A Wedding Tease- Part Deux *8-1-08*

I underestimated the corset. I thought one day would be enough time, and suddenly it was Thursday and what happened to my vacation!? But, it’s done, complete with a pound or more of metal boning, a full lining, and finished with handmade bias tape.

Eh, okay, it isn’t completely complete. I can actually put it on, as it is lacking eyelets and lacing. So I can hold it up to my chest, ogle at its resplendent glory, and set it back down. It’s beauty has not been fully realized. All will be set right today, though, with a trip to my friendly neighborhood fabric store and lots of advice. I hope.

So for now, I have some pictures of the almost wonderful armor…erm, corset.

And, for a little tease, the beginnings of the skirt. I have the components for the crinoline cut out, and ready to sew up. I am doing the skirt freehand, off intuition and previous experience. And much crossing of fingers.

Lastly, here is a peek at the fabrics that will be used to make the yummy overskirt. Although this doesn’t *quite* capture the purpleyness of the chiffon, it’s pretty damn close. This was a hard shot for DH to get.

Wish me luck!

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The aisle is filled with scraps of fabric…

Ahead of me, my fiancee waits, a boutennierre made out of sewing needles and wads of thread stuck jauntily in his lapel. In my hand I hold, not a bouquet, but a giant pair of scissors, the blades waving demurely about my chest. I am wearing sewing machine feet as shoes, and sixteen layers of net in my hair.

I am naked.

Yikes! I’m glad I didn’t actually dream that! No, my last dream was some craziness about people with rubber stomachs. Thats weird enough for me.

Things are progressing quite nicely on my wedding dress. Yesterday was my big ‘attack the petticoat’ day, and it is SO close to being done. One more protective panel of satin on the inside, to protect my delicate legs from the evil scratch of crinoline and I can mark it off the list.

Its pretty ugly…but it gets the job done. Why ugly, you may ask? Well, I cut some corners, and instead of making a separate underskirt to sew the crinoline to, I just sewed it to the top part. With white thread. Very crookedly. I just glad this will be underneath all the prettyness.

In a fit of getting things done yesterday I decided how I am going to do my eyelets- hand bound with a buttonhole stitch. In other words- sixteen hours of my life making circles.

Front View:

Back View:

But they are so beautiful I don’t care how long they take. And when all is said and done, I know that this one will hold up to the test of time. Not like the one I made for my high school homecoming dance, where I ended up with a piece of boning digging into my armpit halfway through the evening. Still, I was the rockingest girl there.

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I’m a pirate too…

A pirate who occasionally forgets how to use a keyboard, apparently.  After at least a week, finally, a new post!

I’ve made little progress in the wedding dress field.  I have the crinoline pieces cut, sitting, mocking in the corner of my living room.  I’ve come up with my share of excuses, too:  I don’t have the right needles.  I don’t know what to do next.  I’m worried about ruining the fabric.  Oops, I seem to have cut my right hand off.

But no more!  Tomorrow I dive head first into the world of satin and poof!

In other news, I have a few new items available in my Etsy shop.  Like a pirate vest!

I love this thing!  As usual, it is made with upcycled fabric and trims.  The buckles, even, are rescued from an old pair of pants.  Its kind of adjustable, as the straps have three hole choices, and its fitted besides.  I could totally storm the seven seas in this.

And another pair of bloomers:

These are a bit simpler, as well as a bit shorter, than my others.  Nice though, and pretty easy to wear.

I haven’t been as productive lately.  Aah!  The Olympics!!!  Oh my god!  Michael Phelps is my freaking hero, and I don’t even like swimming.   Oh, and I made thirty tiny bags to send to a lovely woman in Idaho, who will be putting them in her shwag bags for an upcoming craft show.  If you’re in Bellevue, Idaho on Labor Day weekend, check out the Bellevue Labor Day celebrations in City park.  Great fun to be had by all.

Until next time!  Which will be sooner than last time, I promise.

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Birthdays and Bloomers

Happy Birthday Caleb!

Tonight we are headed out to Dark Knight to watch Christian Bale’s yummy Batman performance, and the last movie that Heath Ledger made.  You know, pre-OD.  I’m working on a theory that Batman sent him over the edge.  I’ll have more insight after the credits roll, I’m sure.

Anybody know a good recipe for a white frosting?  I’m baking an awesome cake tomorrow, as a celebration for said birthday, and I need the super whitey whitest icing, for this great design I thought up.  Photos forthcoming of course.

