My Corsets

So, I took some pictures of me wearing just my corsets, and I'm going to put them up here cuz I want to talk about them.

We'll start with this one.  (I'm aware the lighting sucks.)  The first one I made.  Made from the scraps of a duffle bag and a suit case, alternating brown and black panels.  I used a generic pattern I found online.  Not a lot of waist reduction, but the fabric looks badass. It was a huge pain to sew though.  So thick, and didn't slide easily through my sewing machine. Inside is a mess, because I'm terrible at sewing bias tape on and the liner doesn't quite fit in places. There's even a spot or two where a boning channel didn't actually get closed when I was sewing, so they've been glued shut.  Quick and dirty fix.  So it's quite messy on the inside.  But it does have the best laces, the ones I got from corsetmaking.com.  I've done several other things for laces, and these are by far the best.  This one's also the easiest for casual wear, I have a sheer black blouse that's hot as hell with this over top.

The second one.  An overbust made from the same pattern as the first.  Burgundy fabric from what looked like a table cloth from Goodwill.  Exterior boning channels done with tape from corsetmaking.com. Same unremarkable waist shape.  This pattern has two gores in the bust, which is really just awful.  I do not have the bust to create the cleavage that would make that shape work.  For me, bust cups have to curve back inward, cuz I just don't have the cleavage.  I should have at least removed one of the gores.  If I ever get motivated I'll overhaul this, because it's almost unwearable as is.  I realize you can't see from the pic, but anyone who cared to see could look straight down my front.  Also, this one has a denim liner which peeks out at the join in the front and makes me insane.  It also had fit problems, and has been snipped and trimmed and glued in place.  And again, store bought bias tape, still badly sewn on.  This is laced with paracord, which does not slide, and makes it very difficult to loosen the laces.  Not a fan. I'll probably change it.

Third: My Jessica Albert corset.  Technically Jessica Albert's thing isn't really a corset, but I wanted to make it that way just cuz.  Drafted my own pattern for this from a tutorial on foundationsrevealed.com.  Much, much nicer waist shape.  Hips are a teensy bit wide.  Not so much that you'd notice, just enough that I know it's not quite right. Put in my first modesty panel since this was lacing up the front.  It's just a closed back, which means I needed enough lacing to be able to pull this over my head.  The problem with this is that means when it's pulled tight, the laces reach the floor.  So I have to tie it in a bow, then tie the bows into a bow to get them short enough.  The fabric is just a faux leather stuff from Walmart.  I tried an experiment with this, adding in a rectangular panel in the back so this would lace closed (to avoid needing the modesty panel) but that destroyed the fit abominably.  And at the point I was at, it would have been too much work to take it apart and take the panel out, so I just folded it in and sewed a seam down the back.  this of course made a big ugly ridge down the back, which I covered with a square of lining fabric.  This liner fit almost perfectly, and since I'd taken my first shot at binding the edges with the same fabric it was made of, I came really close to having a pretty inside.  The bias tape isn't perfect.  This fabric does not hold a crease, but since it doesn't fray either, I didn't bother to fold in the edge on the inside.  The grommets on the front were inserted through predrilled lacing bones, which I will never do again.  It was so difficult to get those grommets through all the layers.  This one is laced with craft cord from the Hobby Lobby.  This is my second best choice for lacing.  Loosens easily enough.  It's just not a nice and smooth as the corsetmaking.com laces.

Fourth!  My newest one that you didn't know about yet!  Also made from my drafted pattern. Again with the pretty waist.  I had not realized the looseness in the hips yet, so that has not been corrected, but again, it's not that big of a deal.  The fabric is scavenged from unused pillow shams from our garage.  I don't believe in pillow shams.  We've had this bed set for most of our marriage, and never once used the shams.  The bust shape has been tailored to fit me, curves inward on top to avoid any unfortunate peeks.  More pronounced point in the front than my others.

