I have been so busy sewing lately, that I have not taken the time to update my content.  As always, full pictures of my projects can be seen over at the Gallery.  However, here are a few teasers.

I made this velvet doublet, essentially on speculation.  However, I sold it within a couple of days, along with a request for matching pants.  The colors in this velvet are spectacular, but it was not easy to work with.  Because of this, I am in the market for a third sewing machine.  My preference would be a Juki industrial, but I will have to see what I can find.

The double laces in the front. It has an extra-long peplum that has been split in the back to enable the wearer to run, should he need to..  It also has detachable sleeves, held in place with lacing through silver buttons. The sleeves themselves lace closed, and are lined with black satin in the event the wearer wants to wear them open.

This green doublet was an experiment.  My goal was to produce a quality, lined doublet, for under $5.00 in materials.  I apologize for the quality of the photo; all of my sewing models are female and this was definitely designed for a man.  I succeeded in my goal. 

I found a beautiful lined curtain panel at a second hand store for $1.99.  Using thread left over from another project, I added $0.50 worth of interfacing (again, left over from a previous project) , 22 grommets at $0.05 each ($1.10), and a spool of $1.00 ribbon for lacing purposes. Total for materials: $4.59. 

I also wanted to see how quickly I could put one together. After preparing the pattern (reusable) and fabric (washing and drying on hot to ensure the eventual owner could do the same), I spent just a hair over four hours constructing the final product.  It took me another hour to get it laced properly, but that was because choose a ribbon that was less than ideal.

Please visit my gallery to see what else I have been up to.

I have completed two gorgeous new corsets, and now that I have some photos, I am going to show them off!

The first I would like to talk about is this underbust corset.  There are four layers of fabric: the fashion layer of polyester brocade, two strength layers of red duck, and a lining layer of black cotton.  The binding is a simple, black polyester.  It has a black, heavy duty, separating zipper in lieu of a busk.  There are 22 steel bones, both flat and spiral.  The photograph does not do this corset justice.  The color is more orange at the top and blends to a maroon color towards the bottom, as the light changes.

Unfortunately, this garment has one major imperfection - the 11 grommets on the left side are off by 1/4 of an inch.  I would like to sell it for essentially the cost of my materials, so that I can create another one.  The tightly-closed measurements are: 

Ribcage: 36"      Waist: 31"      High Hip: 40"

This corset has been sold! 

The second corset I would like to brag about is a commissioned piece that I delivered this week. This garment took me a little longer than I would have liked to finish, but on the client, it looked fantastic.  It has three layers: a fashion layer of China Silk Brocade, and two strength layers of coutil.  The binding is a purple polyester (per client request), and it has an additional black velvet ribbon trim along the top edge.  There are 24 steel bones (spiral and flat), a standard busk, and lacing bones for extra support.

This corset was designed for a woman who is quite "squishable". Her before/after photos are still being cleaned up, but the difference is dramatic.  What she didn't know was that I probably could have laced her another inch or so tighter.  I wanted to make sure she could still breath.

Construction photos, including design steps and fittings are available at the gallery.  Please feel free to leave comments.  I would love to know what you think.

Back in October, I completed a Halloween costume for a friend of mine. Unfortunately, we were not able to do a photo shoot until December.  I got the photos last month, but I forgot to post them until now.

As always, you can click on the small image to visit the image gallery for a larger (or even larger) view.

I have been busy lately, working on my corset technique.  I have a few samples to show now.  Most of the images are over at the photo gallery, but some teasers (and construction notes) can be found if you continue reading...