finish the seam where the embroidery is going to go.  When you work on areas that have not been finished, you will lose your fabric to fraying.

Step 2:

Prepare your image on your fabric by using a trace of the flower.  Pin trace onto the fabric and use an appropriate fabric pen or pencil.  Since I have  black fabric, I need to use a white marker that will mark finer lines.  DO NOT use tailors chalk.  It's too thick. I suppose a tracing wheel might work but we got some very small detailing and fuddy-duddy areas, so, no.

Pin tracing paper onto the spot where you want

Step 3:

Start embroidering!!  Whatever method you use, it doesn't matter.  Make sure your hoop is drum tight.




Progress

 



Progress








Finished!

 

Step 4:

BASTE FIRST BEFORE SEWING PERMANENT STITCHS!!!

Sew in the invisible zipper in the centre back.  I always use invisible zippers on skirts because they are very easy to install.  When dealing with commercial patterns, they always give you 1.5cm allowance.  I usually use a wide serge finish that actually measures 0.5cm(5 mm), so, in placing the zipper in the centre back, all that needs to be done is setting the edge of the zipper tape with the serge finish.  This will only work if your serge is 5 mm, otherwise, readjustments need to be made. 

Now, when I sew Marfy patterns, sometimes I only add 1cm allowance for invisible zippers, which by itself is enough for invisible zippers, but commercial patterns have a lot of extra "room", so, that's why  do what I do with commercial patterns

Baste in the zipper.   I line up the zipper tape with the edge of the serge finish to line up the seam below zipper

Step 5:

Apply interfacing to the facing along the waist area. 

Since this pattern originally intended the outcome to be unlined, we need the facing. If you want to line this puppy, all that needs to be done is reverse the skirt front and back for the lining right sides and sew together as you would with the fashion fabric.  Then, since you are sewing the lining to the bottom part of the facing, you may need to cut the top part of each skirt front and back below the top so that the distance will match the bottom distance of the facing.  I think the top of the skirt isn't as wide, so I will get back on that later, and I will explain more in detail.

Otherwise, I left this unlined because I didn't have anything of aesthetic value to add to this, nor do I have enough of what I had.

***I will line this.  WHY?  It will preserve the life of the embroidery from wear and tear.  I am on it!!!***

Step 6:

As for the hem, it is a simple matter.  3.2cm(1-1/4 inch) standard hem from commercial companies is common, so I don't have a fancy blind hemmer machine and I can't get my blind hemmer stitch on my machine to be of any use to me,  so I hand stitch it.  It is so fast!  It looks like a cross between a herringbone stitch and a whip stitch, but it works!

The slanted hem stitch from R to L because I am a southpaw



And that sums up this project.

Bye for now!!  Stay tuned for the lining!!!



Marfy 2410 size 46

Another finished Marfy pattern!!!


Finshed Jacket!



Marfy 2410 conceptual drawing and visual reference

  I looked at the conceptual drawing and I just had to make it!  I believe it is fairly new, and you can get it on the vogue pattern website or through Marfy directly(as of 2012).  I didn't make it in yellow but I got 2 metres of pink cotton that I was planning on making a blazer with that never came to be.  Instead I made this jacket.

As always, with most Marfy patterns you have to add seam allowances and hem allowances.  I had to make this in size 46 which is a tad bit too small so I increased my general 1cm seam allowance to 1.5cm and sewed with 1cm allowance adding an extra 0.5cm at the front, sides, and back. That gave me enough ease to fit snug and right.
As always I drafted in my 2 cm hem allowance and hemmed 1.5cm leaving it a tad bit longer.

 *The zipper seam in the front I drafted a 1.5cm seam allowance to fit the width of the zipper.*


Front zipper, button flaps, 4 buttons. Flaps can extend to either side





This pattern had every piece needed to complete the entire look except the sleeve binding which is easy enough to draft yourself, which you can either use binding or finish it some other way.

As the conceptual drawing suggests on the front decorative flaps, topstitching is visible and quite stylish here.

I did this with the front flaps, front and side front, and side back seams to complete the look. 

* It looks really good when the machine topstitching is sewn with a longer straight stitch.  I usually choose 3.5cm long stitch using and edgestitching foot*



Also, Marfy's stylish approach sometimes leaves sewer's scratching their heads with pattern pieces that appear confusing but really isn't.  With this pattern, I expected to see separate cap sleeve pattern pieces but in fact were drafted in with the side front.  This may appear quite different to normal convention but I assure you, it is a time saver!

The binding on the sleeves I safely cut 2 of (50 x 5) square cm rectangles on the straight grain. Most of the time, bias cut binding is done, but for plain weave fabric it won't make any difference for my use.

For the sleeves, all that was required here was to gather each front and back sections where it states.  The shoulder seam on the front and back piece needs to be pleated at the seam which ties up the job nicely.

* I would mark your pleat, sew the shoulder seam, make your knife pleats on front and back, then gather to fit the stated lengths.*





Binding on sleeve. Hand stitched on the inside.



The areas needed as facings were the waist band section, lapel, under collar, and the pattern piece to face the rest of the length of the zipper.

I did not need to interface the decorative front flaps.  Fabric ended being stiff enough.


* Now, anyone is welcome to line this jacket fully if they want.  I didn't want to, and therefore, serged the collar on the inside instead of lining it.*

Here's the money shot!  Faced sections of jacket, hand hemmed in place



For the supplies all I really used was:

2 m of self fabric (pink quilting cotton)

A standard 23cm long separating zipper

4- 20mm buttons of any type

Pink sewing thread

Sew-in interfacing on collar, lapel, button flaps and waist band and inside zipper front facing.

Well, there you have it in a nutshell.  Any questions?