I love a good stitch and bitch – alas I do not have a lot of people with whom you get the balance of stitching and bitching just right, not too much bitching, and just enough stitching is usually pretty elusive. Well, with Julia from Sew Curvy, we can do it perfectly well. We chat , we sew, we compare patterns, techniques etc – and we enjoy ourselves a lot.
We come from different sewing backgrounds – Julia’s is predominantly corsetry, including bridal, mine is mostly historical costuming, including bridal and steampunk; which mean that we have enough in common to connect and enough differences to learn from one another. A perfect mixture.
I have visited Julia’s studio before on other occassions – i taught classes there and we already enjoyed a sewing session there, when Julia was kind enough to assist in making a 1884 Higby patent corset ( a nice adventure, recreating an authentic pattern 🙂 and going from this:
through this:
the mock up
and finishing with this:
This time I was also on a mission – I wanted to have a go at the prototype of an underbust that Julia created. I wanted to make it entirely from the scratch, using the components available from Julia’s online shop. There was some debate about which fabrics to use – I do love the broche and sateens, ans was spoilt for choice – but in the end we settled on the luxurious red sateen, with an even more luxurious black lace.
Having made up my mind, I set to work,tracing the pattern and cutting the fabrics, and Jlia was busy finishing some waist training samples for her Etsy shop.
I have to admit that apart from sewing and chatting a lot of lacing in was going on as well – over the day both of us tried the waist training corsets, underbust samples, oversbust and the Edwardian ones. Obsession?
we started with one of the corsets from my recent bridal collection –
too small for my bra size, but still looking pretty good….
And then Julia tried on my edwardian number…
Just by comparision, here is both of us, in our natural, uncorseted forms…
me:
and Julia:
and then on goes the waist training sample in black sateen…
And another sample, this time in broche.
It was interesting to see that the same corset created a slightly different silhuette on different body types – though it still fitted fairly well.
It was even more evident when we put on Julia’s personal underbust – a lovely piece in broche, with distinctive flossing.
and me in the same piece – the corset closes at 22″ waist and I can only dream of such a number – but it looked pretty good at 26″ – just an inch less than my normal, comfort corseted measurement.
After all that excitment of lots of lacing, it was time for lunch…
well…..
just joking – what we did have was this:
Julia’s superb egg mayo sandwiches and fruit as my contribution.
After lunch it was time to get some work done in earnest…
The red sateen was constructed ( i loved the eyelet setters there so much, I bought them straight away!)
Julia kept an eye on my frolicking wiht the corset, just to make sure everuthing was up to scratch…
and then helped me lace into half finished piece…
Not too bad! a few minor corrections and I was able to get enough done before leaving the studio. I took the lace with me to stitch it on the corset in the evening though…
The evening continued with more chatting, and a rather nice meal – with Pimms, obligatory for British summer! 🙂
great local takeaway!
Marley, Julia and Paul’s greyhound was his usual charming self too…
Next morning, it was time to get back to the studio – with a few hours to go before I had to leave, it was just enough time to finish the underbust. Here trying it on, without flossing…
the back…
that’s what the underbust looked at that stage..
inside…
Quick consultation resulted with choosing simple Vs as flossing pattern, and the result!
nice and comfy!
close up
Very happy with this sample, not sure whether I want to keep it or sell it on – but we did take stock of all the components that were used for it – and I think Julia and Sew Curvy might have a surprise for you – a ready made corset kit, everything you need to create your own piece!
At that point I had to pack up my toys and leave – but something tells me it is not the last of our sessions… 🙂
useful links:
Sew Curvy shop and facebook page
Clessidra Couture – Julia’s bespoke corsetry, page and website
and my own humble bits, page, and website
hope you enjoyed the corsetry oveload…… 🙂
A Damsel in This Dress 