Me-Made Corset as shot by Christeeny

I am the luckiest woman alive to have so many uber-talented friends. One of them is the lovely Chris Patterson, who is a fabulous photographer and all round artistic genius based in the North East of England and fellow studio resident.  Last week she was shooting with the very beautiful Lucy Bennison from Tyne Tees Models and I loaned her a few me-made bits and bobs for the shoot. Just look at the result! Isn't this image just amazing? 

Team

Model : Lucy Bennison Tyne Tees Models

Make up : Josephine Birkett - Makeup Artist

Corset & Head Piece : Bad Kitty Corsets

Hair : Tony Arts Hair

Photo Credit: Christeeny.com

I know that Chris was trying to go for a painterly feel and the use of light in this shot, to me, is very much like Vermeer or Rembrandt. I was so pleased that one of my me-made (and designed) corsets could be of use along with this 1920's/ early 30's wax flower bridal crown and veil from my rainy day collection of "stuff that might come in handy for a photoshoot". The tulle is so delicate, almost disintegrating to the touch but very beautiful.

Anyway, I was bursting to share this image with you but had to wait until Chris very graciously said it was okay. If you would like to see more of her work then please click on the link above to her website or find her on Facebook.

Not forgetting of course the amazing team of MUA and hairdressing whose links can be found above too.

Apparently there are more images to come (using other me-made corsets) and I hope to be able to share those with you too sometime. If you are interested the corset design is derived from an original line drawing in "Corsets & Crinolines" by Norah Waugh. I have used this pattern a few times now, most notably for my dip-dyed silk corset that I must get some pics of too.

Hope that you are all having a great week!

Kxx

Vintage Book Review: McCall's Sewing in Colour (1964)

To be honest my life is overrun with books. Since I was a tiny child (I learned to read very early) I have been a voracious reader, devouring every tome that I could lay my grubby little hands on. Since then not a lot has changed - still got the grubby hands - except I no longer scare myself with books of ghost stories just buy mostly sewing books. I have quite a few now and like to pick them up on my travels as often as I can. 

McCall's vintage sewing - written when brown polyester ruled the world

My copy of  "McCall's Sewing in Colour" is from 1964. I picked it up on eBay for a song. It is quite a thick hardback book, about 300 pages, and as the tag line states covers " Home Dressmaking, Tailoring, Mending and Soft Furnishings". There are lots of line drawings and several colour plates with great photos.

60's sheets for the win!

The contents of this book are a bit different to some others that I own from the same period. There is a lot of emphasis at the beginning of the book on picking the right pattern for your lifestyle and figure type which just goes to show that nothing much changes, even from 50 years ago. We were still fretting about whether a pattern would be right or not. There is even the age old discussion about stripes. I love a horizontal stripe and wear them often. Ain't nothing going to make me look smaller so might just go with it. I want to be stripey!

Would our bums look big in those spots?

There is quite a lot of pages on choosing fabrics. This is useful and I suppose that apart from fit it is one of the major culprits in pattern failure. Plus a section on colour.

I am in love with this colour palette. No black too. Very strange

To give you a flavour of the book the chapters headings are listed as:

1) Building a New You

2) Keystone to Fashion

3) The Raw Materials

4) Fabric Facts

Yes, I keep my stash in my spice cupboard.

5) The Tools of the Trade

6) The Easy Rules of Pattern Alteration

7) Groundwork for Action

Feelin' hot, hot hot!

8) Blueprint for the Professional

9) Construction Data - Stitches and Seams

10) Construction Data

11) Design Details

12) Important Closings

13) The Personal Touch

14) Tailoring Talk

15) The Three R's- Repairing, Remodelling and Remaking

16) The Decorator's Touch

My eyes! It burns my eyes! Could you sleep in this room?

So the big question is would I buy this again? The answer is yes. There are better books with regard to sewing process tuition and the styling is obviously from the land that Pinterest forgot but it is a nice read and I am glad that I bought it.There is something in this book for everyone, beginners and seasoned hands alike and not a "how to a make a pillowcase" or pair of PJ pants to be found. Something a lot of modern books should keep in mind. There is a lot of info to be had in sewing books from this era, especially if you want to take your techniques to the next level, and you could easily buy two or three for the costs of one new one. Plus, I think reading these old books is fun but then again I read sewing patterns on the train!

Hope you are having the best time.

K xx

Sheets, Shirts and Wardrobe Planning

This blog is a little late as I was recovering from the weekend. No drink was consumed, just the usual amount of running around like a headless chicken. Sprogzilla had a friend sleepover Saturday night- they were  really great to be honest- but I was too knackered yesterday to think about anything much bar some mindless iPad scrying. Well not totally "mind"-less, I spent a lot of time reading the Into Mind website which is all about personal style and wardrobe building prompted by the recent "Wardrobe Architect" posts on The Colleterie blog.

