Leather corsets, coming soon to Curve Couture

Ah! Just a few moments to myself to reflect upon the things I have been up to in the past week or so.

Well, mainly I have been finishing my jackets for the coming fashion show (some extreme plugging on that in a week or so), trawling the internet for the perfect decorations and getting on with my new leather corsets...which I am about to reveal in part production stage.

I love leather as a material, it is a sexy thing to touch. I guess this is quite a primal thing...as it used to be skin and touching some thing's skin implies intimacy. Aside form this it is supple, firm and easy to manipulate when you're sewing it. The real downside is that you can't do-over if you make a stitching error...the needle holes are there for all to see. And even though I consider myself pretty proficient in terms of corset production, even I make the odd mistake.

And with that said, here is what I ave been doing...

I am still crazy in love with brogue detailing. And I love these swing catches which are pretty much a hall mark of steam punk styling these days so this week I thought I'd just go for it. I was inspired to create a scalloped brogue from a sample of lace that was on my cutting table and off I went. I did it using some pinking shears and a hole punch and did it all by hand. If I had the resources available I would have had it laser cut but I just don't have one of those at hand.

So, that's been my little experiment for the week. It's not perfect by any means but it's a good start.

Then also, I have been finishing the first leather corset, which currently just needs finishing and tidying up.

Tomorrow I will be taking a few corsets and pieces for a photo shoot in Brighton, including this one.

New things: Halloween corsets and new shoots

Here I go again, typing away after a hard days work with Downton Abbey on in the background. That's how I have spent the last few evenings and I'm sure a few more are in my near future....

There are many new things on the horizon, and it is very exciting. Only yesterday I was planning two photo shoots with the shy and talented Andrew Loader, a superb photographer. One with the infamous Peacock train and the other with the flamenco skirt I have blogged about previously.

Tonight I find myself designing my next corset outfit to wear out. I will be using a fabulous pillar box red piece of leather that I have been hoarding for years and be pinking black leather and making some beautiful brogue appliqué. I am jumping making the C2 historical re-make, and diving straight into making a modern interpretation instead.

Sketchbook excerpt:

I started to draw the pattern out on top of a size 12 block and let my intuition guide me as to the pattern cutting. When I start to create new seam lines on a new corset block I always find it is useful to begin by cutting out the pattern paper and pinning it on the size 12 dress form to have a look at the general lines to see if they work in 3D as well as I had seen them in my mind.

 Hurrah! Pretty good! I made some adjustments to the pattern whilst it was on the form and then decided to cut it in calico and just go for it.

 

As you can see there is some fabric stretching and straining that needs some attention, and I feel that if I am to wear this corset it will need more room in the bust...but they are problems to be solved another evening.