a real little corset

Here it is:

My own corset belt from that free pattern from corsettraining.net. I only finished it today. If I had just used normal fabric and followed the instructions, it could have been done a lot quicker. 

This corset pattern is made up from only two pattern pieces. That's a very low number for a corset so I didn't completely trust it at first. And I know I have a rather large "hip spring" (difference between waist and hip) naturally so I would never assume a standard pattern, even one for such a short corset, would just work for me.

The pattern comes in a whole range of sizes based on waist measurement. For those who are between sizes, the recommendation is to either cut the pattern between sizes or "pick the smallest for a more dramatic waistline". I don't really agree with that last statement. A corset, even such a small one, is more than just that tight waistline. It won't fit well if it cuts at hips and ribcage. Of course, you could alway lace it a bit looser than it is supposed to be (Scarlett's recommends to wear these with a 2 inch gap at center back).

I made a muslin to test the pattern in relation to my body and compared it to that black satin RTW underbust corset I showed in the previous post. Based on that, I went with a waist size 10 (I'm between sizes, this was the closest one, and 1 cm down from my measurement) and a size 12 at the top and bottom edge. 

The leather I used was left over from a project from years ago. Fairly small pieces and I couldn't even use all of it because the leather was thick and weird in places. Like the sheep had had a skin condition ;)

This corset was a small enough project to finally use it. I even managed to make the binding from the leather. 

And all the boning and the fabric for the lining were from my stash too. The only things I had to buy were grommets and ribbon. 

I didn't just do things differently because I'm stubborn and like to do things my own way. Working with leather meant I had to deal with the different qualities of the material. Like the thickness of the material and the fact that you can't press it. After sewing the seams of the panels, I topstitched the seam allowances on one side of each seam. On the fabric lining, I stitched them all to the other side, then I matched up the seam lines and stitched through all the layers, once at the seam and once at 8 mm from it (on the side where there was just a single layer of leather but three layers of fabric), creating boning channels. Oh, and there is waist tape in in the side panels. In the front and back pieces, the boning channels are just made by rows of parallel stitching. 

There are flat steel bones at either side of the grommets at the back and 5 mm wide spiral steel ones everywhere else.  

This corset isn't designed with a busk or any other means of front closure. It gives it a nice smooth line but putting it on and taking it off is a bit of a struggle. On the other hand, it is quite comfortable so it is not really a problem to keep it on for a while. The comfort of it has a lot to do with that super-short shape. Usually, the main thing with wearing a corset, even more so than pressure at the waist, is the way it changes your posture and freedom of movement. The longer the corset, the more restricted you are. Standing and walking in a corset is usually not a problem. Sitting can be a different matter, especially if you try sitting on normally comfortable low, deep seats. You just can't slouch in a corset. 

I can't slough in this one either but it does allow for a greater range of movement than any other corset I have ever worn.

Unfortunately, today is one of those dark and rainy autumn days so the light was pretty bad all day. And I was not at my best when it came to posing either...

I think I got the fit right though. A smooth line at the ribs and hips and a nipped-in waistline. Great for a 1950's silhouette...

A new bag

Last week, I finished my new bag. And this weekend, E took some snapshots when we walked into town.

As I've told you before, I made the bag from pieces of leather which have been used as colour samples for furniture. It's fairly thick leather and I love the colour.

I made the shoulder straps from the belts which used to hold the couch cushions in place in grandmother's old house (they attached the back rests to the wall and were going to be left behind when she moved). I'm curious to see how well they'll hold up because this leather is old and feels really dry. I left the original end with its large oval brass grommet on one of them, as you can see in these pictures.

The shape of the bag is very simple. Basically just a big sack with the bottom corners squared off, a zipper at the top and a shoulder strap which attaches to the side seam part of the way down. 

And of course it's lined and has a zippered pocket in the lining.

In case you're interested, this is the pattern, with the measurements. 

It's a bit bigger than my previous bag but it 'hangs' nicely. I think this bag and I are going to get along just fine.

A 'new' bag

I made a 'new' leather bag. In fact, the bag is new enough but I made it from about half of an old leather motorcycling jacket. I already used the other half for a bag for my father. I just added a sturdy zipper, rivets, D-rings and a lining.

I used the welt pocket from the jacket's front for the front of the bag...

and unpicked the elastic at the back in order to have enough material for the new back.

And I made the lining out of some yellow cotton.

The shape of this bag is really easy, you only have to consider the order in which you put it together. Including a zipper and a lining means you have to plan ahead. However, this leather is really thick and quite stiff. I couldn't have done it with a lesser sewing machine...

