sewing » By Sidney Eileen

How to Make a Floating Lining

This tutorial describes how to create a floating lining for your corset. A floating lining is when the lining is only attached around the edges, and not at each seam. The advantages of a floating lining are reduction of bulk at the seams while sewing and it can be replaced at a later date if needed.

To create a floating lining cut your corset pattern out of lining material. Usually this is something lightweight and natural fiber, like muslin, cotton broadcloth, or poplin. If you have scrap cotton laying around, this is a perfect use, because it will never be seen when the corset is worn.

Stitch your lining pieces together, matching seams as you did for the body of the corset.

Welt-Seam Method Assembly - 19

Press the seams open and clip where appropriate. The lining is not under stress, so there is no need to worry about strength.

Welt-Seam Method Assembly - 20

Edge stitch the corset along the raw top and bottom edges, being sure to match up the seams and keep the lining even with the edge of the corset body. Fold under the front and back edges, but leave them open.

Welt-Seam Method Assembly - 21

Bind the Edges of Your Corset

After the outside edges are finished, the lining can be finished by hand.

Use an embroidery needle, thimble, and the same all-purpose thread you used to sew the corset. Cut a length of thread a few inches greater than the seam you are stitching.

To hand stitch, put a thimble on your middle finger. The eye end of the needle is held against the thimble, which is used to finely control the tip of the needle and to push it through the material.

Welt-Seam Method Assembly - 28

Start by running the thread about 1/2” through the edging of the corset. Pull the thread through until the tail just barely disappears into the material, hiding from view.

Welt-Seam Method Assembly - 29

At the edge of the lining, make three small stitches in the same location. This will secure the thread without using a knot. I like to avoid using knots for corsets because they can create a small burr-like point that digs and wears into your corset and your body.

Welt-Seam Method Assembly - 30

Use a hidden running stitch or a whip stitch to secure the lining to the body of the corset. Either will work.

To create the hidden running stitch, make each stitch alternately through the body of the corset, and inside the fold of the lining. The finished appearance is very similar to a machine stitch.

Stitch - Hidden Running

To create the whip stitch, run single slightly slanted stitches through both the corset body and the lining material. It creates an angled ticked appearance on the surface.

Stitch - Whip

When the seam has been stitched along its entire length, again make three small stitches in the same place before running the needle through the edging of the corset. Trim the end of the thread right next to the corset, hiding the tail completely within the edge of the corset.

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How to Add a Bust Ribbon to a Corset

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The bust ribbon is a small ribbon along the top of the bust which can be tightened to cinch in the top of the bust slightly, or just tied into a nice little bow for decoration. This tutorial shows the bust ribbon added to a corded Regency style corset, and I used narrow silk taffeta.

Edge the entire top edge of the corset before adding the bust ribbon so pulling the ribbon will not create friction and potentially fray the raw edge of the corset inside the edging. By doing this the bust ribbon can also later be removed or replaced without causing any harm to the corset.

This is an easy detail to add to a corset which is otherwise already finished.

Regency Corset - Assembly 50

My edging ribbon is not quite wide enough to cover the existing edging, so I stitched two lengths of ribbon edge to edge. Ideally, you will want an edging ribbon or bias tape which is naturally wide enough.

You need to leave a small hole at the center of the bust where the ribbon will emerge, so, following the same procedure as for normal edging, start just to the side of center and stitch until you are under the armpit. Leave roughly one inch of edging ribbon loose under the armpit.

Repeat the procedure on the other side, leaving a hole about 1/4″ or 1cm wide. This photo shows two silk taffeta bust ribbons threaded through the hole.

Alternatively, you can make two small holes with a small stitched area between, threading the ribbons each through one hole. If you do this, the knot for the bow will stay outside the edging. If it emerges through a single hole, the knot will pull back into the edging when it is tied, leaving just the loops and tails of the bow visible.

Regency Corset - Assembly 53

To secure the outer end of the bust ribbon, stitch it to the loose end of the edging ribbon. I used a zig-zag stitch and went back and forth several times to make sure it will hold.