This one I straight up made bias tape for.  I even figured out which way the bias went on the fabric and cut it correctly.  Spent a half hour ironing in the creases to the tape.  And my sewing bias tape skills have advanced to where this was almost perfect.  there were a few places where my stitches wobbled, and there's a few folds in the liner where it was just a bit too big, but this one is comparatively gorgeous on the inside.  It makes me so happy.

This one was originally laced with paracord, which is when I decided I hate that, so I changed this to satin ribbon.  Slides more easily than paracord, not as easily as craft cord, but is easily prettier than every other choice.  No modesty panel and no tank underneath, so you can see that strip of skin on my back, and my bra band.  I am thinking I'm going to sew some bra cups into the front so I don't have to wear a bra with this.














So there you have it.  My corset collection so far.  I have plans and supplies for at least three more, four if my boning holds out.  I'm so excited.  I love corsets!

Steampunk and Cosplay Pictures Part 2!

And here's the cosplay.  Just two outfits, but several pictures.

First, Jessica Albert!
























Still a few minor details missing, like her pouch, a clip for her whip, and boot covers.  and the belt has some issues.  But the main part is done.  I've even got her necklace and earrings that she wears in the game but don't show in the official art.   Can't really see them though.  The shirt used to be a turtleneck that I cut and hemmed, and added elastic around the top.  The skirt was a curtain, and I just liked the rich color and texture of the fabric.  The petticoat is just a bedskirt with a lacy ruffle that I cut in half, sewed together and added an elastic waistband.  I layer it with my other petticoat for my steampunk outfit to fill out my bustle skirt a bit more.  The corset is an actual boned corset made from a pattern I drafted myself, which I'm rather proud of.  It's also the first time I tried binding with with the same fabric it was made of instead of store bought bias tape.  So much prettier.

And my other outfit.  I finally managed to get some decent shots of me actually in my Rinoa outfit.

Steampunk and Cosplay Pictures Part 1!

So, I finally bothered to learn how to use the self timer on my camera.  took all of 15 seconds just to find the right button.  So I have some costume pics for you! They're not amazing, but at least I'm not holding a camera in them.  There's a lot of pics, so I'm going to break it in to two posts, one for steampunk and one for cosplay.  Let's start with steampunk.

The jacket is from the Simplicity 2172 pattern, a very popular steampunk pattern.  tank top and pants I made underneath.  This is made out of some suede/faux leather almost type fabric which I think looks amazing, but it is HOT AS HELL.  So I made the sleeves detatchable.  You can't tell in this picture really, but around the sleeves I put grommets and the sleeves lace on so they can also be removed.

Like so:




That way I can wear it even if it's not the dead of winter in Alaska.

I think I'm going to put a lot of these clothes on Tipsy and get some better detail shots of them.  You can't even see the cool buttons I used on the front of this... sad.














And here's a better look at the pants.  It was just a basic slacks pattern that I tailored to fit better.

Now for undergarments.  Here's my petticoat.  I bought a wedding dress from Goodwill for a few dollars and just destroyed it.  I cut out the interior skirt for a petticoat, cuz I really didn't want to make one.




























My spats are made from the fabric of the wedding dress, which makes them really feel high quality and sturdy.  Also, fifteen million buttons.  Only about 7 of them are real though.  the rest are fake, with a zipper hidden underneath.  I got the tutorial for making the pattern for these from here: http://steamfashion.livejournal.com/525310.html

Yup.  that's a bustle pad made by cutting a pillow in half and sewing it closed.  Just a regular bed pillow.  We had some old ones sitting in a closet.  and I sewed ribbon across the top so I can tie it around my waist.
















My burgundy bustle skirt, ruffly collared shirt and burgundy corset with black exterior boning channels.  The light's kinda crap, it's hard to see the colors.

I really need to get a real photographer.

















Back view.  I can lace the corset tighter than that, but I was just dressing for pictures quickly.

I should have taken a side view so you can see how far my bustle goes out.

With my burgundy bolero.  sleeves made from lace from my old bridesmaid dress.  connected with a chain across the front that you can't see.

