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13 August 2011

grim tales: ashputtel

I've mentioned it here before, my desire to create a webcomic. Well, it's finally happened. Inspired by a truly awesome Cinderella story written by a friend of mine, I bought crayons and a pad of paper and starting drawing.
I've been meaning to update the blog about the presence of my comic for a while, but I just haven't gotten around to it till now. (And, I've been putting it on Facebook .... so, I'm not sure anyone who knows me doesn't know about my webcomic, but I still wanted to actually announce it on my blog before sending "Page Up!" updates.
Anyway, here's my fancy comic announcement! (And I worked bloody hard for the thing, too: this would have been posted an hour ago, if the fancy comic announcement had been less persnickety.)
 


Grim Tales - Ashputtel page 1Grim Tales - Ashputtel page 02Grim Tales - Ashputtel page 03Grim Tales - Ashputtel page 04Grim Tales - Ashputtel page 05Grim Tales - Ashputtel page 06
Grim Tales - Ashputtel page 07Grim Tales - Ashputtel page 08Grim Tales - Ashputtel page 09



Chapter 1 is Ashputtel, the German/Brothers Grimm version of Perrault's Cinderella. If I can figure out how to do it, I might take votes for which story Chapter 2 will be ... my current inclination is Red Riding Hood, but I'm open to suggestions.
However, that means: tell your friends! If  I run a poll, and only get two votes, I'll be mighty embarrassed ... plus, I might be forced into doing something boring, like The Frog Prince.

02 August 2011

Sewing Update

Today, I did not work, and I didn't have anywhere else to be. So I spent all day working on sewing. First thing: I decided to go with the "cool thing", which is three pieces instead of one or two. All my corsets so far have been one-piece, with one set of ties in the back. Theoretically, making a "pair of bodies" (lacing in back and front) shouldn't be that much harder, but I've never done it.
Cutting the "front" piece from the "side" pieces (and then adjusting them so that I could wear the whole thing) actually wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. I didn't have to rip that many seams, because the stitch holders fit perfectly into the boning channels ...
I added an extra boning channel per side piece, and here we go:
Look: three pieces! With holes for ribbons (also spiral lacing ... )
I used to cut the zip-ties with tin snips. You'd think those would work well, being made for cutting metal, and I'm cutting plastic and all. But what really happened was that I had to close the tin snips as tight as I could around the plastic, hold that for a minute, then take the zip tie out and turn it around, and cut the other side. Usually, I could then bend the piece of zip-tie back and forth until it snapped, but sometimes I needed to go back over them with the tin snips.
I bought a PVC cutter, after borrowing a friend's, and holy gods, does it make my life so much easier. I figure out where I want to cut, put it in the cutter, and snip! I have two pieces. It's an amazing piece of equipment.
The PVC cutter that has made corsetry amazingly easy ... cutting bones the old way SUCKED.
And now we have the corset, bones in place (look at the shadows; they're made from the bones). Yay! It only took me one day (less than that, because I spent the morning reworking the corset and adding stitch markers) to cut and place all the bones. (I am nearly out of my zip-ties, too. I need another trip to Ace Hardware before my next project. I get the ridiculously long 48" zip-ties because I get more boning for less money.)  
Look! Bones! In channels! And cut to length!
Tomorrow, I will cut the pretty fabric. I'll probably use the sewing machine a little there, to just sew a couple straight lines along the side edges to hold the fabric in place, but after that, the sewing machine can go back to its storage shelf (it would be really nice if I actually had shelf space for the creature).
I envision going to gaming tomorrow night with corset-pieces, ribbon, a needle and some thread--placing the fabric and sewing the ribbon trim around the edges is all I have left to do. (Well, I'm going to have to figure out straps, but that's part of cutting the fabric--and, actually, I just had an idea that might make the strap-situation a LOT easier .... )

01 August 2011

Sewing Project

I started working on the wedding corset last night after work, and continued this morning before work.
Before I left for work, I completed this:
The corset "shell"--the denim lining that will hold the boning. 
I read a lot of stuff before starting to work, and contrary to what I read, corset-making isn't difficult, but a lot of it is time-consuming. It took me all "morning" (I woke up at 1pm) to get the boning channels sewn. Three hours, then, since I showered at 4pm before eating and heading to work.
Oh, and please note the lacing--spiral lacing, and it's period. (I'm not actually a period Nazi (denim interior, plastic bones), but I take pleasure in doing things in the period way, when I can--for instance, I won't be using grommets. I buy plastic (not-period) stitch markers (for knitting and crocheting), and set those between the two denim layers, and hold them in place with a few stitches until it's basically done. Then I do the period thing and stitch buttonhole style around them to hold them in place. It's sturdy (grommets pull out sometimes) and it looks good (and period!).)
A close-up of the shell, an example "bone" (zip-tie) and the yummy fabric I bought as a remnant and didn't realize was so yummy until after I brought it home and opened it ...
Tomorrow, I will begin cutting the two outer fabrics--ever since coming upon the theory (at my first real CONduit) of reversible corsets, I haven't seen the point of a non-reversible one. So, instead of the pretty fabric and the lining, I'll be doing two outer fabrics. The purple pictured above is for the wedding. The black-and-red not pictured will just be for whenever.
AND, I have an idea for something that would look cool, but require more work ... so, we'll see.

Anyway, it's late, and I should go to bed.