This photo shows the silk bust ribbon stitched to the cotton edging ribbon and threaded through the hole.

The new layer of binding around the edging ribbon is finished exactly the same as normal edging, but be careful not to catch the bust ribbon in the stitching. The outer ends are folded under, but not stitched. That way if the bust ribbon needs to be replaced, new ribbon may be threaded in from the armpit area and secured by hand.

This photo shows the bust ribbon pulled slightly, so there is some gathering along the top edge.

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How to Make a Simple Busk Pocket

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This tutorial was created using photographs from the corded Regency corset. It shows how to make a very basic busk pocket, applied to the front of a corset which does not have boning in the busk area. If you are adding a busk pocket to a fully boned corset (like fully boned stays), it must be added after boning, which cannot be stitched through. That means you must either leave unboned space where the pocket will be stitched down, or attach it by hand.

The pocket on this particular corset opened on the bottom of the corset, and laces hold the busk in place. If you are orienting your pocket to open up, just reverse the orientation when you attach it to the corset. The busk pocket can also be added on the inside of the corset instead of the outside.

I highly recommend finishing the edge of the corset where the pocket will open. The pocket does add some bulk at that area, and it can make it more difficult to smoothly attach the edging unless you are edging entirely by hand.

To make the busk pocket, cut a rectangle of cover fabric longer than the front of the corset is tall. The width is 2x the width of the busk, plus 2x seam allowance, plus 1/4″. That will give you a pocket which is about 1/4″ wider than the busk, providing room to stitch it down without making your pocket too small to fit the busk.

Regency Corset Assembly 33

Fold the piece of fabric in half lengthwise, right sides together. Stitch the open sides together.

Press open the seam, placing it at the center of the panel.

Regency Corset Assembly 34

Stitch it closed at one end.

Regency Corset Assembly 35

Turn it and press. The closed end is to the left in this photo

Regency Corset Assembly 44

Mark the body of the corset and the busk pocket cover for eyelets. Make sure they will match up when finished. The bottom edge is bound before creating the eyelets, so there is no fear of the eyelets or pocket creating bulk too close to the bottom edge.

For the bottom of the busk pocket I decided to make hand-worked eyelets using a looped buttonhole stitch. You can use any buttonhole stitch you want, or use metal eyelets.

Looped Buttonhole Stitch Eyelet - 2

The first step when hand-stitching eyelets is to define them. Then create a running stitch just outside the circumference of the hole size you want. The running stitch will help the eyelet hold its shape, and provide a guide while you create the buttonhole stitches.

Looped Buttonhole Stitch Eyelet - 2

Open the eyelet hole with an awl. Depending upon the material, you may need to slash the material inside the eyelet hole so that it will evenly fold back away from the hole. I had to do that for the busk pocket because the material was too thick to nicely open with just the tapered awl.

Looped Buttonhole Stitch Eyelet - 3

Each stitch starts from the back side of the eyelet, pulled through to the front. These stitches define the outer edge of the eyelet hole, so try to keep your stitches an even distance out from the circle of running stitches.

Looped Buttonhole Stitch Eyelet - 4

Next drop your needle down through the eyelet and have it emerge to the front next to the prior stitch, maintaining your distance from the circle of running stitches. Make sure the tail end of the previous stitch goes around the outside of the needle before dropping through the eyelet hole. It is that loop which creates the border edge. To finish the stitch just pull the thread tight (as tight as you can) and you will be back at the photo above.

If you do not want to create the edge border to your eyelets, just leave out the loop around the needle.

Looped Buttonhole Stitch Eyelet - 5

When you have completed the eyelet, instead of dropping the needle through the eyelet hole, run it down through the same place the very first stitch emerged. This will create a loop to complete the edging. As you can see, it’s been a while since I’ve done this and the circle is not even. Practice is the only way to fix this problem.

Regency Corset Assembly - 46

The busk pocket cover, with both eyelets stitched.