It's quite a tough looking bag so it will be interesting to see how well it works with my usual 'look'. Although I usually pick my bags for practical purposes rather than for style.

Channeling my inner rok chick

Now that's a silly little joke only Dutch (speaking) readers can appreciate. Or those who learned my Dutch/English sewing related translation list by hart.

For the rest of you: "rok" is Dutch for "skirt".

And of course, black leather is a classic rock chick look.

Although I have made more than one leather garment and visited a fair share of rock and metal concerts in the past years, I've never been a true rock chick. Nor do I ever expact to become one. (in fact, my boyfriend plays bass guitar and the other members of his new band were even wondering whether I liked their music at all...)

This skirt is made of thin black leather which has been treated to have an interesting matte texture. I bought it as a large and very 80's looking second hand skirt last year (for either 2 or 5 euros, I don't remember which).

I chopped off about 20 cm at the top, re-cut the front and back according to my skirt sloper, partially stitched up the very high back slit, inserted a new zipper and re-sized and re-attached the waistband.

I chose a metal zipper and inserted it the way you would insert a blind zipper. It's a look I like on leather: no visible stitching next to the zipper but metal zipper teeth on display.

Obviously, there is extra material inside at the stitched-up slit so I hope that won't make the skirt misbehave too much. By the way, the hem is at an even length, I'm just posing with a ridiculously arched back in the second picture.

PS. Today is your last chance to sign up for the pattern magazine giveaway!

My leather jacket is finished!

No inspiration for a witty title today. I just want to get straight to the good stuff: presenting my new-from-old leather jacket.

As I told before, I 'harvested' the leather last year from a much loved and very worn-out coat of boyfriend's. It had a lot of seams, leaving me with small pieces of leather and I used some of them as decoration for a costume back then.

Because I wanted long sleeves on my jacket (way more practical), I decided it couldn't be leather-only. I used black wool crepe from the stash for the side panels, the undercollar and the sleeves. The jacket has black lining and closes with a seperating zipper which I made shorter to use it here.

Because it's hard to show the detail of a black-on-black jacket in the pictures, I've enlisted Mary's help once more. It seems like she's having a better modeling day than me right now ;)

As you can see, I cut the leather to suit the shape of the pattern (not the most practical thing for 'pattern-tetris' purposes, but, at least in my opinion, the most flattering). The front partially overlaps (for pattern makers among you: the overlap is to the position of the front waist dart in the sloper) with the left side of the zipper inserted in the princess seam.

And something I'm really pleased about: it may just look even better when worn open.

Some tips for sewing leather

Thank you for all the nice comments on my jacket-in-the-making! I think I should stop calling it the 'Tetris-jacket' because although cutting it out required a lot of Tetris-related skills, the end-result should have little or nothing to do with piled-up blocks... Suggestions for a new name are welcome!

Many of you asked questions about sewing with leather. I'm by no means an expert but I have dabbled before and so I will try and answer your questions, as well as give some additional pointers.

1. There are many different kinds of leather, depending on the animal it comes from and the way it has been treated (e.g. suede is just 'brushed' leather...). Suitable leather for clothing is usually lambskin although goat, calf and pig are used as well. Cow skins are much thicker and usually used for upholstering furniture.

It is often easier and much cheaper to find second hand leather garments which you can cut up and re-use. Not to mention that it's more environmentally and animal friendly... Apart from real motorcycle jackets, all leather used in clothes is of the kinds I mentioned as 'suitable for clothing' above.

2. You can sew 'clothing thickness' leathers on an ordinary sewing machine. For 'furniture thickness' leathers, you would need an industrial sewing machine.

3. You could sew leather using something like a denim needle, but I strongly recommend you get leather needles. And ordinary needle has a point and sort of pokes holes into the material. A leather needle has a knife-like tip which allows it to cut into the leather. This means it puts less stress on the leather and on your sewing machine.

4. Leather doesn't behave like fabric under your presser foot and, as a natural product it can be uneven in texture. It can 'stick' or stretch in places. How bad this is differs per piece of leather and per sewing machine. So, always try out on a scrap first. Using a teflon- or roller foot often helps. If nothing else will help, sandwich the leather between strips of tracing paper, stitch through all layers and tear away the paper afterwards.

5. Make sure you don't have to unpick anything and if it can't be avoided, sew you new seam next to the old one, further into the pattern piece. The holes of the seam are there to stay.

6. Use a narrow seam allowance. 1 cm is enough for a material that can't fray. And you can't alter to make it bigger by letting out the seam a bit anyway, see point 5.

7. There is obviously no grainline in a piece of leather. So, take your pattern pieces and 'play Tetris' to put them as close together as possible, making the most of your material.

