Autumn Zebra

So I finished this nearly two weeks ago, but I didn't have any pictures I liked because I didn't have anything really suitable and good to wear it over. But now, here are some pictures. I don't really like the style, actually, I realised when it was made, but otherwise it is good and well made I think. First the inside and outside layed flat. Then me wearing it wwith 3 different shirts. :) Some photos not very good because it is a bit dark in the room and cameras don't like that. You'd think 2 light bulbs in an average sized room would be enough. The best thing in the pictures is clearly my hair from the back.

Half the eyelets done! Only 16 to go! I did 9 today. I'll probably finish it on Tuesday?

The binding, at least along the bottom edge, turned out to be a lot easier than I had thought, particularly since I sewed it by machine and not by hand so it was speedy. It was purchased black bias binding, sewn on on the front first, then folded over and "stitching in the ditch" on the front to attach it to the back, although it had to be unfolded at the back or it didn't stretch over far enough. So all in all the inside is a bit ugly, but I suppose that doesn't matter too much. The outside looks good. I then alternated between cutting some of the cable ties to length (for boning) and making eyelets by hand. I don't have any decent eyelets that don't muck up half the time, so I don't want to use them for good things. The only time I've used them is for my goth dress where they are mostly decorational. To get them in you have to cut the material, and if you cut it too much then the eyelet will come out and the whole thing is a disaster, even if the eye...

I won't go into too many details about construction really, as there are various ways to do these things, and a million steps in a a variety of different orders. I made myself a big list of everything to do and in what order, about 20 things, and then partially followed it. Here's a picture for reference for this post. I cut out the other two layers and sewed them at the seams. I folded over the front and back ends of the inner layer and overlocked them and sewed them down as more boning channels, and cut strips of material and sewed them on next to these, but over a bit, to make the channels that go down the other side of the laces. I cut of the excess material at the bottom and sewed along the bottom to seal the channels. I remembered about the waist tape, that helps stop it stretching along the bit with the most stress on it, and sewed it on just in the seams and at the ends, which I just realised means that at the seams means it is essentially sewn onto nothing but other s...

After deciding that my very badly done sheet mock-up with no boning was going to be ok, I made a nice new pattern incorporating the changes, and added a 1" seam allowance. Here you can see the pattern, without seam allowances, all nicely labeled with "top" and "bottom" and the waistline and which piece connects to which on what side. I made it up in cotton something, canvas maybe, that I had bought specifiacally for this sort of thing, and I bought it in pink so I would remember it was strictly utilitarian purposes because I would never use pink for anything otherwise. I used the seam allowances to make the boning channels, because that was a lot easier than making separate channels and generally sounds like a good idea, since they are there anyway, adding bulk to the whole thing. Here are some pictures of various views on the dress dummy, with uncut lengths of cable tie in place as boning and generally roughly pinned on and so on. You can see come ribbon thro...

I'm not sure what to write actually, and didn't take many pictures. I am making a post about how to make an underbust pattern, but I thought I should finish mine first and see if I am really qualified to say such things. I made my first pattern, based on instructions from a site I can no longer find, from memory, because it is really a very simple concept, but I made a major idiotic mistake, probably because I was very hungry and my thinking was very messed up. I did it while nothing was happening in pattern-making class. So, when I realised my idiocy the next day, I made another, which went a lot better and made a lot more sense. Which I will explain later when mine is all finished and good (hopefully). There are three main, simple categories of underbust corset in terms of shape of the top and bottom edges. flat or slightly curved edges curved between bust pointy! They're crappy little drawings, I know. So anyway, the point is I decided to go for number two, forgetting th...

So anyways, onto the makings! Here are my 3 materials; first person to spot the joke, nay, pun, gets.... umm, to be really great. From left to right, outer "fashion" layer, strength layer, lining. Here's the lining by itself, because it is cool. Isn't it cute? I wish it was the outside now, but how wearable is it, really? Ha ha, short entry. But it had pictures.

As part of my set of clothing made in houndstooth and black materials, I am making a corset, as well as a skirt, jacket and trousers. The idea is a kind of corporate-wear collection, like a suit, with the jacket and either trousers or skirt, and the corset will fit in with the outfit. Worn with a white shirt for maximum corporatability. Given that both the corset and skirt will be houndstooth it may be impossible to wear them together without blinding people, but I may make another black skirt as well. Normal business-wear, at least how I perceive it, having never met any woman who has to wear any kind of suit for work, generally consists of a suit jacket and either dress trousers or a skirt, where the skirt is only about knee length - a little longer or shorter or at the knee. Perhaps heels would be worn, perhaps make-up. The whole idea seems to be to make the woman dress like a businessman while still remaining traditionally feminine and looking nice. Looking nice and being tradition...

If an item of clothing doesn't cause some sort of visual impairment, it's not worth wearing. That's not really my new motto, but I like to think of it when I consider making things out of materials like this houndstooth: And look, I even have it in inches. How random. Doesn't it make your eyes go funny? You can see the kind of cool selvedge there too. But I won't just be making one garment out of this, oh no, there is a whole outfit, or set of outfits around this theme! Ok, two items will be made in the houndstooth, and another will have highlights of it, but there are many more items in the greater theme of outfits. But I am trying to write shorter posts oftener, so I will put that in another post. I am starting a new tag about this: houndstooth, although as you will see, another element is "corporate" and another is.... "feminism" perhaps? Or sexism? It is hard to decide. Anyways, this entry has introduced the houndstooth element. p.s. today...