With the brown and black striped underbust corset.  Dunno why I'm making a weird face.

And here's a detail shot of the hat I wore to Beerfest with Amanda.  I quite like it, but I'm going to attach it to a headband to make it easier to wear.












All in all I'm pretty happy with my steampunk stuff.  I'm probably not done making stuff, I know for sure I'm making several more corsets.  But I've got several outfits here, and I'm happy with them.

Oshiokiyo!

tsuki ni kawatte oshioki yo!

Yes. That is a little stuffed Luna.  Because I'm the best parent ever.

Moon Tiara Magic!

 Shannon's Halloween costume is done!  I'm so ridiculously proud of this.  Look at my adorable little Soldier of Justice!


I made this myself, and I love how it turned out.  Here's a breakdown of what I did:

Tiara was purchased, and odango covers are circles of cardboard covered in duct tape and glued to clips to attach to her hair.  The choker, which you can sorta see, is just a piece of ribbon with a gold painted crescent cut out of cardboard glued on.  No earrings, because her ears aren't pierced.  I've toyed with the idea of clip ons, but I probably won't bother.

Also, love the crazy eyes in this pic.

Gloves were purchased.  I tried to make gloves and failed.  These originally were trimmed in lace and beads and fake pink jewels with Disney princesses on them.  I took all that off, and sewed three strips of ribbon together, then attached that to the top of the gloves.

Bodice was a longsleeved white v neck shirt.  I cut the sleeves down to short sleeve length, then rolled that up filled with quilt batting for the tops of the sleeves.  I made up a pattern for the collar and stitched ribbon to it.  The brooch was a milk carton lid painted gold.  The crescent and center jewel are made out of hot glue and painted over.  Glued on the rest of the jewels.  I straight up hot glued the brooch to the bow, cuz I just plain didn't want to try to figure out how to attach it any other way.

The front bow is removable, attached with snaps and velcro, to make it easier to get in and out of the costume.

The bows are just rectangles of satin gathered in the middle.  The actual bow is stiffened with interfacing so it stands up.

Around the waist of the bodice I took a strip of fabric trimmed from the shirt and stitched it into a tube with quilt batting inside.  I attached a long piece of blue satin to this, pleating it as I went along.  I closed up the skirt and then attached the whole piece to the bottom of the shirt.  I had wanted top buy a white dance leotard and attach the skirt to that, but I wasn't able to find a cheap one.  This works.





The costume does have boots, they're just boot covers made out of duct tape, but they're a bit of a hassle, since they literally just tape on, so I didn't put them on for this set of pictures.  I'll get pictures of them on Halloween.

Isn't she fantastic? She does the poses, and she knows Sailor Moon's catch phrase in Japanese and English.  Because, as previously discussed, I am the best parent ever.

Project Updates

Yes, I'm still working on my steampunk stuff.  I have a second corset done, and the bustle skirt, the bolero jacket and one set of spats done.  I even have a bustle pad and a petticoat.  I'll give you more details on that when I get some pictures of them.  Tonight I have a different project I'm working on.  A new cosplay.  I've had this one in the back of my mind for some time, because it's from one of my all time favorite games that's not Final Fantasy or Zelda, and it's a fairly simple outfit.

I give you Jessica Albert, from Dragon Quest VIII:

She's the sexy badass sorceress of the party.  NOT the healer, incidentally.  That job's left for the pretty boy.  She's the "I'm gonna roast these motherfuckers alive." She's also brutal with a whip.  Aaaand I suppose she's also the super obvious sex object of the game... She has a set of abilities called "Sex Appeal and her outfit can change periodically...

Yeahhhhh....

Anyways,  I love her.  I am doing her basic outfit, mainly because I don't want to walk around half naked.  I may do the bunny suit but that's for personal reasons and you don't get to hear about that. :D

I have the top and the skirt done.  The top is a thrifted turtleneck that's been dramatically altered, the skirt is a curtain with a petticoat made from a bedskirt.  I'll go into those more once I have pics.  Today I want to talk about her whip.  I made one!

