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I just set up a separate facebook page for this blog.
I figure it's easier to get the word out on new posts.
It might not be much yet..but one never knows :)

Here is my header pic for it:

 And this is what it looked like "behind the scenes" of taking the header pic ..tehehe

The original "cover shot" was taken from above by standing on the chair :)

Now lets get some "Likes"

Regency Long Stays with Easy Cording Method

Attending and participating in the Jane Austen Festival for the very first time, I've spent the last month fabric, notions and pattern shopping, planning and designing my dresses and accessories.

I'm utterly exited!! Me being a new member of the JASNA Louisville chapter and having seen all those pretty people online  attending last years festival in their regency get up, I'm determined to give it my all to show my appreciation for the beauty of the period and my admiration to Jane Austen.

And of course..OOOH , what FUN it will be to dress up all pretty among other pretty dressed up ladies and gentlemen and immerse oneself a bit into regency life.

So here they are; my regency long stays:

Regency corded corset front

They are made
 in 3 layers;
2 layers of cotton drill and
1 layer of 100% white cotton.
The cording goes between the 2 cotton drill layers.

The busk cover is made from eyelet lace, topped off with two hand stitched eyelets.

Between the cording I let my trusty sewing machine do some decorative stitching. Between the underbust cording, as well as on the hip gussets I did some hand embroidering.
I find it keeps me from munching in front of the TV at night. :)

The sides have some cording as well, but after trying it on, I would recommend either doing MUCH more cording or adding at least one boning on each side.

It IS fine and does a good job as is. But it would be more supportive with some more cording or boning.

 The pattern I used is the Mantua Maker regency corset and you can order it with or without the busk. I ordered the busk with the pattern.

I also read that one can use one of those paint stirring wood slats as a busk. The kind they give you for free at the home depot. I'm not sure how sturdy they are ..but hey, if they are free you can get a few and try it out. :)

The instructions were pretty easy to follow. There also is an excellent  tutorial on how to make a regency corset by Sidney Eileen that got me started. Very step-by-step and in depth and hers turned out absolutely perfect doing it exactly that way, which gave me the courage to attempt this at all.

But after sewing the whole corset - which honestly intimidated me at first- I have to say an intermediate sewer can whip this one up in about 8 hrs...
(from cutting the fabric to fished lacing- provided you have absolutely no interruptions and can indulge in the sewing flow)
... using boning instead of cording and skipping the embroidery. It really is much less work than it looks. Once you start it just all falls into place and sooner than you thought you are holding your finished regency long stays. :)

Corset front  with cording, machine- and  hand embroidery

The three things I personally asked myself, after reading the Sidney Eileen's tutorial were:

Question 1) How do I do the gussets an easier way?? The Gussets she showed looked easy enough but turned out to be all wonky when following her steps.
  I don't know HOW she got them to look so perfect using that method but I knew it was not for me.

Question 2) What kind of cord should I use and how much of it do I need??

Question 3)  How on earth DO I do the cording in a way that looks neat but doesn't make me hate the corset before it's  even done??

The cording method shown looked like WAY too much work and a pain in the butt.
She of course did a bang-up job with hers and created a beautiful piece. I have the utmost respect for her skills and workmanship!!
Yet further searching and looking at all those gorgeous cording jobs I saw all over online, left me with more "but how.." thoughts to ponder over.

SO...
Answer to Question 1) My gusset question is actually answered on my Mantua Maker  pattern(duh!!) . So engrossed and frustrated by  the Gusset online tutorial, I neglected to look at the actual pattern instructions more closely.
It only has drawings but they still helped me to easily do them right and get evenly sized and pucker free gussets. Here are some pictures to help with the pattern drawings:

 

stay stitch around gusset marking

left; cut marking, right; cut and ironed towards left side to stay open

place gussets on the ironed-over edges and pin in place from right side

turn over to right side, have pins in direction of sewing and top stitch in place- removing pins as you sew.

Top-stitched and deco stitched. Top is trimmed and zig -aged

  Et voilà! 

Bust gusset done and onward..

 Problem solved for Question 2 :

I wanted the cording not to "bleed"  into my corset  when it is washed
   (like hemp cord does, frequently used for authenticity)
...and not to shrink  and pucker my fabric
   (like with cotton cord or cream and sugar yarn)...
so I opted for a white nylon cord.

  Knowing I needed a lot and since I didn't want to pay 1.99 a yard for measured notion cord - guessing I would buy about 10 yards that would have been $20 just for the cord!
*where are my smelling salts*

So I chose to buy a  package of 2.2 mm nylon cord for window blinds. I found mine at Joanne's fabric for about $6.50. Plenty of cord on that little card board thingy for extra practice runs too. I still have some left over.