Regency Corset Assembly - 47

Pin the busk cover in place down the center front of the corset.

Regency Corset Assembly - 48

Topstitch the busk pocket cover, staying as close as possible to the sides.

Regency Corset Assembly - 49

Close the busk pocket on the unfinished edge with a narrow zig-zag stitch. The photo is from the outside of the corset, but I actually stitched this with the lining up so I could see the border edge of the corset.

Trim it to the edge of the corset, and you’re ready to continue with the next step of your project.

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How to Make Regency Period Fan Lacing

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This fan lacing tutorial is based on two reference photos showing a Regency period example of fan lacing. In the photo it appears that the lacing is sewn directly into the fabric used to pull the lacing tight. I opted to change this detail so the lacing could be adjusted or changed out if needed, without having to completely re-make the tie. I am including the photos here for educational purposes, so you fine folks can see exactly what I’m talking about.

One of the wonderful things about this method of fan lacing is that it doesn’t require any of the expensive accessories required of modern fan lacing. That means it’s more economical for the corset-maker on a budget, and there’s no reason you can’t fancy up your ties by making them out of pretty material or embellishing them.

Fan Lacing Construction - 1

Each tie consists of two layers of cotton drill fabric, one short length of cotton taffeta ribbon, and one longer length of silk satin ribbon

Fan Lacing Construction - 2

The cotton ribbon is pinned into the wider end of the fabric, right sides together.

Fan Lacing Construction - 3

I used a 1/2″ seam, and when I got to the narrow end, I sandwiched in the silk satin ribbon.

Fan Lacing Construction - 4

I left a large hole along one side of each tie so they could be turned. You may trim your fabric if desired. I did not trim.

Fan Lacing Construction - 5

The ribbons make it fairly easy to turn the ties. Just pull them out to fully turn the points. I then stitched the holes closed by hand using a hidden running stitch. If you want, you can top stitch around the edges with a sewing machine instead.

Hidden Running Stitch

To create the hidden running stitch, make each stitch alternately through each folded in fabric. The finished appearance is very similar to a machine stitch.

After that, lace the back of the corset, running the laces through the loops on the ties.

Click for Larger View

In this photo there is quite a bit of extra length where each section of ribbon is tied off, creating the extra muddle of loose ribbon on the left of the photo. This is so I could adjust the lengths once I laced it on something and could see exactly where the ribbons were too long or too short. Each ribbon length ties four grommets (two rows of grommets), except for the very bottom grommets, which are alone because I have an odd number of grommets on each side of the corset.

Countdown to Clockwork Alchemy

Corsets, Costuming, Drawing, Fine Art, Painting, Sewing, Workshops No Responses »

May 232012

The Clockwork Alchemy convention is just two days away, in San Jose, CA. I won’t be making any more art until I am at the event, most of my stuff is packed, and I’ll be down there tomorrow evening. I am taking some of my art supplies with me so I can do commissions on-site, and I’ll also take orders for commissions to be completed at a later date. There have been a few SNAFUs, but nothing insurmountable.

I will have with me a number of original ink paintings, plus limited edition prints of those paintings. Some of them will be available at special prices at the convention. Look Out, the triptych painting in the Artist Gallery, will also be available for sale, along with my silver steampunk kimono I work at Nova Albion last year.

Other artwork include several large impasto acrylic minimalist paintings on wrapped canvas, and several miniature impasto paintings on canvas board. For something which may be worn, I am bringing a number of pendants, lockets, and pins with miniature ink paintings.

I will have two corsets with me for sale, but no other clothing items. Despite best of intentions to have spats and bustle skirts available, physical limitations prevented me from making them.

If you are coming, don’t forget that I will be giving an all-day corset making discussion on Sunday. Drop by for part, or stay for the whole day. It will run from 10am to 6pm. You do need a convention pass to attend. If you stop by my table that day, you’ll get to meet my closest friend, Britva, who will be minding my wares while I am occupied elsewhere.

