Sempstress

A lot of sewers are afraid of bifurcated nether-garments. They look more complicated than skirts. I remember wearing bike shorts under costumes for years because I was afraid to attempt a bloomer. And that is an odd conundrum, because I had been making corsets for years. That’s just the power of the pant. But sister, don’t fear the bloomer… There’s a Really Easy Way(tm). Read the rest of this entry »

So I’m finally getting life back to, erm, “normal” seems like the wrong word. Less crazy-busy, at any rate. I finally managed to pull together time to work out little boots for Tyler’s Maid Marion costume, then trotted out to the garden and took some pics. I threw them up on Flickr. (Because I have umpteen devices that will automatically upload to the Flickrs and none that want to put things on my blog fast and easy, and I am feeling horrifically lazy, that’s why!) So, here’s Marion putting her new boots to good use in her garden adventures…. ;)

So, it’s been, like, forever since I’ve gotten to work on anything for my dollies, right? Oy then! Not cool… But I did get a few minutes the other day to work on Maid Marion’s little overdress that I started months ago. I dyed it months ago, too, and then crazy show-float-show-crap-I’ve-got-clients-too! season get the better of me… But, finally, progress! Here’s a general method for sewing a lined princess seam dress, regardless of size. Read the rest of this entry »

I decided that I needed more practice with the industrial machine at work. I can use it, I can do well with it, but it still occasionally gets away from me. I like to get to a point with a machine that I can raise the needle with the foot pedal if I need to. (Hey, sometimes you run out of hands!) So I brought Maid Marion’s overdress pieces into the shop the other day. Sewing doll clothes on an industrial machine is probably overkill, I’ll admit, but…. I figure that if I can set in a dolly-sleevehead with the machine, I am its master. If you doubt my theory, you clearly do not sew many doll clothes… Seriously, I know how to sew, but this is a whole new level of precision. Yipes! Read the rest of this entry »

I love what I do. Normally, I bop around my little workshop like Hammy – with about the same attention span. But sometimes things get me down, like working on serious things (websites) and that gosh-darned eleventh century shmata which continues to defy me, and I start to lose my Joy. And then I was get email from people, and they had they Joy. And it’s making me sad. Laura has the joy, Rebecca has the joy, Mo-geek has the joy…. I decided to take my Joy back, by force if necessary. Read the rest of this entry »

We all know how to make a corset, right? Take a bodice pattern that’s too small, sew a lot of boning channels in it, a little jiggery-pokery to get the boning in, seal the edges, and presto change-o, corset. And that’s great, but it’s not the only way to make a corset. Well, ok, if you want to get all technical, then that is the only way to make a corset, but it’s not the only way to make a pair of stiffened bodies capable of supporting the body and forming it onto a conical shape. Here’s another method that relies on stiff sheets of interlining, rather than multiple thin bones. Read the rest of this entry »

I got to spend last week working a preview show by Hubbard Street Dance at the college. It was fantastic! I was technically just there as wardrobe, but they let help with the load-in and setup, and I learned 62,458,371 new things, which is always super-great. Yesterday I slept. No, really, that’s most of what I did. But I also got a little dolly sewing done…. Read the rest of this entry »

Crazy things resembling Honest Work(tm) have put me a million years behind on posting stuff from the last week. I don’t know about anyone else, but stress makes me totally ADD, and I decided that what I really need is a project to take my mind off work, websites, and that other project. I had an idea while making little chemises and corset mockups for Tyler and Piggy that it would be really adorable to do them up as the young Elizabeth I and Mary Tudor. So, I went digging through my fabric bins…. Read the rest of this entry »

Buy the set and save!  You get both the Lizzle pattern and the Vicksie pattern, and you save a few bucks buying them both at once. Come on, you know you want to… ;) Read the rest of this entry »

Lizzle is a 16″ cloth doll with legs. She’s been designed to do two things: be corseted, and go together quickly. She exists to show off the historical dolly-patterns I’ve been working on – including how they change the size and shape of the torso! Read the rest of this entry »