I recently learned how to do kumihimo, a form of Japanese braiding made on a disk. Looks like this: 

It's fun and it's simple.  Shannon really enjoys it.  So anyways, I was looking around for a whip, cuz I really didn't feel Jessica's outfit would be complete without one.  And I don't want to put a lot of money in to it since it's just a prop.  A cool prop, but still a prop. I saw cheap costume ones that look like cheap costume ones, or tutorials for making them out of duct tape, which is also cheap looking.  Then I saw some tutorials for making real bullwhips out of paracord.  Now, I do not know how to do the types of braiding required for these projects (although I might learn, it would be cool to have a real bullwhip) but I did realize I know one fancy method of braiding. (See above.) I decided a kumihimo whip would be rad.  When I went for supplies, I intended to do paracord, but I found craft cord to be a much cheaper option.  I bought two skeins of 50 yds each for 2.99 each.  And used far far less than I thought I would.  And it turned out awesome.

I don't know if you can tell, but I shaped it to match the Leather whip, Jessica's starting whip.

Wrist strap, wrapped handle, little knobby bit at the end.  Although technically it is too dark brown.  Ah well.  I sacrificed color for price. 

I wanted a roughly 6' whip, not counting the handle, and based on other things I've made and other instructions I've read, I knew that a safe assumption for how much string to cut is roughly 3x the finished length. That's 18 ft for each strand, with an extra 3 feet or so for the handle.  I shot really high because I've come up short using this guess before, and I really didn't want that to happen.  So I cut each strand 25 feet long.  That was a pain in the ASS to keep from tangling, let me tell you what.  I had some kumihimo bobbins, but because of the thickness of the cord, they were held to far open for friction to keep the bobbins from unwinding, which  meant I had to pin them in place, and even that didn't always hold cuz the cord was slippery on metal pins.  It was awful.

I started with an 8 strand braid, with a core of two strands of paracord in the middle.  For the handle I added in a pen for stiffness. (I intended to use a large nail or bolt or something, but I was at work and didn't want to wait to get something else.  I worked with what I had.) I basically just stuck this in the middle, between the two paracord strands, and braided around it, wrapping it in cord.  At the end of the pen I tied a knot on top of it with the strands of paracord to keep it in place.  After the handle I continued the 8 strand braid around the strands of paracord for 2 feet. At two feet I took two of the strands, wrapped and tied them around the paracord, removing them from the braid.  I also cut off one of the strands of paracord.  I continued from there with a 6 strand braid around a single strand of paracord.  I kinda had to figure out the 6 strand braid on my own, I couldn't find anything online about it.  If you're curious, it works like this:

You work the sets of two strands just like normal, and the single strands basically just change places, moving over one space every time to keep up with the rotation of the two strand sides.  If anyone out there would like a more detailed description of this, just leave me a comment or something.  I can be clearer if you want.

I did this for another two feet.  At that point I took the two single strands and wrapped and tied them around the paracord, reducing the braid to 4 strands.  I chose the two single strands because the single strand sides use up string faster, and I didn't want any of my strands to be shorter than the otheres when I was working on my 4 strand braid.I thought I might have to cut the paracord off here, but I didn't and I'm glad. It added more solidity to the last segment.