The entire convention is packed with wonderful workshops, panels, and events. It truly is worth coming for.

Regency Corset – Assembly Days 2-4

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Apr 042012

I worked a couple hours a couple days last week, taking photos as I went. Today I did a lot more work, and it is now assembled and corded on the front and side panels.

As I worked, I found that it was easier to insert the cording if I did not run the thread through the center of the tape. Instead I cut the leading tape to only about 1cm of length, tied the thread to the cording, and I added another piece of tape over all of that and extending out just past the end of the cording. That way the second piece of tape held the thread to the cording and also provided a smaller start to work into the channels.

Just like on the bust, I used pins to hold the two layers together while creating the cording channels. The bulk added by the cording makes sewing problematic, so I stitched as many channels as I could before inserting the cording. First are the channels directly underneath the bust.

I used the drawn line for the uppermost seam, and after that spaced relative to the presser foot. As you can see, the spacing changed slightly from the drawing, and the squiggly cording in the center will need to be adjusted.

Next I stitched the four lower channels, again spacing relative to the presser foot. If you have a clear presser foot this will be much easier than the way I am doing it with a standard foot. I decided to omit the last straight channel so there would be more room for the squiggly channels.

I extended the curves on the squiggly channels and widened them a little in order to make it easier to insert the cording while still retaining the interesting shape.

After stitching the squiggly channels, I pinned to stabilize the two layers of the corset while stitching the sweeping horizontal channels.

Click for Larger View

I inserted the cording only after stitching all horizontal channels on the front panel. I made some adjustments to the placement of the sweeping channels while sewing. I also made a couple of the channels too small in a couple places, so I popped the stitches to get the cording through. I re-stitched those spots after taking this photo.

The cording has a gathering effect on the material, effectively shortening the width perpendicular to the channel because the fabric is forced to go out and around the cording. The difference is slight, but it is enough that in places where the cording channels end (most notably the upper hip exit of the sweeping channels) it creates shaping without a joined fabric seam. The front panel is no longer flat. Instead, it lets out slightly at the front of the hip.

Click for Larger View

Even after adding the last cording channels to the front panel, there is a gentle shaping at the front of the hip just below the waist.

Click for Larger View

This photo shows the front panel, photographed from the inside where it is free of pencil marks and smudges. This is a much more accurate impression of what the outside of the corset will look like after it is finished and washed.

I added the side panes by sandwiching the front panel between the two layers of the side panel. In the photo it is the wrong side of the side panel cover which is shown. All layers are pinned along the seam before stitching.

To help ensure the seam is strong, I lock stitched. That is, after sewing the seam I went back along the exact same seam with another line of stitches. While not technically necessary, it does add to the durability of the corset.

I pressed both layers of the side panel away from the front panel and top stitched to hold them in place.

The pencil marks along the waist are a guideline for cording placement. Since this corset is plus-sized I am fully cording the side to ensure it does not buckle when worn. I stitched the three channels closest to the open side first, to make sure the two layers stay together and even.

I also stitched three channels parallel to the front/side panel seam. The ruler marks the first seam for the cording channels to go down the body of the side panel.

Click for Larger View

This is how the corset looks right now. Both halves are to this point, fully corded. Depending upon whether or not I pick up some white buttonhole thread before sewing again, I will either be reinforcing the bust gores or adding the back panels.

Project: Regency Corset

What Steampunk Means to Me

Conversational, Fine Art, Sewing No Responses »

Mar 292012

To me, steampunk is about creating a new future, independent from the industrial cog model of life. It is about doing things for ourselves, supporting the endeavors of other independent creators, freedom of information, and breaking away from cold efficiency to make things beautiful, even when that beauty serves no utilitarian function. It is about art, creativity, invention, education, history, and bringing joy back into the everyday things of life.