2.2 mm nylon cord for window blinds or shades (That's my left overs)

   
And finally the solution to Question 3; The cording process

Reading about it probably takes longer than doing it, so don't get discouraged


Here is what I did;
I call it "Zipper-foot-instant-cording". (Practice-pics on scraps )

1. With your regular foot sew a straight line through two layers as long as you want your cording "channel" to be.
 

2. Open up the fabric and place your cord as close as you can against the previously stitched line/inner seam.

Now change to your zipper foot for the following steps:

3.Close the fabric over the cord, so the cord is now sandwiched between the layers.
Place your zipper foot as close as you can onto the top layer next to the cord.

4. Now stitch very close to the cord, inching your way down, stopping occasionally to feel-push the cord nice and tight against the first line of stitching.

...stitch very close to the cord, inching your way down...

 5. At the end of your "channel" fold fabric up/over and cut the remaining cord off.

Finished cording row. Adding more is a cinch- just repeat from step 2 above  :)

Check list so far:

• all pieces cut 
• bust gussets done
• cording channel width established by doing a few practice cording rows on scrap fabric

To make a cording pattern I placed a piece of paper on top of my front piece and traced the shape of it.
When you design your cording pattern make sure to mark the busk pocket first and then let your imagination and sewing skills be your guide.

Cording can be done vertically, horizontally and diagonally. It's up to your preference and skills but keep in mind that the cording has to be done in a certain order.(!!)
Because once a cording channel is sewn, you can only open the fabric a certain way to make the rest of your cording. Also you want to make sure your cording does not end into another cording.
You may however cross over ends. With that in mind the order becomes more clear.
That means cord the parts first that will be crossed or joined by other lines!
 So mentally walk your way through first before you do any stitching.
I realize it sounds VERY confusing.  It becomes clearer when you do it. I will also show pictures on that and explain more with them. It's actually quite simple. Just the words fail me to make it sound simple.
(This would be the time to excuse my English, it being my second language and German my mother tongue )

 ..aaand moving on:

I used the online cording patterns I found for inspiration and rough drafted this one:

Next step is the transferring the cording pattern onto the top fabric layer of the front piece. Not an easy task considering it's thick cotton duck fabric. It's not really transparent. Quite the contrary! So, using a sunny window, I taped the paper pattern onto it. Holding my fabric piece over the paper and let the sunshine do the rest.
In short; the bright sun light made it easier to see through the fabric and consequently to see and trace the pattern markings.

Having learned from my mistake of stitching over pencil marks which seems to imbed them permanently into the fabric, I invested in a Mark-be-gone marker. Incredible thing! A drop of water and it just disappears. No scrubbing or washing. Just wetness. I'm very much liking it! :)

After all that technical work I deserved some relaxing embroidery.
I hadn't done any for decades!!
 Knowing that the swirls will be embroidered only onto the top layer and will not disturb the later cording, this was the perfect time to get it done.

The embroidery of the swirls:

I felt quite accomplished that day and put my work down. As I will now with this blog entree. Enough to digest for today.
 I will do the rest of the tutorial in mostly captioned pictures, so it doesn't feel so long winded.
Thank you for bearing with me.
Ciao for now, Darlings...

Sewing the Honey dress spin off

I just finished my 2013 Christmas dress :)

It’s actually an intense cherry red dull satin.
The pics make it look more a shiny tomato red Or a fuchsia pink depending on the monitor setting.



With the matching jacket and belt I made for it,it looks nice and dressy.








The main idea was to recreate the Honey dress from Trashy Diva with a better fit and fuller skirt.

I used Gertie’s Butterick 5882 for the bust part as a base, did a major FBA and took about 7 tries to get the right pattern for this one made. An unusual amount of try-outs and muslin went into making this .



The zipper is set in middle back down the skirt so the scoop back is not interrupted.





I also added some small sleeves because it needed something up there. The initially planned cascading arm drape did not work out well at all. To work with satin is challenging enough..the puckering and slipping away from the needle no matter how slow/fast and careful I set my stitches.

But satin chiffon- which I had planned for the arm drapes - is another curse all together! I really learned my limits with this dress and decided I will definitely stick to cottons! With the occasional excursion to brocade..but I will stay clear of those silky chiffons for now.

All in all this dress turned out ok, but is NOT at all my usual standard. Still lined and hand-stitch finished I feel that I could make this better in an easier to work with fabric. Maybe one other time…for now I’m done with that pattern.

Merry Christmas :)

Update:
here is me wearing the dress at the Christmas Party.
The pretty lady next to me is my sweet daughter in law.