I had trouble figuring out how a 4 strand kumihimo worked, I ended up having to watch several videos of people doing it to understand, but I got it.  I did this for another two feet.  Then I started on the knobby bit on the end.  First of all, The knobby bit is made out of a flip cell phone shaped eraser I had in my desk at work that I had no use for.  It was a cute eraser though.  Flipped open and closed and everything.  I glued it shut.  One side of it was neon orange, so I colored that black with a sharpie, and then covered it in glue and wrapped it in the same cord the whip was made of.  I really didn't want it to show through the braid.  I tied the paracord core around it long wise to attach it to the whip.  I did this about two or three inches away from where the braid currently was.  About an inch below the knob I took four long strand of cord and wrapped and stitched them to the paracord.  I don't know exactly how long they were, they were leftover bits, probably roughly 6' long.  I continued the 4 strand braid up to where I'd attached the other four strands.  when I met up with those, I added them to the braid, switching back to an 8 strand braid to cover the knobby bit.  In order to work the knobby bit I actually had to cut the hole in my kumihimo disk bigger so it would fit.  Luckily I have a bunch of them since they're cheap as crap.  it's just a foam disk with notches.  So I continued with an 8 strand braid around the knobby bit.  when I got it about half covered I covered the top half of the knobby bit in glue, and continued braiding.  This way the top half of strands were glued to the knob and I wouldn't have any problems with it sliding around.  That was probably pure paranoia, but better safe than sorry.  I braided about a half inch after the top, and then with a needle and thread carefully gathered up each strand and stitched them together at the top.  I used a lighter and singed all the strands, then squished them together.  They melted into a lovely plastic mass.  I did this anytime I cut or tied any of the strands, to make sure there would be no fraying or coming apart.

The handle is wrapped in three layers of cord, just wrapped around it.  The knob at the end is made of a basic three strand braid, wrapped and tied to make the wrist strap and the base.  I didn't do anything tricky there, it's just wrapped until I liked it, and then ends strategically melted and hidden.

The whole thing took me three days at work, working on it about 3-4 hours each day.  so really not that bad.  It measures 91 1/2" from tip of knob to end of wrist strap,  87 1/2" if you don't count the wrist strap, which really makes more sense.  So that's 7.2 feet.  just about perfect.  I'm extremely happy with it.

Incidentally, like I said, I way overshot with how much cord I would need.  I probably had at least 6' of each left over.  But I've always been of the opinion that too much is better than not enough.

Mako-Chan's Jewelry

Something I threw together just this morning:  Makoto Kino's earrings from Sailor Moon.  I've always wanted them, they're simple and pretty.  So, a little while ago I found these gold rose shaped buttons at Walmart.  Simple coat of paint, glue them to some posts and there you go.

Oh, and it was a set of three buttons, so I made a simple chain choker to go with.   I thought the simplicity was very in character for Mako-chan.  she'd never wear anything big or flashy jewelry-wise.

Thrift Store Overhaul!

So, I find those blogs that buy nasty thrift store clothes and remake them extremely inspiring, so I decided to try it myself.  I got this suit from Goodwill for $3.  It was a size 16, I think, which is several sizes too big.  The jacket was shapeless and I'm really not sure if the sleeves were supposed to be 3/4 sleeves, or were just really short.  The pants had a gathered elastic waistband and were super baggy.  They looked awful.  The nature of the black suit is such that you can't really see how bad it fit, but it was really awful.  So I took the thing apart.

First, the skirt.  I have lots of practice turning pants into skirts, I've done it half a dozen times this summer, the challenge this time was I wanted to do away with the gathered elastic waist and go to a much smoother pencil shape with a zipper.  So I cut the waistband off, cut the length to where I wanted, took out the crotch seam and stitched it into a skirt shape.  I added a zipper using some techniques I'd picked up from a pair of pants I recently made. (which I really ought to get a picture of, they turned out nice.) I added a lovely smooth waistband that you cant see, you'll just have to trust me that it's much nicer.

The jacket I cut down based on this tutorial here: http://autnott.deviantart.com/art/Up-Cycled-Hobbit-Vest-Tutorial-339969518

The jacket was big enough that it lent itself perfectly for the kind of double breasted look I was going for.  In fact, I may add a second row of buttons, but I'll have to go buy more first.  I had to reshape it to fit, taking in the side seams, and the seams on the back so it would actually fit me, giving the nice curvy shape you see here.  I relearned how to do buttonholes, and bound everything up with bias tape.

All in all, I'm pretty happy with how it came out.  Much, much sexier.

Also, for the record, it's not plain black, it's got a light blue pinstripe that doesn't show at all in the pictures.