Monday, January 26, 2015

Foundations Revealed 5 Senses Competition - dress diary part 7

Ok, I walked away and had a nap, then couldn’t resist! I had to get the busk in, if nothing else that day :)

I felt a fission of excitement sitting at the sewing machine, I don’t know why I get so much more excited sewing corsets than other garments. There is always something to learn with each new project, and I guess I feel I am really only on the cusp of understanding the extent of construction, and have been developing my own style for only a year.


I start with the busk, partly because it is at the front, and seems a logical place to start, but also because I never tire of the process: it seems like magic once it is in. I have found some lovely black steel busks, and I used a 12” one for this corset.

As I have said, I love ‘things’, gadgets or tools that make the process that much more fun. A student gave me one of these pens, which is genius! You can draw on fabric, and it disappears with heat (ironing), and it comes in loads of colours! Joy! I still don’t quite trust it, but it works every time, and is fantastic for sewing. Not so much for homework, my student told me: a child had used one for a story, and the teacher loved it so much she laminated it… and it all disappeared… So there is a word of caution!

For this, I drew the gaps for the loops, and because I could, the straight edges well!

After I sew them, I normally just press them. This time I decided to edge stitch, using two variations to suit each side of the busk. This worked really well, and kept the edges super straight for the insertion. I am not a fan of topstitching in general, but love edge stitching.




I use an awl to make the holes for the studs, then a knitting needle to force the fabric apart. The sateen was quite strong with the interfacing, and required a bit of effort.




Now I can rest!


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