Steampunk stems out of a sub-genre of science fiction, but the subculture is so much more. It often harkens back to the Victorian for inspiration for fashion, decorative aesthetics, and devices, but not always. A steampunk and a Neo-Victorian may at times dress indistinguishably from each other, but Neo-Victorianism is its own thing, much the way goth and punk rock once ran the same circles and at the beginning of both the lines between the two were very blurry, especially to outsiders. I believe the key difference between steampunk and Neo-Victorian is that steampunk is not at all interested in recreating a version of the Victorian as it actually was. Steampunk wants to create a sometimes Victorian-like (or Victorian-descended post-apocalyptic) otherworld, otherfuture, otherlife, where we re-make the things that we see as being good about the Victorian and then take and abrupt turn down a path we wish history had taken. When we bring in the bad things about the Victorian, like imperialism, industrialization, racism, and misogyny, they serve as the foil, the evil, the villain, and allow us to make a game of showing what is wrong in the world so we can more clearly see what we would rather be. The post-apocalyptic mode of steampunk allows us to wipe the slate clean, have some adventure, and rebuild completely from scratch a society of our own making. Even when steampunk absorbs itself in apocalyptic themes, it builds something from the rubble. Apocalypse is not the end of all. It’s the end of what was, and the beginning of something different. Steampunk is that something different that isn’t exactly like anything which existed before.

And then there is cosplay. Cosplay is the neat label that allows grown men and women to don outlandish outfits, strap on bizarre accouterments, take new names, create characters, and act out other realities which don’t actually exist with a bunch of other grown men and women. Cosplay makes it OK, because we’re not alone in a crowd afraid of looking like a nut. Cosplay makes steampunk safe and fun, which is fantastic! Steampunk gets more public exposure and newcomers get an easy, uncomplicated introduction. It’s amazing how many people find steampunk because of the clothes, and get sucked in by all the other wondrous things. It’s the other wondrous things that make people stay in steampunk. Once we stay, some of us wear the clothes as a matter of course, but others never do.

When I say “steampunk lifestyle” I don’t mean fashion at all. When a steampunk takes off the goggles and top hat, that steampunk is still a steampunk. They may no longer be their characters, but they’re still steampunk. Fashion is for play, and it’s an identifier so steampunks can find one another by sight and distinguish themselves from the rest of society (goggles, anyone?). All subcultures use fashion in some way to identify themselves. Steampunk is just often much more elaborate about it, but then we tend to be more elaborate about most things. That’s part of what makes steampunk difficult to pin down. Too many people mistake the flourishes for the substance. Dig down under the adornments, and you’ll find workings more complex and functional than anyone can fully describe (although it’s fun to try).

“Lifestyle” is about incorporating the subculture into your everyday life, appreciating creativity and art, learning new things, education, reading, experimenting. It often involves having some manners and courtesy in your dealings with other people (unless they give you a good reason to open a can of whoop-ass), being honest, having integrity (not everyone does, but when they don’t it gets around), and generally trying to make the world a better place by not contributing to the crap. It’s about taking those things that steampunk “is”, and particularly what it means for you, and bringing them into the way you go about your day to day life, regardless of the trappings. Of course it’s awesome when someone steampunks out their entire wardrobe and home decor, but unless you have a shit-ton of free time or a very large budget this usually isn’t practical. Most of us settle for a few outfits and a few household items that grow to quite a few over time as we purchase pieces, mod things, and make new items for ourselves.

A lot of steampunks are very interested in the DIY/Maker movement, environmental responsibility, and other politics, but since policitcal issues are not unanimous many forums choose to keep such subjects for in person discussion. However, I think anyone who makes efforts to steampunk their lives will agree that politics are important and have strong opinions on the subject. I don’t think I’ve met a single wilting flower, racist, or misogynist who had more than a passing interest in the genre or subculture. I find it truly wondrous how many people who stick with steampunk discover that they aren’t actually wilting flowers, and that they actually are the kinds of artists they never thought they could be.

In the end we will each have a little different definition of what steampunk is, and only you can decide whether or not you are a steampunk. If you have a creative heart, an appreciation for life, and a genuine desire to be a good person, I hope you’ll come play with us.