8. Leather can't be ironed, so to make the seam allowances lie flat, use glue. Any glue which is claimed to work on leather will do, but try out on a scrap first. You don't want to use a glue which makes your seams hard.

9. Think about the pattern you use. With leather, you could, for example, decide to have unfinished hems or to stitch some of the seams on the outside. However you should avoided crossing seams as much as possible. Seam allowances in leather stay very bulky in comparison to those in fabric.

I hope I've covered all of the subjects which raised questions. If there is anything else you want to know about sewing with leather, just leave a comment.

The awesome power of pattern tetris

Today, I'm once more making something from re-purposed leather (just like the short-sleeved jacket in the banner). And I'm not using just any old piece of leather clothing this time, oh no.

Last year, my boyfriend finally decided to throw out his old leather coat. It was really necessary, the top layer of the leather had been completely worn down in some places and little bits of the surface of the pockets had been torn. However, it was also the coat he had been wearing all the time when we started dating (almost 8 years ago now). And every winter since.

So, because I had already found out about the advantages of re-using old leather garments, I claimed it. Apart from the wear, this coat had another major disadvantage: it was made up from quite a lot of pieces and the front was full of pockets and closure-construction. As a result, that big coat didn't yield a lot raw material for me to work with.

The leather from the coat sat in my stash for quite some time. I wanted to make something good from it. Something I would wear. A lot.

A while ago, I finally made some sketches which came close.

A short jacket, with armhole princess seams, long sleeves and a big collar. The real thing will have a zipper in the left princess seam.

A short shell with princess seams was easy enough to make. The collar was hard to do either. Then came the difficult part: how to cut that jacket out of all those small pieces of leather...

Enter the powers of pattern tetris:

I will also use some black wool from my stash for the sides at the back, the sleeves and part of the collar.

The crazy idea dress - finished

Who still remembers that day, somewhere last week, when I announced my intention to make a strapless dress from a big second hand leather skirt?

It's done now!

Last weekend, I made a muslin for the strapless top and tweeked it to fit well. During the week, when I had time, I carefully cut the skirt. In the end, I couldn't keep that topstitched center front seam and I had to be very careful to keep as much length as possible on the skirt. I used the skirt's original lining to line the dress and a metal zipper from my stash to close it at center back (I tried to take a picture of the back, but there was so much shadow in it, you couldn't even see the zipper). As it is now, there is no boning in the top. It wrinkles a bit when I move around, but in my experience, poly boning wouldn't really help against that and once bent, it would stay bent, making the bulge permanent.

I don't know how much I will wear this dress, it's not what you call a 'you can wear it anywhere' item. However, I am quite pleased with it and with a top and tights underneath, I should be able to get it worn a bit more...

From crazy idea to dress, part 1

This is just a quick sketch of what the dress from the leather skirt should look like. Obviously, the hems will be horizontal. I only noticed just how wonky they were in the sketch when I was scanning it.

The skirt is not just long, but also wide, so the skirt-bit will have to be adjusted to fit at the waistline. I think I can get away with taking it in at the side seams and center back. I will have to make another center back seam anyway because there will be need for a different zipper. I will keep te topstitched center front seam and chop off the skirt at the topstitched horizontal seam. I think I will keep (most of) the original width at the new hemline, so it will be slightly A-line.

The top part will be a very simple strapless top. I know I will not be able to make a perfect match for that center front topstitching, so I'm just not going to bother with it. I will try to match the bodice seams to the pocket edges and back darts.

I'm planning to line the top with grey cotton and sew poly boning along the seams (but stopping the bust at the front seams) if necessary.

The skirt will be a bit mini, just not as much as the one in the picture. I like to be able to sit down without fear for indecent exposure, thank you.

Just another crazy idea

Over coffee today, I was looking through an old magazine (UK Vogue November 2009, to be precise. The 'more dash that cash' issue, which I bought because it seemed very promising, but found rather disappointing because of its less that practical approach of the topic and liberal notion of budget. And it didn't include as much of the normal snobbery I find amusing) when this picture caught my eye.

I'm sure I didn't see it for the first time. But I'm equally sure this is the first time it gave me an idea... It may have to do with the fact that a couple of friends have been spamming me all day with plans for a cocktail party... A party involving nice dresses and optional heels...

I mean, this is a nice dress, right? Cute and kind of cool at the same time. If you're model-shaped, of course. Which I'm not quite. I may be skinny, but I don't have those legs. However, it has to be possible to make a more wearable variation.

You see, I've had this giant grey leather skirt in my stash for a while now. It was destined to become two bags, but there are more skirts for that and the whole bag making-and-selling thing got kind of side-tracked a while ago. It is big enough for a dress, look.

