Progress

So I haven't done much knitting lately, but I've done a whole lot of sewing.

It came time to post our mockups for the 1911 corset sew-along. Here's mine!

It looks pretty good, in my opinion--I'm particularly happy that I drafted the hips pretty well on my computer program. What I didn't draft well, though, was the increase in the underbust measurement:

It was way too big, and this was bothering me--should I just take out the amount I added?  Would I really fit into an unmodified pattern for a 23 inch waist from the waist up?  If I take that away, should I add some length up top?  After all, I was kind of worried about some of the fat displacement you can see in the pictures, and it didn't seem like it would meet my underbust line very well, either.

But Jo over at Bridges on the Body suggested just taking out the extra first, before deciding on adding length.  I'm glad I did!

There are a few issues with creasing, which I believe to be just the fabric and the lack of boning.  Most importantly: there's no "spill-age"! And I may even need to take out a teensy bit from the length at the top front so it doesn't interfere with my underbust now.  I already did some of this more "cosmetic" shaping at the bottom of the corset; it won't be too hard to adjust the top, so I doubt I'll even try on my mockup again.

Now I'm ready for the next step! :)

1911 Sew Along so far!

Last post I mentioned I was joining a corset sew-along at Bridges on the Body.  The author also hosts a flickr group that I end up checking about just as often as her blog--it's great for inspiration!

Well, I figured I'd quickly post some pictures of my progress so far--they've been hanging out on my flickr for a bit.

First we have my paint-shop modified pattern...

Since, you know, I'm a bit too curvy for a slim-lined teens corset.  I mean,  I feel like we're nearly getting into the flapper era, here--the era where women visually minimized hips into near non-existence!

Then there's a sketchy photo of most of the materials I'll be working with...

And finally a picture of my mock-up!

Now, I do have photos of the mock-up fitting, since I got a bit carried away and worked quite a bit ahead (using some of my own methods, but it's great to hear about how others--including the sew-along organizer--do things!) But I'm trying to keep those hidden until it comes to the right time. :)


In the mean time I gave in and joined Pinterest, since I think everyone and their mother is on it, too. I'm a bit annoyed at some things (I have to have a twitter or facebook account...what?), but overall I realized that it's kind of like what I've done on my computer for years: saved a bunch of "inspiration" pictures.  (Years, later I'm like, "what the hell is all this crap", and now I will spend another few years erasing all of it from my computer as I find it.)  At least on Pinterest it's not clogging up my harddrive, and it's much more easily viewable, if I do say so myself. 

Anyway,  I've created an inspiration board for my sew-along corset. 

Source: 25.media.tumblr.com via Multi on Pinterest

And there you go!