Post-Apocalyptic Garden

Steampunk and Me

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Mar 252012

I honestly couldn’t say exactly when I learned the term “steampunk”, but I would guess sometime in the 90′s. I first became aware of steampunk as a subcultural movement in the fall of 2008, when a friend who is into anime and cosplay mentioned offhand that there was a steampunk convention happening in two weeks. She was indifferent to going, but I couldn’t have been more excited, and my closest friend was as exuberant about the idea as I was. The convention was Steam Powered, later renamed Nova Albion.

We threw together costumes as quickly as we could. They were really half-assed, but I hadn’t done much sewing in years and had less than two weeks to prepare mine and three other friends’ costumes. I was lucky that I didn’t need to search for the “how” or “what” because I was familiar with the aesthetic from post-apocolyptic fantasy anime and video games like Final Fantasy, as well as from science fiction. Thanks to re-enactment and prior study of the creation of garments like corsets, I was also equipped to incorporate some Victorian aesthetic.

One of the friends we drug along came reluctantly, completely baffled as to why Diana and I were so excited by the idea of a steampunk subculture. I’ll never forget the delighted wonder on her face one hour into the convention when she grabbed Diana by the shirt and declared, “I get it!” She’s the one on the very left in this picture ( http://sidneyeileen.deviantart.com/art/ID-Nova-Albion-2011-202841904 ) in the eyelet lace and corset “sari”. Diana is in the orange. I’m in the kimono and kame make-up. Elizabeth, the cosplay friend who told us about Steam Powered, is in the right in a wa-loli outfit I made for her.

The convention was a font of resources and information on how steampunk was in bed with the DIY movement, sustainability, creativity, and artistry. My friends and I soaked up all of it and met a lot of other people we’ve stayed in touch with ever since.

I was a very socially awkward, introverted, hide in the library kind of nerd as a teenager. I made the conscious decision to become a punk rocker when I was 21. However, I never liked the nihilistic vein that runs through the movement. In the steampunk movement I saw all the cultural ideas that I love about punk rock, but without the self-destruction and nihilism. I still love punk rock, and incorporate it heavily into my steampunk (you can ‘punk anything and you can steam’ anything), but steampunk has more potential for sustainable action and activism, as well as being more approachable (or at least less frightening) to average people. After all, if you want to affect genuine social change, you have to get average people on board with your ideas. You can’t just scream into the storm and expect any outcome other than being hit in the head by flying debris.

My awareness of the steampunk movement came at a time when I was feeling oppressed by my day job, generally depressed, and also starting to have issues with my health (a fact I was mostly able to hide until this time last year). Creating art is a happy thing for me, and when I’m depressed I don’t do much with it, so as I created less and less art I focused instead on my sewing and corset making. I was involved in a couple different local steampunk groups (the Sacramento Steampunk Society and The League of Proper Villains), and online mostly involved with other corset makers.

About a year ago my chronic pain and mobility became bad enough that I could no longer hide it, and could no longer physically spend massive hours sewing. I floundered, dropped off the steampunk radar almost entirely, and grew more and more depressed until the day job and I parted ways at the end of last September.

Losing that job is one of the best things that could have happened. I have hope in my life again, and have returned to what I love doing most – creating art.

I’m one of those people who had a pencil in hand constantly from when I was a small child. I used to steal printer paper from my parents and pencils from school so I could draw. Even cheap art supplies were treasures to me. I also always strove for the greatest amount of detail and realism I could achieve. Since pencils and paper were the cheapest art supplies available I used them the most, and was wary of trying painting because of the expense. However, I am also easily bored and always interested in trying new things. Once I was able to achieve true photo-realism in pencil, I wanted to try other mediums and started experimenting more with style and composition.

If you are curious about the progression of my art, I have kept an almost complete archive of my art since 2006 on DeviantArt. http://sidneyeileen.deviantart.com/gallery/?catpath=/

I knew for a fact I didn’t like acrylic painting, so when I decided to take the leap and learn oil painting (spring of 2009) I took a class at the local community college. I didn’t learn a whole lot in the class (the instructor was an acrylic artist who admitted he didn’t know much about oils), but the structured environment forced me to create paintings that taught me a lot.

