Year: 2011

I don’t paint my nails, I paint my bones

Really. See: Yep. I finish those nasty sharp cut edges on my spring steel corset bones with nail polish. I find that it’s a lot easier to use then the ‘official’ boning dip (for one thing, it dries in a few minutes, not overnight!), and it is cheaper, and easier to source. It also works better – rounding the edges without leaving big bumpy drips. Besides, I love knowing that there is a little secret bit of pink sparkly hiding in my corsets 😀 To soften the sharp cut edges, I give them three or four coats of varnish. Then, for a final bit of protection, I dip them in glue. Works perfectly, even when you dryclean your corset. Tomorrow I’ll show you the corset these bones were used in.

Rate the Dress: Green and Black in 1928

Published by The Dreamstress

Whew! Wedding fever is over, and I’ve gotta tell you, I’m a little sick of white and lace and really sick of the news over-analyzing every single aspect of the royal wedding. So lets move away from weddings and fancy dresses and look at something fresh and new and spring-green-y (or, possibly, dowdy and old and grandma-print floral, depending on how you feel about it.) This week’s dress is a modest afternoon dress from 1928. It’s an unusual colour combination, and a very typically non-body conscious 1920s cut, with touches like the pussy-bow collar which anticipate 1930s fashions. I’ve only ever presented one proper 1920s designs in my ‘Rate the Dress’, so I’m very interested to see how the decade fares in a wider scope. Rate the Dress on a scale of 1 to 10

Carolyn’s dress: The belt

Published by The Dreamstress

I promised one more post on details from Carolyn’s dress while we wait for her to get married so you can see pictures of the whole dress in all it’s glory. I’m naughty though, the only part of the dress I am really going to show you is the belt. The belt is an important part of the design for Carolyn’s dress: it’s the focus of a lot of detailing and beading, and provides a visual break in the skirt and bodice. We had to get the design for it just right. This is what Carolyn drew: This is what I drew: The design needed to be finalised and polished once a buckle was selected. This is the buckle we picked: With the proportions and lines of the buckle in mind, I drew 6 different possible beading patterns: Then I decided that the top two (A & B) sucked, and I re-drew them. This turned out not to matter at all, as Carolyn liked E best. Clever girl! I love the scale effect of pattern …