Category: What I'm up to

1. Foundations Revealed competition 2020

   Posted on 12:00pm Friday 10th Jan 2020

   Renewal, regeneration...these sorts of themes are currently being explored by everyone wanting to enter this year's competition. I haven't delved into the theme in any abstract way but I am thinking of using it to push me into a design that has been swimming around in my head for a while.

   I am a bit obsessed by swirling panel shapes (especially after all the work I did on my crescent corset) and would love to create a flower bud with opening petals. Renewal is everywhere in nature and unfurling petals is just the beginning in the cycle of bloom and bust that begets everything. 

   I've made a start and it's going OK - I have dyed fabric in different shades to get some sort of differentiation between the petals and make them stand out. Here is the initial toile of the front section;

   

   I'll keep this blog updated with more progress pics along the way.

2. Edwardian corsetry - December's design

   Posted on 12:00pm Tuesday 10th Dec 2019

   

   I haven't much ventured into Edwardian corsetry before. This is my first S-bend pattern inspired by the Sanakor that I saw at the Symington study day in Nottingham in May (without the suspenders of course);

   

   A corset of this era (early 1900's) was intended to create a straight line at the front and fall smoothly and evenly over the hips whilst gently forcing a forward stance - hip padding was not a feature; It was the layers of chemise and petticoats that created the hip 'bulk'. 
   An Edwardian corset will support and lift the bust upwards from below - the top-line is no higher than the bust apex and higher than the under-bust line. Centre front ribbon ties will pull the bust together slightly although I haven't added mine yet as you can see in the following pic. A 'uni-bust', aided with padding, was the fashionable silhouette. 

    

   

   I purposefully didn't look at Nikki Swift's pattern (who has actually taken the pattern from the original)  in her excellent Foundations Revealed article on the Sanakor as I wanted to put my own spin on it and use the photos/ measurements I took on the day to create more of an 'inspired-by' design than an actual copy. The first of Nikki's 3-part article is free and gives some great background to this lovely design;
   https://foundationsrevealed.com/articles/corset-patterns/1900s-corset-patterns/521-the-sanakor-plunge-corset-1-part-1
   I'm thinking that this might be my December Patreon pattern due for posting in a couple of weeks. I'd love to hear from anyone who has experience with S-bend corsets - do you find them comfortable? I'm not so sure it's a comfortable shape for me to be honest, but maybe it's just because it's very different to what I am used to....most the of the waist suppression is towards the back and I can really feel the squeeze on my ribs! I'm definitely an hour-glass rather than conical kind of girl.

3. Skirt patterning

   Posted on 12:00pm Tuesday 3rd Dec 2019

   I sometimes create non-corset designs - just to make a change! I wrote earler in the year about my crescent collection that I developed as part of my fashion diploma and now I have finally got around to creating a pattern for the skirt part of the project. A simple darted skirt is one of the easiest things to pattern cut - it was the first garment I learned to pattern. My design isn't quite as simple as this! It uses panelling to create the shaping including one slim panel that extends from the centre front to almost the centre back and allows for unusual fabric juxtapositions. In this one it is pink leather inserted into Harris tweed;

   

   I'm just getting it tested out by 3 patrons of mine and if it works out OK for them I'll get it published through Etsy.