I’ve always loved realism, and my greatest inspirations are from the Dutch Masters, especially Rembrandt. He created a lot of his concept sketches in ink, so after the painting class I took an ink drawing class. It was my experience with the inks, and especially making a copy of one of Rembrandt’s ink drawings ( http://sidneyeileen.deviantart.com/gallery/?catpath=scraps#/d324pip ), that inspired the style in which I am now creating steampunk art.

I love oil painting, but turnaround time is extensive, and I lack space for drying canvases. Instead I am focusing on creating drawings reminiscent of a bygone age (albeit the 18′th century instead of the 19′th), using the kinds of materials and tools available pre-industrialization. The steampunk drawings in my portfolio are made entirely with dip pen nibs, inks, and watercolor paper. I am also planning to incorporate watercolor when I want art which is not monochromatic. The one completely modern material I want to use is Aquabord, because it provides a ground that is easily framed, won’t warp from moisture, and can be varnished to protect the art.

Women will likely be a much more frequent subject than men, just because I find it more interesting to draw women and women’s fashions. I have always been fascinated by the variety in the human race and in human culture, and fully plan to incorporate that fascination into my steampunk art, drawing upon inspirations other than just Victorian Europe. It also helps that most of my real-life friends (including the three women in the first photo) are anthropologists. When we’re talking about anachronism and fantasy, I’d much rather break the rules and explore new aspects than stick to a tired mold.

When I have enough interest and support for my steampunk art I plan to start working on aquabord rather than watercolor paper, and make limited edition prints of each piece so I can make them available for a price that’s attainable to most people. In the meantime I’m making the images available to online and in print steampunk publications like Steampunk Chronicle, and saving the line art stage of each piece so I can create a children’s steampunk coloring book. Long term I also want to organize at least one steampunk art group gallery show.

Despite all the problems in my life, I’m happy and hopeful for the first time in a long time, and I look forward to seeing where I can take my art in the years to come.

Career Direction

Conversational, Fine Art, Sewing, Web Site Updates No Responses »

Feb 062012

One of the Yule gifts I received this year was a book I recommend to anyone who is interested in being a professional artist. It’s called “How to Survive and Prosper as an Artist” by Caroll Michels. Get it. Read it. Share it.

My health problems forced me to stop taking sewing commissions, so I’m running with it. I have re-written my artist statements, created an artist resume, and begun preparing solicitation and promotional materials for possible future exhibitions. I have been practicing and experimenting, and researching ideal materials for framing with minimal cost and highest quality (specifically aquabords, clayboards, linen panels, and varnishes). I’ve also been researching possible funding sources, like kickstarter.com. I’ve re-evaluated my prices and found them VERY lacking, so they have been adjusted to an amount I could live on were I to sell consistently, even with galleries typically taking 40%-50% commissions. I’ve also researched exactly where I want to make limited edition prints, and have deleted almost all my print-on-demand, which never sold anyway.

In the meantime, I’m sorting out different marketable and showable bodies of work I can conceivably create, and prioritizing how to achieve them. Oil paintings must dry for a full year before varnishing, so I’m going to keep creating oil paintings that take my fancy with the expectation that I won’t have a showable body of work for about two to three years. Minimalist works are very quick to make, so if I can fund the materials I should be able to have a body of work within about three months of funding. I love the Celtic work and want to resume making it from time to time, but the hours of work involved make the sale price of individual pieces prohibitive of a full exhibit at this time. Same story with the colored pencil drawings, but they’ve sold well individually so I’ll still keep creating solo pieces. I’m practicing with calligraphy, but I’m not sure if or when I will have a body of work in that area which is marketable for exhibition. That takes me to my pen and ink work, and steampunk drawings, which is doable with funding, like the minimalist work. I’m hoping to make one or both of those start coming together this summer or next fall.

