Sewing Gage

Just a quick update on the red dress. The bodice is almost done, just the zip to put in at the back. I'm covered in sequins, but am so happy in how's it's progressing! And this arrived yesterday, my new overlocker! It just makes life so much easier! I'm going to try and send my old one back to the British Sewing Centre and demand a refund, which may be a challenge, going on reviews from other people trying to do the same thing. Wish me luck!

Me and the boyfriend have decided to make this iconic dress from the movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (he's Jane Russell, and i'm Marilyn) for our Christmas outing at Cybil's House . I know it's not Christmasey (apart from being red maybe), but it's a good excuse to try and make it. Yeah, this really is a challenge! It was a challenge just sourcing the material. I searched everywhere online and only found one place that stocked it, but they were out of stock. When I contacted them, they told me that the material had been discontinued. I had tried all my usual shops, but one day I decided to visit Shepherds Bush, in West London. There's a whole street full of fabric shops there. After visiting six or seven shops, I finally found it at Toni Textiles . There was only five meters left on the roll, so I took the lot! We began by creating a toile, a test version of the bodice, so that adjustments could be made. I have never done this before, but for th...

It's been a while since my last post. I've been super busy so hopefully i'll get round to doing a few more updates. In the meantime here's a few pics of the Barberella outfit and the silver trousers with  organza top. Photo by Dan Govan www.purenift.com www.instagram.com/princesssleya Photo by Dan Govan www.purenift.com

I wasn't completely happy with how it looked, and felt it needed something extra. The PVC shoulders didn't stand out how I wanted them too, and it lacked something; So, I headed off to one of my favourite stores, Ultimate Craft in Camden to see what I could find to enhance it. I had already ordered some self adhesive stained glass lead tape to go around the tits, which I also used on the rest of the outfir. I found it to be quite  malleable and helped to shape the shoulders. I also managed to get some metal grill and some chains from Ultimate Craft which i cut into shape and added to the outfit with the lead tape. I'm much happier with it now.

It's time to test whether my technique of moulding tits works. Well I'm please to report that it did work as shown in the picture below where they have been attached to the bodice with rivets. I used the following mould made out of tin foil, placed a sheet of PVC on top of it, and watch it slowly melt as the temperature rose in the oven. I placed the prosthetic tit within the mould and then riveted the mould to the bodice and trimmed the excess PVC. It still needs a little work doing to it, but I'm happy with the result.   Oh, and I've also inserted a remote controlled colour changing LED within the tit so they glow!! 

The next Cybil's House theme is sci-fi. I've decided to attempt a Barberella inspired outfit. Using the following as inspiration;   I'm quite intrigued at using clear PVC as my main material. I managed to get hold of two thicknesses of PVC from Ultimate Craft in Camden. I don't want to give too much away here, but with the thicker PVC I created the shoulders which will be attached to the bodice; I also had to find a way to created a mould for the tits, so I experimented a bit, using tin foil as a mould and placing the PVC on top, placing it in the oven and keeping a very close eye on it, watch it slowly melt around it. Although I filled my flat with smoke and inhaled noxious fumes, the experiment worked :-) Not wanting to ruin my sewing machine I had to find a way of joining the PVC. The best way I found to do this was to place greaseproof paper over the seam and gently press down with a hot iron. The iron melt's the  two p...

Photo courtesy of  Captured by Corinne The next Cybil's House (1st birthday) was a princess party and the boyfriend Greg (aka Barbie Martini ) wanted to go as Princess Jasmine from Aladdin. I used this p attern  as a guide and got the following fabric from Ultimate Craft in Camden. These were very easy to make, using just four pattern pieces. A concealed zip was put in at the back and finished off with some gold trimming. I used the following video tutorial to create the top. It's in Spanish, but I put the English subtitles on and just about managed to follow it! And here's the final result;

With all the expensive fabric I had left from the Norma outfit, I decided to make a corset. Again, diving in the deep end and trying something tricky. I'm always up for a challenge. I decide to use the Simplicity 1345 pattern, corset C; I already had the fabric, but ordered the eyelets, steel bones and busk from sewcurvy . I found it easier than I initially thought, and for some reason people are scared to tackle something like a corset. But it really wasn't that bad, in fact it was easier sewing something with smaller panels, than working with larger pieces of fabric, like Norma's outfit. And this is how it eventually turned out; The theme for Cybil's House this month is Easter. So, taking my inspiration from the film Easter Parade, I decided to add a bustle to the corset. Unfortunately though, I never made it to Cybil's as I had to work :-(