Those of you that know me in real life can stop laughing now as yes, I do resemble the Cat Lady from The Simpsons on most occasions (nor do I care) but recent changes in my day job mean that I am going to have to bite the bullet and start dressing like a sensible adult. However, I hate with a passion most of the baggy, shapeless tents that pass for plus-sized clothes, plus I don't want to look like a corporate Stepford Wife. Is it possible to retain a bit of individuality and still toe the party line? I am going to give it a good try.

I have cut out the pattern this week for Simplicity 2339. This pattern is one from their "Amazing Fit" range which has different sized pattern pieces for A, B, C and D-cups. All well and good but a bit of a non-event for me as I still have to do a 4-inch FBA over and above the biggest size, plus a broad back adjustment. I am really taking my time doing the flat-pattern alterations and am using both my Fast Fit book from Sandra Betzina and the "Sew Busted" Maria Alto DVD to help with the FBA and lowering the bust dart. And people ask why I never make myself anything!

I actually have muslin to make a muslin up in. I am taking this really seriously as I would like to have some smart, well-fitting shirts for a change and a TNT pattern would be nice. However, I am not sure that my fabric choices are serious. First off on the left I have a lovely vintage cotton sheet, the fabric is beautiful, and on the right is some quilting cotton "Flea Market Fancy" from Westminster Fibres that I bought in John Lewis. I am hankering after polka dot button plackets and collar/cuffs with these but might just play it safe. The quilting cotton is quite thin so I thought it would be OK for a shirt. I will get the final adjustments cut out tomorrow night. Hope that it fits after all the changes.

Excuse me Miss but your shirt is sheet. Well! There's no need to be rude.

I managed to get a half hour of wandering round the shops on Saturday and managed to pick up a couple of nice necklaces in a blue colourway. I bought a lot of vintage turquoise beads a couple of weeks ago and am looking to layer them up so need to add to the collection first. I love the colours and the owl is so cute.

Fashionable? I don't give a hoot.

Anyway, do you plan your wardobe? Is it a bit organic or set out with military precision? Do you ruthlessly cull the old and sick or just keep adding and still have nothing to wear (like me)?

Kxx

The Blog That Time Forgot

Ok, well if there were prizes for most neglected blog I would definitely be a contender. As it stands it has been almost 2 years (2 YEARS!) since I last updated this blog. That is bad, even by my standards. My old PC died, taking all my sewing pics along with it which I didn't back up and although I bought an iPad, I am less than impressed with it for doing anything other than emails. So now I have a new PC I have decided to be a bit more disciplined in keeping this up to date and maybe even posting some tutorials now and again.

So what have I been up to since then? Lots and lots really. Day job is still in Newcastle (at the moment anyway). Have blagged some brilliant studio space in Newcastle City Centre, where I can keep my enormous fabric stash without needing an extension and have sewn my way through two NE1's Newcastle Fashion Weeks, which were the most hectic and fun thing to do. The stuff they have on is fab-u-lous.

I worked with Mel from Le Hat Noir again for the 2012 catwalk show. Her hats were amazing. My favourite was this orange silk one show below. The pink and yellow corsets were from this year's show. I made more stuff than I needed so I have some lovely girdles made from the Jill Salen "Vintage Lingerie" book I talked about in the last post. I don't have any photos of them though.



Some corsets I made for Newcastle Fashion Week. Photo Credit: NFW (orange) and Peter Reed.

Currently, I have my Bad Kitty hat on and am working on a set of four corsets for a shoot sometime in October. They are roughly inspired by the work of Alphonse Mucha, especially the "Gemstones" painting. I am in the middle of making matching neck corsets. I have made one before but I don't think it was a resounding success comfort-wise. I draped this one on a polystyrene head to get the size right (about an 8-10), but as it laces up the back it should be OK. This is prototype B, with hand painted lace and 5 different colours of Swarovski crystals. The others should be fairly similar although I was also thinking of adding in some Steampunk-style boot covers.



Pink Silk Neck Corset with Hand-Painted Lace and Swarovski Crystals (work in progress). I hope that this is a bit more comfy. Boy,does it need a press and the boning put in though.



I bought Simplicity 9553 after being inspired by Peter from Male Pattern Boldness's post on ugly patterns on Pinterest. I love this. Must be my bad taste but I want some for me. To be honest, I also have some of the other patterns from there too. Don't know what that says about my taste, style-wise but people used to raid my wardrobe when we had "Bad Taste" parties so that should tell me something I suppose.

I bought some very practical *ahem* white silk velvet to dye from Edinburgh Fabrics. Probably to go with the red corset that I have made. The two bag patterns that are included are really nice too. This pattern is from 1971 and I do have a bit of a soft spot for late 60's - 70's clothing.  This kind of swims against the tide for all things 50's and "Mad Men"-inspired which I have never ever seen. Too little time to be watching TV!

So lots of sewing to do this week. Watch this space!!