The other avenue I am working on is publication of my instructional writing. This month I am working on a How to Make a Corset contribution to “Steampunk Projects from the Gaslamp Garage”, a steampunk DIY book to be published by McGraw Hill. Next month I am going to re-vamp my “How to Floss a Corset” booklet, add a couple more stitches, and make it available for Print on Demand through Blurb. Eventually I’d like to work up to publishing a complete guide to drafting and creating a corset, and I also want to write more materials about art creation.

I still have three outstanding corset commissions I am working on, all of which are intricate and interesting. I’ll be photo-documenting those, and preparing instructional materials as appropriate. Next month I’m also embarking on a collaborative pan-Atlantic art-corset effort with the artist/model/photographer in Belgium for whom I made the black satin ribbon corset. We’ll be photo-documenting the processes, she’ll be taking professional photos of the finished products, and together we will be publishing on the project. We’ll possibly also be making an art corset or two to fit me as part of the project, but that creates additional funding issues to pay a professional photographer and studio, so with all the other commitments I’ll just have to see when that works out.

Add to that my pending involvement in illustrating an RPG, and I’m one busy, busy girl.

BTW, I finally got an account over at Fine Art America, so if any of you have an account there look me up: http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/sidney-eileen.html

In other news, I have spent a lot of time this past week tweaking and improving my web site. In addition to a new front page, I have re-structured my sewing portfolio and improved how my site handles 404 errors. Today I also installed plugins which will auto-detect mobile devices and switch to a mobile-friendly theme. Last month I received almost 500 visits from mobile devices, so with the expectation that number will grow I want to make my site more friendly to readers on the go.

If you happen to visit my site with a mobile device and run into any problems, please let me know. My ability to test the new functionality is very limited, and I maintain my own web site.

Exciting Things This Way Come

Corsets, Costuming, Sewing, Tutorials No Responses »

Jan 262012

There are a number of exciting large-scale writing, sewing, and art projects I’m contemplating in the next couple years. Not all of them will happen, most of them will alter greatly before they happen, and as details become firm enough I’ll happily share them with you.

But first, the not-so-exciting news for those of you waiting for me to re-open for normal sewing commissions. I still don’t have a diagnosis for my medical problems, but the further along we go and the more possible causes we eliminate, the less likely it is that I will ever be able to return to the level of physical endurance and ability that I once enjoyed and so took for granted. That means I probably will never take general sewing commissions again, and if I do it will be too far in the future to count on. This may be disappointing for those hoping to buy a corset from me, but as a result of my problems I have completely shifted my focus towards writing and art. By “art” I don’t just mean things you hang on a wall, I mean garments that are works of art, completely unique and impressive in ways that I could never have justified under a money/time/commission model of doing business. But more on that soon… ;)

My focus in the next two months is squarely set on those three corset commissions and a writing project, and I’m not talking about one of my tutorials. I am working on a complete start-to-finish underbust corset creation section for an upcoming book to be published by McGraw-Hill, “Steampunk Projects from the Gaslamp Garage”. For the ease of newbies to corset sewing it will show how to create a vertical-panel corset using the welt-seam method. This is a vastly different method from any I have published on my web site because of its limitations, but its strengths are straightforward methodology, tolerance for imprecise sewing, easy integral boning channels, and ease of explanation, which makes it perfect for a DIY book project. To support the construction instructions I am also creating a set of scale underbust corset patterns for men and women of varying shapes and sizes, and writing pattern modification instructions. All of these items will be posted to my blog in abbreviated form as I work, and many supplemental tutorials will be posted in their entirety.

My contribution to the book is just a small part of the chapter on creating a basic steampunk costume from the ground up, and another chapter will focus on modifying existing clothing to suit your costuming needs. Other projects and chapters will focus on other assorted steampunkery, with an emphasis on projects that require a minimum number of tools and equipment so they are within the reach of those of us who lack expensive machining tools, lavish workshops, and out of this world budgets. I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of it.

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