Skirt and tie finished!

Last Saturday was the wedding (a cousin of my boyfriend got married)

I finished the skirt and tie in time.
Here some pics:




The bride and groom liked it ^_^

Stays (binding in progress)

I'm currently busy with hand (for the most part) binding my stays.
It's a lot of work, but it pays off :)
The binding will be pressed afterwards, so it'll look less wonky.

Here some pictures:

Silks from Silkbaron.com

The fabric I used for the stays are 100% dupioni silk, bought from www.silkbaron.com
I can really recommend them!

They have an ENORMOUS selection of colours!! Splendid quality too!
Dupioni, velvets, charmeuse, chiffon, satin, taffeta etc. etc.

The colour used for the stays are "rustic red"

The stays in "rustic red"

I also ordered some new fabric from them yesterday.
We're going to a wedding next month and they asked the guests to wear something orange.
I'm going to make a tie for my boyfriend, a hat and a skirt for myself in the colour "juicy orange"
Isn't it pretty??

Juicy Orange

I also ordered some "Aquamarine"

Aquamarine

Stays (binding finished)

After making some horribly small bias binding, I finally made a decision what to do next.
I wanted to save some fabric (because I have other plans for the same colour) so I had to order new fabric for more bias binding.

I thought "hey, if I am to order new fabric for binding, why not a contrasting colour?". I couldn't decide on the colour (white and crème somehow seemed ugly) and couldn't wait so long for the fabric to arrive anyway :P
So I did use the rest of the fabric after all. I'll order more if it's really necessary

The bigger new tape maker was put to good use. I even cut the fabric 5mm wider than it should have been. That was a good idea! It wasn't too wide at all... After sewing the strips together and looooooots of ironing, the binding is done!

My tip for today: always cut your binding wider than you want too :P

5 meters of silk dupioni binding finished

My corset making history

May I bore you with some old pictures?
These are all the corsets I made in the past. Yes all, although I'm ashamed of most of them.
The first one is from 2005 and the last from 2008 (2008! I should really finish my stays and get on to the next)

I can't believe how much I improved! But at the same time, it looks like there's no improvement at all!
Sooo much left to learn :)

Pattern made from an online pattern generator. Rigilene and two layers of polyester taffeta

First self-drafted overbust. Two layers of the most hideous polyester lining fabric (yes, lining)
This was the first time I used steel boning. The pattern wasn't even THAT bad for a first time.

My first self-drafted underbust. And the first time I used a busk. Two layers with steel boning (sandwich method)

Self-drafted underbust of polyester satin. Two layers with the steel boning in the seam allowance of the lining (bad idea -_-)

Self-drafted overbust (men, I must really like pattern drafting! :S)
Not the best pic, but it gives a really nice silhouette, without lacing very tight. I like the bust part. It contains spiral boning and cups the breasts nicely. Two layers (sandwich method) with steel and spiral.

Again, self-drafted and the first time I used coutil! Two layers with steel and spiral boning. Used internal boning channels (also a first time!), that's what also caused the huge wrinkling. But I kept it that way, because it gives a funny effect up front.

Well, I'm a perfectionist, so I thought to myself: why shouldn't I use a commercial pattern for a change? I couldn't be satisfied with my own drafts, so that looked like a good idea.
I used the Laughing Moon pattern. Even after two (I usually do one) mock-ups, this is the result. I'm not really satisfied, it looks cheap! And it's my only corset that has the outside layer made of silk! I have to lace like crazy to get a nice shape and then it's still not really what I like.

Oh well, it's more comfortable than my black overbust. Let's research the reason for that a little more for my next overbust :)

So, that's my history of corset making! I probably make a cincher after this to wear regularly and a nice overbust to fit my Victorian dress better.
Of course I'll make some in progress pics of that :)

Stays (boning finished!)

I finally finished measuring, cutting, filing and dipping all the bones :)
It took a long time, I know.

The spring steel was filed with a dremel tool and dipped with white nail polish.
Hm I should buy myself some plastidip some time.

And let's not forget the busk!
The busk was cut and carved out of a thick plate of plastic (thanks again, dad!!!)
Does the job very well and ofcourse it fits perfectly!

The boned stays with the white plastic busk on top

Now on to making my own bias tape!

Stays (boning)

The boning is starting to work on my nerves!
It's taking forever and I don't seem to have enough boning.
I have some in another size, fortunately the difference is very small.

Well, the boning is mixed up now anyway, so I'm using both :)

The tabs and back are now boned, so now on to the front!