Mrs Maupin

This is the vibe I am getting from the blush and black combination on the 1890s riding corset. The addition of lace only strenghtened the theme.
The corset is actually done, but I didn't manage to get good pictures of it yet. It is raining cats and dogs outside and the light is gloomy at best.
It is not as comfy as the black overbust I made this summer, especially when I don't move much, but it is amazingly nice to wear on a walk - which was sort of the idea. It is supposed to go under an 1890s hiking outfit at some point, after all.
It gives me between 7 and 10 centimeters down from my natural waist (depending on how much said natural waist expanded after a meal of fresh stuffed pasta and how tight I lace it). I know I can get down a further 2 to 3 centimeters, but that requires a really different patterning.
Now of course I have tons of idea for the next corset I want to make, or rather the five or six I want to make, oooooops. At least I am enjoying having some creative output again !

September has been really hard on me, stress, bad news, looming bad news that took ages to arrive... that really slowed me down and killed any motivation I had. The riding corset, even thought it was nowhere on my "to sew now" list, helped me get back into the groove. I have also joined Inktober - a bit late, but still. I managed a quick drawing per day for the last week. It is good to get back into the drawing habit. I am forcing myself to make this quick and easy and to not overthink it. Maybe I'll get back to more intricate stuff later, maybe not, it feels good to make things a little looser  and put away my perfectionnism once in a while.

So this happened, and now I kind of want to make myself a tartan, victorianesque young McGonagall outfit... It hit a record number of likes on IG, too, which I really didn't expect.

I have started the Halloween stuff for the kids - Heimlich's bat cape just needs a closure. I have to make him a mask and arm braces after that, then I'll just wait on the clothes I need to customize for the rest of their outfits.

I have a mock-up ! And it... mostly fits. There was some really odd sticking out at the bottom front, but it was actually an easy fix. The mock-up turned out a little big all around - although not evenly too big, so I have lots of small alterations to make.
Right now I took it in at various places (front and back at the bottom. The top has this slightly weird line that goes up between the breasts but doesn't really support the on the sides, I took it in very slightly but I'm not 100% sure of how it is supposed to fit there.
The waist ended up bigger than what I was aiming for. I think it is partly inherent to the cut of this corset, as it wasn't meant to be laced super tightly. I still feel I could go down an inch or two, but I'd need to change the lines over the hips so... I'm torn between following the original shape and making something that I find more flattering on my body.

It is one of those weird periods where the same themes suddenly pop up simultaneously in the most random places. One (but not the only one) of them has been dance.
Toad wants to start ballet lessons. The 2017 runway show is all about dance. My gift to Lady Darkstone for her birthday was a ticket to Swan Lake in February. Foundations Revealed competition theme for 2017 is ballet... Apparently FB ha spicked up on this because it keeps offering me to buy tickets to various dance shows.
So, since it looks like I won't be able to make it to the printmakign course this year (thanks new course schedule conflicting with Heimlich's schedule), I decided what the hell, I might as well pick up ballet again. Out of all the dance offers in my area, it's the one that tempts me the most, that has a schedule I can work with, and that doesn't require the HG to sign up with me (because apparently he has developped a strong aversion to dancing... *sigh*).

I have finished editing the pictures from the shoot with heileen.
I am not too unsatisfied with the pictures I took. I am slowly, very slowly making progress at this. And Heileen looks fabulous.

I have another shoot ( my old 1895 green and gold ballgown) coming up in September, then Ursula in October. I'd love to shoot Effie Trinket, my Florentine and Florence (florentine-inspired wedding dress in white and gold), possibly before the end of October.
I'm amazed at how far photoshoots have brought me since I started reaching out to models and photographers. and also at how much of my time it takes up to organize them ! I haven't even scheduled half of the shoots for this year's collection, and here I am starting to work on next year's...

I finally ordered two different fabrics from PureSilks, I hope they work together - they should from the description. If not I'll have to make them, somehow. II have another fabric order pending from a local supplier for things like duchess satin and ottoman - they're cheaper, almost local and polyester. I'll work with dead dino for dresses that will be worn multiple times by hurried models, trailed through the mud, exposed to sweat, make-up,... thankyouverymuch.

I mostly mocked-up the wedding gown for Miss C (sleeves need to be sewn and attached to the jacket, no skirt yet). Palanning to get that done early next week.
I finally finished my bathing suit's bloomers. The tunic needs hooks and eyes, the waistband needs some form of closure, and then it will be done... in time for next summer.
I meant to start on the 1895's riding corset in the "Corset for the modern body" book, but it is gettign too late to get past the measurements stage. I'll see tomorrow how I can use the book without tracing a complete body block - am I the only one who thinks it is a bit much to trace a complete block with dart over the bust, armscye and neckline, to draft a corset ? Anyway, I'll keep you posted.

As I mentioned previously, I brought back a bunch of old fashion plates from my trip, and I hav started scanning them Ifigured, since I posted this one on the blog, I might as well share it here as well :

I took it because it has a wedding dress, but the more I look at it, the more I'm in love with the blue dress. Me. Crinoline. Love. Stop the press ! I might be getting an itch to make myself an 1860s dress !

The black coutil corset has a (not yet attached) modesty panel and a matching storage pouch.
I dug out Perceneige and worked on assembling the skirt - I'm about halway done with it. So. Much. Width at the hem ! I need to check how it moves, see if it needs a horsehair braid, or even a small ruffle ont he lining to hold it out.

Yes I know I said I wanted to work on the bathing suit, but a) the chances I acutally get to take pictures of it this summer are slim anyway and b) Perceneige takes up more floor space until it is done. There goes my motivation !

When my teeth get clenched from concentrating a bit too much, and the tea gets cold, maybe it means I need a "let's update to LJ" break.

This is the corset I patterned and started at the corsetry course. It is not meant to be historical, although I did use some victorian and edwardian inspiration. The outer sheel is black coutil (plain weave, with floral brocade coutil at the hip gores). The lining is an off-white and black stripe.
Today I have assembled it, put grommets in it, filed and inserted the bones. Here are the first pictures, graciously (if not very vertically) taken by the Home Geek. With optional BB8 mug, because it's my new mug and I love it. Not everything shows, because, well, black fabric !

Front :
Nice nipped in waist, good support for the breasts (and they don't want to escape either).
The part over the busc gapes a little, I am thinking about adding a little hook and eye to keep it in place.
The white lining peeks out from under the hook side of the busc, because once again I forgot to cut the CF lining piece in the same fabric as the outer shell. Too late to fix it, and I was out of fabric anyway.
Not visible in the pictures, a slight wrinkle on the second piece, under the outside of the boob.

Side :
Wrinkle on the third piece, right at the waist. Ugh !

Back :
Again, big wrinkle at the waist.
The lacing gap is what I wanted, I plan to add a modesty panel.
Visible pants line in the hip gores, not cool !

On the whole I am very pleased with how it turned out. I is *extremely* comfy to wear, I feel pretty sexy in it (the HG seems to agree).
Some of the wrinkles will disappear once the bones are secure in their casings, but I really feel like the third and fourth piece, at least, need more bones. The brocade coutil in the hip gores isn't as strong as the plain weave one, the lining has no body at all, so I can't leave those big hip gores with just one bone.
We worked with small spiral steels all around, but I'm not convinced by how the center back looks. I am putting german boning there - and at all the bones I am adding, too.

It looks like I might be able to finish this today... minus the flossing, because I don't think I can make a corset for myself and not add flossing. Flossing is pretty ! And I feel all this black si a little... plain by itself.