I want to add waist tape to my new corset that I am making and have a question...I looked at one that I had purchased "off the rack"...it appears that each corset panel has waist tape added, not in continuous tape around. Is this the usual way it is done? It looks like it was done after lining was added but before each section was added to the next one....

This corset was showcased in the undercover exhibition at the fashion textile museum, made to perfection by the talented Miss Katie, an honour for me to model and photograph this beautiful piece :) I hope you like it, I think its rather special!

for more of Miss Katie's work, visit her website:http://www.misskatie.com

photography, styling and modeling by me :)

( click for pictures )

Kore asked me to pass along the following for those at Orycon:

Hope you had a great Turkey Day! Would you remind everyone at AlexanderFans that Alec is doing a "special" concert at 10:30 a.m. this Sunday morning? Since he just got over double hand surgery, he's doing a first of its kind kareoke concert... He recorded the music he wanted to sing to, and will be doing just that--singing. No instruments but the occasional penny whistle.

Happy Thanksgiving to all :)

Wow, that has to rank as one of the most spectacularly relaxing Thanksgivings ever, despite a few hitches here and there.

I cooked like a fiend and found a few new recipes to add to the "must eat" list: pineapple upside down sweet potatoes, Stovetop Stuffing (yep, I had it and it was delish), cranberry/orange/ginger relish, and turkey with MY gravy. It was all sooooo good. But you want to know what the best thing was? The people and the conversation. It was relaxed. No expectations, no agendas. princekermit was there with the Geekette. Nearly the whole Village (less M and L&L, who were in PDX) was there, less G who was not feeling well.

I am so thankful for who and what I have in my life. Really, the rest is just icing.

As for the minor hitch, I did have to take dillenger69 to the ER late morning yesterday...he put his back out in a spectacular "I think I may pass out from the pain and oh, here are a few swear words you've never heard before" kind of way and I had to take him to the ER to make sure that he hadn't really hurt himself and to obtain good drugs. Two shots of diladud and some valium later, he was a happy camper and we were off for rev_sysyphus 's house for the feast (and thank you to all the lovelies who pitched in to make it all come together at my house so it could be transported to the feast).

This morning I had a short, efficient, fruitful shopping trip to JoAnn Fabrics and then breakfast at the Maltby Cafe with MIL and G.

How much better could it be? Not much!

Hello,

it's me again with a question about plus-sized, big busted corsets. The memories and looking at hundreds of back posts didn't bring anything up, so I'm asking here. (If there's something already written about it, please link me back.)

I draped and drafted the front part of the corset for my friend and I had to set the bustline higher over the bust. It's now about 2cm higher than at the center front and side seam.
As I'm not sure about this, I wanted to know if this happens in big patterns or if this shouldn't be.
I'm afraid that with a higher bustline the push to the bust will be too big and the cleavage will look weird. (My friend doesn't want much push, just a good support for her big F/small G Cup.)
When I thought about just setting it down at its normal height and tried to give the cups a shape with the required length measurement, it doesn't fit into the width measurements without looking very creepy.

( Some pics under the cut for better insight )

Any advice regarding the pattern is very welcome. Thanks

Greets from Germany
Cao

Yesterday photopagan and mrs_photopagan came over. As is traditional, we ate way too much (corned beef and potatoes, which is also traditional) and drank wine. I made a pie for the second time in my life and I think I baked it a little too long but it came out pretty good, if I do say so myself. Mr. and Mrs. P. brought over a Venture Brothers DVD, a show I've never seen but really enjoyed. We also watched the "Planet of the Dead" episode of Doctor Who. I think Lady Christina is one of my favorite one-off characters. She reminds me of somebody...can't think who...

Today, for Black Friday Mr. Darcy and I are avoiding the crowds and the door-busters and all that crap to go on another land-scouting expedition. This time we're looking in north Olympia. We did pick some particular places off of Redfin to look at, but the point of these trips isn't so much to find a place per se as to figure out what general area we want to look in. We're getting a later start than planned, but the weather's much nicer than last time so I think it'll be a good day. Ta!

This question is for everybody that is interested in pattern drafting. If the moderators consider this too much OT, feel free to delete this post.

I am currently working on a big project that will try out various drafting methods used to create custom made slopers. We will do the bodice/torso only. It's a project that will run for the whole next year on www.fashionstudentsonline.com

My question is, which methods would you like to be reviewed and in which order? We expect we will do one method per month. Perhaps two.

We will have about 5-8 people of various figures trying out a muslin of each method. Every review will contain pictures of the figure, muslin, and a rating of the method. It will be rather detailed, a huge research that nobody else has done before. After the research is done, I'll be working on a comparison of all the methods, trying to explain WHY several things didn't fit and giving my general opinion on all the methods.

The methods we are thinking that come in question are (origin of the method in brackets):

- Winifried Aldrich (UK)
- H.J.Armstrong (USA)
- L'école Guerre-Lavigne (F)
- M.Müller & Sohn (D)
- Pattern magic (JP)
- J. Handford (USA)
- European cut (UK,F,D)
- Don McCunn (USA)
- Leena's (FIN)
- Natalie Bray (F)

There are similar methods to these, so we didn't list all of them to avoid duplications, but don't hesitate to suggest any other drafting method (maybe we don't know it!). Our maximum is 20 methods.

Zuzana

Can anyone advise where I might be able to order a 12” black busk and have it shipper to me for Tuesday. I ordered one from Vena Cava last Sunday and the order arrived today with a note on the busk of to follow. I am quite annoyed as if they had let me know sooner I could have made the front without a busk at the front. So I am now frantically searching for a black bulk and not finding anywhere that sells them. I am in the UK so it would need to be a UK seller or it won’t get to me in time.