On me, the zipper does close. However, that is an open back pleat and those are (in fact rather nice) pockets which would end up on my boobs... Not a good look. So, now I'm thinking: how about chopping it up at the waistband and at that horizontal seam, using the top of the skirt as skirt and making a strapless top bit from the bottom of the skirt (I did comtemplate sewing a fabric top on, like the dress in the picture, but I'm not so sure. It's cute but I could layer the strapless dress over tops, which would be more practical for cleaning purposes).

Oh, and by the way, this won't become little dress no.1, sewing bra-bits is fiddly enough on its own, without the added handicap of slippery, sticky, 'you can't pin this' leather.

So this dress may be up next. Or later.

Vintage finds

Pictures! I'm finally home by daylight, on my own, without being crazily busy, so I decided to put my somewhat camera-shy self in front of the camera to show you something I found at one of my thrifty market stalls last week.

First up something less intimidating.

These two handbag were mine for 8 euros. There's a good bit of age to them, which shows in their nice clasp closures, leather linings and old-fashioned pulls on their inside zipper-pockets. They've also both seen better days. Especially the handles are in a sorry state. I'm thinking about replacing them. I've got some black metal chain in my stash, but it should really be yellow metal, don't you think?

The one on the left might be eel-skin or reptile and the one on the right snake. However, on close inspection it is clear that there made from leather or even plastic stamped to look like exotic skins (which is good). The 'snake-skin' looks like paper with plastic scales on it when you study the torn bit at the handle. I'll have to ask my bag-o-philiac friend if she can date them or tell me anything more.

The thing for which I had to pose is this:

It's a half circle skirt in soft red leather. Oh, and it has pockets.

I'm always on the lookout for cheap second hand leather items which I can cut up and use to make bags. This one, I found at a stall where I don't usually shop. It was 5 euros. I was intrigued by it but had my doubts about the elastic waistband. But at that price, what could go wrong? It would either be a special garment for me, or several bags.

I threaded in new elastic, making the waistband a bit tighter and I have to say, I kind of like it. The length, fullness and weight of the thing give it, at least in my mind, a bit of 'New Look'-appeal. It may not be practical in real life, but I'll give it a try. Here's one skirt which won't have a date with my scissors any time soon...

Skipped a day to: Thrifty Thursday

I kind of planned to post something every day this week, just to get the blog going but yesterday really didn't leave with the time or the opportunity to take a picture and sit down to some writing. And I had a really hard time getting the pictures where I wanted them when making the kimono-tutorial on Tuesday.

Today, I made the little bag you see in the picture (sorry if it's a bit blurry). It's for my mother and I need to find a belt or something like that to act as a shoulder strap. Next to it is the other half of the thrifted pair of leather trousers I made it from. The trousers may look too good to cut up, and indeed the leather their made from is in great condition and hardly shows any wear. The shape and size however, are a different story. It's a very small size, but the fly and the waist-to-hip ratio seem to suggest it's a men's garment. The legs get very narrow towards the ankle and are short, even for me. Oh, and it's crazily high waisted. So, I think it will be better off being two bags and being enjoyed as such.

Why did I refer to this post as 'Thrifty Thursday', you may wonder? After all, one repurposed pair of trousers doesn't make it a post about thrifting. The point is, this is about what I do when it comes to going to thrift shops. I like to make all my clothes from scratch and have rarely found anything I wanted to own and wear in thrift shops (and stalls. When I'm at home in The Hague, all the thrift stores in my neighbourhood are of high-end expensive kind but the Monday market has several stalls selling loads of junk with some hidden gems). I tend to buy hats (when I'm in England, the Dutch hardly do hats) and gloves, look at bags and look through the clothes quickly.

Clothing in thrift stores can tempt me for two reasons: either it has to be something unusual, a fifties dress for example, or it has to be good raw material for something else. So far, I've never bought any of the unusual dresses. I'm afraid I'd just be collecting more stuff to clutter up my house. Of the 'raw material' stuff, I am buying.

My favorite Monday market stall puts all the small sized items, including lots of leather skirts and trousers on a '5 euro a piece' rail and occasionally discounts some of it to 2 euro. That's where I bought the trousers for my mother's bag. I've got two skirts waiting for me as well. They're what I think of as eighties things: straight skirts high waistbands, belt pleats and a 'midi-length' hemline.

I'm also going to make a postman-style bag for my father using fabric and leather from an old motorcycle jacket a friend gave me (I gave her a bag made from half a leather skirt to say thanks) and several friends have expressed their interest in my bags. So I really hope the thrift stalls will keep coming for a while.