Aaaaand, finally, what I’ve been working on: Bloomers!!!  Freaking awesome bloomers, if I do say so myself.

I got a length of this great fabric from Goodwill a few weeks ago.  They had four pieces of it, but I only bought one, wanting to try it out before I made a bigger purchase.  Bad choice.  I love the fabric, but by the time I went back, other people had loved it too.  Boohoo… But these are great!

And then, these uber bright beauties!  I made these out of fabric left over from making my MIL and apron for mother’s day.  I’m not sure how well these baby’s will go over, but I think they are so FUN!

And lastly, a bit mre brown and beautiful.  Not quite as pleasurable to work with as the black pinstriped fabric above, but nice nonetheless.  I’m particularly fond of them without the ribbon in them.  They remind me of an Arabian fairy tale.

Last but not least- I am now a member of the EtsyRain team!!!  Yay!  I love Seattle!  I love Etsy!  Wootwootwoot

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Red, white and…brown? Yeah!!!

Today’s theme colors are red, white and brown. You know, like vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup and a cherry on top? I find this combination to be just as comforting as a big bowl of sweet, with a little dash of weird thrown on top. Even my bedroom is decorated in these colors. But I don’t see it around nearly as often as I’d like- so I decided to remedy that!

These are my pride and joy, and are on their way to a cyclist in Australia. So cute! They were a lot of fun to make, and will be a lot of fun to wear.

My favorite part- this big red ribbon isn’t just for show. The bottoms here are drawstringed, instead of being elasticized. That means that you could wear them with or without all that poofy.

And this guy is a superstrong, reusable grocery bag. The pics aren’t the greatest, which I ought to address, but the bag is great. It is fully lined, and doublestitched, and topstitched.

Plus it has the inner pocket to stick your grocery list, cash, cards, chapstick, cell phone, etc. And a little button closer so nobody steals your green beans!

Everything shown today has been crafted out of either recycled or remnant fabrics. Let me know what you think!

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Grand Opening on Etsy!

Hello!

Well, its the moment I’ve all been waiting for- my shop on Etsy is finally, officially, irretrievably, fantastically open! I’ve been planning this for about a month now, and after meeting my initial ready items goal I have done some serious slacking off. Naughty me. So I’ve got to get my self back in gear, and back in front of my sewing machine.

Here is a little preview of some of the fine wares I am offering. For more pictures and info you can visit BrownButton.

This is a great little number that I made with my HTB in mind, but it ended up nicely unisex.

Next up is a reclaimed tshirt- I reclaimed it from the boring pile, and added it to the awesome pile!

And lastly a fairly simple little vest made out of this rocking broadcloth that has musical notes and instruments all over it. This is really comfy, as I only added three buttons at the top, so you can eat lunch and not feel tied up afterwards.

There you go, a little sample of what is to come. Its so exciting! There are some really great artisans on Etsy, I’m proud to be among their ranks, in a way. By this time next year I hope to be able to say that, and mean it. Hooray for success!

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A Handcrafted Wedding…Teaser

Hello!

Today has been a pretty productive day for me. I did a lot of work in preparation for my shop opening on ETSY, on July 1^st. Not as much as I could have done, given that I whipped through my goals like nobodies business, and had plenty of time for wasting on the internet.

On a high note- I found the ring I am going to get my fiancée for his wedding ring! I am 100% sure about this one, as it will be a customized ring from a jewelry artisan on ETSY. I can’t post the link or a picture just yet, as darling fiancée reads this blog. But soon, I promise, you will see the beauty!

Speaking of the wedding, I am making my own dress, from scratch, pretty much. It will be a corset top, a puffy tea length skirt and a little bolero/shrug thing, as well as a miniature top hat. All in cabernet, apple green and burnt orange. Yummy. So the corset top is made from a drastically redesigned patter from Simplicity, I think. Redrafted with the help of my future sister in law. This is the final version, after several mockups were made. Not in the wedding fabric, though. Essentially a final mockup.

The front has a simple sweetheart neckline.

The bottom has a dropped waist, which we straightened to create a smoother line.

The back was a modesty flap (not sure what else to call that flap that goes behind the lacing.

The entire thing will be boned with steel boning, and will not have a busk. It will not be a shaping corset, by any means. I happen to like my organs right where they are.

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