It has occurred to me that it has been a very long time since I did my daily gratitude list. This is not to say, I am not thankful for things in my life each and every day- even if it is a moment of sunshine streaming through my window, or the look of devotion from one of my cats. But I haven't written it down. So I am starting it again. Only this time, I will attempt to explain why exactly I am grateful for one particular thing.

This morning, I am grateful for things that keep me warm. Yesterday, the clan gathered at Rise's house for Thanksgiving and it was awesome. The company, the food was absolutely fabulaous. As was usual, after dinner, we watched A Muppet Christmas Carol and ate pie. Soon afterward, everyone left except me. I had stayed behind to help Rise with the dishes.

As it turned out, we had a deep sister-to-sister conversation. It was lovely, and I enjoyed being able to connect with Rise on that level. We did the dishes, and by the time I left (@11:30pm), there was frost all over the car! I was grateful I had brought my wool shawl after all. I had thought to leave it home as it was so nice when we left, but I thought "just in case." LOL! Boy! Did I need ti last night as I scraped the ice off the windshield!

When I got home, it was chilly in the house, but I was relunctant to turn on the furnace. For one thing, there is the annual burn off of dust which I wasn't quite willing to face and it wasn't THAT cold. But I did put on my thermal shirt before I got into bed and added an extra blanket. I stayed nice and toasty all night and Goyle the cat seemed to like it too as he spent most of the night under the covers with me.

THis moring, Mike got up before me and turned on the furnace. It was 60 degrees in here! A bit chilly. Yes, we had the annual dust burn off and I coughed for about 5 minutes, but it is burned off now and the furnace is working perfectly (thanks Jack!) And I still have my thermal shirt on. And I am warm. And I am grateful.

So my sisters in law dragged me up at 4 to go shopping. At 7 they declared themselves tired and going home. Now i'm in line at the mall alone. Grr

I've now had my fiddle for eight weeks (six lessons), and so far I have learned:

TUNES

- Skye Boat Song
- Stitches In my Britches
- Mary's Wedding
- South Wind
- If I had Maggie In The Woods (newest)


KNOWLEDGE

- names of each of the four strings
- how to link each of the notes to a note on paper (still working on that)
- learning tunes by ear
- basic fiddle care
- Fiddles are LOUD. ;b

Things I'm working on include slurring, staccatto, timing!! and how changing bowing direction works in to all of the above. Translating timing of a tune learned by ear into staff notation. Managing to smoothly transition from string to string with different types of bowing. How to keep my shoulder rest from falling off.

Still having a great time. I'm learning with Annie, from fintanfish and Toot-A-Lute, at Celtic Traditions at 10th and Alma. It's a great little store, teaches harp, bodhran, and a few other instruments at the same location, while selling woolens. I approve of the owner, Mike. Nice and solid fellow.

So Syd definitely lives. She grew a whole inch today. I'm hoping to get her up so that she'll double in 24 hours. Once I reach that point, I'm in the butter zone.

And before I fed her, she was smelling nice and strong. Good fermenty-yeasty-soury smells. Potent, but not icky.

I'm learning the cycles and how to pull starter at what time during the feeding cycle to make more or less sour bread. Its fun. :-)

I do have to say there is something strange about the idea that all it takes is a little tender loving care, and you can get yeast already present on the flour to grow and cultivate to the point where a dollop of it will leaven an entire loaf with no need for any additional yeast or leavening agents.

Assuming it all goes well, and it stays productive, I'm willing to share some if any of you are game to keep another critter in your house. Feeding is pretty modest, and since every time you feed them, you have to get rid of at least half of the volume (either to bake or to Davy Jones), I will have plenty to give away if you are so inclined. Again, assuming all goes well. I'll be sure to make a good several test loaves first.

The Cooks know how to treat their band/houseguests right. The company, the location, and the feast were truly magical. As I told the gathered folks, it was impossible for me to be homesick.

omnisti does his best Happy Marty Feldman; plate of food in foreground, gorgeous Bekah in background.

Note my extremely happy and happily nomming vegan bandmates there on the right. Thanksgiving is not, in fact, just for carnivores; awesome. That's the Nefarious Princess (who turns nine tomorrow) and her eldest sister down the table--background on the nicknames in a minute.
Chuck made fire. gingerdoss took pictures.
I ask you, who's more useful? :D


The Cooks, the food, and Solomon.


L to R: Jessi (the DQ), Brigit (the NP), and Samantha (the EBC)
The story behind the nicknames: Jessi called Brigit (the youngest) up the stairs to help clean the other day. As Brigit headed up, I overheard her say to her older sister, "O Devious Queen?" I busted up laughing, of course, and promptly put the exchange on Twitter, as we do these days. At that point, Jessi became the DQ (Devious Queen) and Brigit became the NP (Nefarious Princess). Yesterday, I realized my error, in that Samantha, the eldest, had no moniker of her own. Upon observing how the two younger sisters would rush (most of the time) to do her bidding when she but crooked an eyebrow (or sometimes delivered a kick in the pants), I named her (with the help of vixyish via chat) the EBC (Empress of Bootcamp). I am happy to say that all three sisters (and their parents. Chuck giggled out loud) love their new titles, as well as the whole story.
Amy's live oak, our shelter.
Brigit, Tiny Goddess of Fire.

Thankful?
Heavens, yes.
It was a beautiful day. How many times in my life will I have the pleasure of enjoying Thanksgiving dinner with friends outdoors, on a perfect evening? I am grateful for every. single. moment. Add to the feast a new song/chant written and lots of joyful time spent hooping as well.
I'm homesick now, but I'm still happy.