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by Sidney Eileen
Red Silk Sweetheart Finished
Tonight I finished the red silk Victorian, many months in the making.
Core: Two layers of corset coutil
Cover: Dark red dupioni silk
Flossing: Black buttonhole thread
Edging: Black dupioni silk bias tape
Lace: Black slightly stretchy lace
Boning: 38 1/4" flat spring steel bones
Piecing: 8 panels per side
Busk: 16" metal straight double busk
Red Silk With Black Flossing and Lace
New Drawing - All Smiles
Colored pencil on paper, 6"x8"
Reference: Stock Animal - Cat 4 by *mooresart
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New Tutorial - Boning Channel Alignment Trick
In most cases, the boning is aligned to the seams of a corset, but when using spring steel flats this is not always an option. Spiral steels can curve and twist with a boning channel, but spring steel only flexes in and out, so it must be vertical to the curves of the corset at all times. When the seams of the corset do not lay on the vertical, it can be difficult to determine exactly where the boning channels should be.
This demo shows one trick you can use to find the vertical placement (...)
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Some Thoughts on Historical Accuracy
Strictly speaking, none of my work is historically accurate. True historical accuracy involves using only period materials made by period means, assembled using period techniques and a reproduction period pattern. For most eras, that means hand-made threads and fabrics, and hand stitching from start to finish in all layers of the garment. The materials are very expensive, and such garments are very time-intensive to make, resulting in a product that is too expensive to be practical for (...)
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Late Victorian Spoon Busk Corset Finished
This corset is a plain coutil, tea-stained late Victorian overbust corset, for use as a foundation in Victorian re-enactment. We had originally envisioned a hip shape much more like that of the cream silk corset with blue embroidery, but instead what worked best for this customer was a much higher hip on the side. This is due to the very short distance between her natural waist and point of hip, the long distance from the top of her pelvis to her hip joint, and the fact that the high and lower (...)
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Problems with the Contact Form
I have been having problems with the Contact form on this site.
If you have ever sent me a message via the form on this site and did not receive a reply from me, that means I either never received your message or the message I received did not include your email address.
I do care about each and every message I receive. If you never received a reply, please contact me again. My direct email is "sidney" at this domain, "sidneyeileen.com".
Sorry for any inconvenience and confusion. (...)
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Tea-Stained Victorian Overbust - Almost Done
It's almost done. I just need to grommet it tomorrow, and take the final photos.
I used some leftover beige silk bias tape for the edging.
Tea-Stained Victorian Overbust - WIP2
One of the people on the CorsetMakers group on LJ suggested, among other things, Borax. I've used Borax many times for spot-cleaning on corsets, but it hadn't even crossed my mind to use it here.
Borax, a little water, and a toothbrush cleared up the darker spots and evened up the tone of the stain everywhere I used it, with hardly any scrubbing. I must have been mistaken about the darker spots being true scorching. It came up so easy that I think the darker places must have just taken on (...)
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New Drawing - Isa
Colored pencil on black paper, 6"x9"
Reference is one of my own photos of Isa. She's the white kitty that sheds on my sewing projects and is featured at the bottom of my pricing page.
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