Variations on a theme

More PLEATS bags. I absolutely love this style and am enjoying creating different versions.

Little ray of sunshine

Peedie bag – messenger style in super-bright!

I think I might have gotten a little bit carried away – the flap is blue on the underside, there's a big blue pocket on the back and the strap is really bright pink. The lining is a fab brown and white (!) patterned quilting cotton.

Obviously got a bit crazy after a few sunny days.

Been a busy day

I got a bit carried away with my new pattern . . .

I decided on an adjustable strap

The lining is a dotty printed poplin flatlined with waterproof cotton.
Pockets in red drill to match the outer layer

A button covered in red drill to match the bag and the button loop in  black drill to contrast

The photos aren't very good as the light was fading fast and my camera struggled with the red of the main fabric. Hope to get some decent shots tomorrow.

This is lots of fun to make and although this version is fairly plain I'm loving it!

Pleats or tucks?

Another week, another bag prototype. This one is developed for my mum to take on holiday. She needs a bag that will suit her style, make her feel her things are secure and be spacious enough to allow her to carry all the stuff she needs: passport, make-up bag, moisturising cream, sun-cream, book, sunglasses, reading glasses, wallet, keys, diary, hairbrush, lots of little bits of paper, various random things, kitchen sink (stuff!).

My mum is considerably more girly than I am so I thought I'd try out a style for her that has a bit more curvyliciousness – hence the pleats/tucks. I'm not sure quite what to call these so I'm being a bit vague. Essentially they are darts, stitched at the edge but not along the length. Just enough to hold the shape. The look is much more organic than my usual style – I tend to be drawn to smooth lines and a bit of sculpting.

Since this is a prototype it's made from fabrics from the stash (bull denim and a little bit of ticking – I've not decided on the type of strap or fastener this style should have).

The pleats create a lot of depth and taking that into account creates a very long-looking pattern. It took a couple of attempts to get the proportions right but now I'm happy that the folds are making the right shapes and the overall scale is good.

I like the form/function meets decoration quality of the folds.

Something from the land of corsetry: flossing samples. 

I've been playing with flossing shapes for the pewter corset. The bones on each side of the seams are cut to the same length and I want the flossing shape to work across both bones to create one pattern. 

At the moment I'm liking the grey one in the middle for at the bottom and the one at the right/middle for at the top. 

In practice I've sewn these starting with the short stitches and working toward the long, which I intend to change and sew from the other direction. That way the short stitches will be on top of the long lengths and will help to keep them secure and less likely to catch on anything.

Now I need to be brave enough to sew these onto the corset. Being nervous of ruining what you've already made is not how to progress!

Prototypes . . .

The kids have been asking me to make backpacks for them in bright colours and patterns of their choice so I thought I'd come up with a wee design of my own rather than a straight-forward cobbling together of a version of the type of things they already have.

Cue my prototype, single-strap backpack. Okay, it's not bright or particularly fun in colour but it's made with a sturdy fabric I have in my stash and is good for thrashing around to make sure the style is 'fit for purpose'. Since it is a test piece for shape and size I've just used a heavy-weight calico, black denim for accents and waterproof cotton for lining (HAS to be practical, even for a prototype) and fabulous black webbing.

Daughter no. 2 has been using it and giving a little bit of feedback so that I can work in a couple of tweeks (I'd figured out a couple of things myself by the time I'd finished making it).

Oh yes, and she's had compliments on it when she took it to school. That's always a great boost.
Onwards and upwards . . .

Pewter and steel

My latest lovely . . . 

. . . a pewter coloured silk underbust with a pretty low hip and long busk.

I decided to revisit the 'all in one' construction method (that I'd found too bulky before) this time using silk flatlined to cotton and a slightly less stiff herringbone coutil than the one I used before. The cotton used to interline the silk is dense enough that it can double as a second strength layer so no need to add another layer to the bulk.

This is quite a curvy pattern and even as I was stitching I was loving the curves!

Following each seam a row of topstitching was added to give a super-sharp edge.
The whole effect is quite sculptural, long before the boning (or even the boning channels) are added.

It's so curvy it really doesn't want to lie flat at all!

This sample is a 22" 12-panel corset and, with two bones per seam, there is very little space between bones at the waist.

All to do now is finish the back, bone, floss and bind.

I'm working on flossing designs and will post pics of those later, although looking at these photographs makes me have second thoughts – I love the smooth curves so much.

P.S. Verdict on construction method:

I'm not keen on how bulky one side of the seam becomes and, once made up, there is absolutely no way to modify the fit without completely deconstructing. On the other hand, the two layers are precisely lined up and it's possible to add as many boning channels as you like since it is basically a sandwich method minus the 'lining up' hassles.

The joy of corsetry

I've been cutting and tipping the boning for the sample with the external boning channels.

The gripping and squeezing action with two pairs of pliers is a bit tiring for the hands and wrists so I'm having a wee break to rest my hands since there's a fair bit of steel involved.

Tipping boning is probably my least favourite part of making a corset but I love the look of the piles of steel – especially when finished!