Sabrina

Here are the pictures. :) Wearing the corset and waist petticoat with a modern bra and my Edwardian chemise that I made last year.

( Being kind to your Friends page )

Playing with the effects on my camera for fun.

The 1912 corset is finished! And yesterday I enlarged the 1913-14 afternoon dress pattern from Patterns of Fashion 2. Well, the skirt part of it. Actually, only the top part of the skirt of it. My paper wasn't long enough to do the whole thing. Plus, it's all straight lines on the lower part that I can just draw on to the actual fabric. And I'd probably need to shorten the thing several inches anyways. So today, the plan is to cut out the petticoat.

I finished the binding for one side of the corset and the other side is half sewn on. These pictures show the binding, inside and outside. Topstitched then turned over and overcast by hand. Not very exciting, but it's progress. You can also see part of a boning channel covering the seam allowance on the inside shot.
( Binding detail shots )

I just bought these trims this weekend. Lace for the top and ribbon to make a very loopy bow, which many teens corsets seem to have. I was surprised by being able to find such a delicate cotton lace at my local fabric store. The ribbon is grosgrain. I was actually looking for satin, but this was the best colour match. I figure that I can always take the bow off if I don't like it. Best part was that everything was at least 50% off at the fabric store. More on that later! ;)

You may have noticed that I've been collecting vintage sewing patterns lately. In the interest of posting more content on my LJ, here are my latest ones.


Early 1940s Dress (Hollywood 1846)

( The rest )
The 1912 corset is still being worked on. The grommets are all set and the strips for boning channels have been cut and ironed. I ended up cutting out new wider ones. Today I am going to start sewing them on.

The back facings are now sewn on. This weekend I'm working on grommets, cutting out boning channels, sewing in boning channels, and binding. I may not get it all done, but most of it should be manageable. And since I claim progress, here are pictures as proof. :)



( The insides )

Here it is, the stuff I sewed in 2011. I didn't do any knitting like I wanted to, but I was far more productive than usual. I got done, on average, just over one project a month, which was my original goal for the year. I think I can up my productivity for next year a little bit. I have some new strategies, like to just force myself to get started, because once I've started I have no trouble continuing. So...

Grape dress- which I want to re-fit in the waist section before I wear it



( The rest )

Whew! That was a lot. It seems like this was a pretty productive year for everyone on my Friends list. See you all in 2012! Happy New Year! And best of luck with all your future sewing projects!

I had my only exam during the exam period today. The rest were in-class exams. So now I'm footloose and fancy free! Yay!

This means more baking time. Mmm... And sewing time! My plum wool jacket is underway. I cut out the fronts and backs. Cutting through the heavy wool was really tough. I also marked them with tailor's tacks, which was fun because of the different colours of thread. I only cut out those pieces because I want to do the darts and seam and see how the body fits before cutting everything else out and getting it sewn together only to find out that it doesn't fit well. That would suck.

Christmas presents are also contributing toward sewing. I asked for some sewing books (one on patterning and one on couture sewing techniques). My mom has already bought me some corset supplies. Once Christmas hits, I will be getting my 1912 corset sewn up. This will be handy because I've decided to participate in the 1912 Project happening at the Vintage Pattern Lending Library. You get a repro every month of a pattern from La Mode Illustree from 1912 and all you have to do is sew it up (and a mock-up is totally fine). It's pretty neat.

Also Christmas related, my grandmother gave me some money to buy my own gift. So I ordered some vintage patterns from Etsy. A blouse and a dress. The two came together, and it was a pretty good deal for patterns that old. I've managed to already figure out the blouse is from 1939 (Yay! for Vintage Pattern Wiki) and the dress is, I think, early 1940s, based on the shoulder yokes and hairstyles of the pictures. I've been wanting to find dress patterns with shoulder yokes, a sweetheart neckline, and a pleated front after seeing all these inspiring dresses, and here was one with all three. Talk about lucky! So I snapped it up. The blouse was just a bonus.

Well, that's enough rambling from me. I've been pretty busy this last month, so it's really nice to know that I'm going to have some quality "me" time for the rest of the month. I plan on being very productive. And not just with sewing. I'm going to get my novel finished, which I wrote for NaNoWriMo (writing 50,000 words to win!). And watch lots of hockey. And read all those books that have been piling up. And maybe even see my friends once in a while too. Fun times!

I've started work on my entry for the DPP on Your Wardrobe Unlock'd/Foundations Revealed. Yesterday I enlarged this pattern from the Foundations Revealed website. (The pattern can also be found here on the Bridges on the Body Blog.) Originally, I wanted to try out jenthompson's teens corset pattern (also on Foundations Revealed), but this other pattern was much closer to my measurements and involved less alterations. So I enlarged this pattern using my trusty system of putting a grid on the small pattern and copying it by hand to a larger grid. I then shaved off about 1/8 of an inch from several of the seams to make it the right size for me. Today I cut out the mock-up and sewed the seams together. It is a super easy pattern to work with. There aren't tons of pieces, and none of them are oddly shaped. Plus, the vertical seams make for easy fitting adjustments. Also, the markings on the pattern are very accurate. Tomorrow I am going to put the bones in the mock-up and see how it fits. Exciting!

The blouse is mostly together now. I worked on it the other day. All that needs doing for it is to finish the side seams, hem the sleeves, and hem the bottom. I tried it on and it looks nice, but I don't really like how it feels on. I think I cut the neck too wide. It makes for a flattering neckline, but it feels a bit too open for the fall. This one may end up being on hold for a little while.