Sewing Gage

As mentioned before, every month I go to, in my opinion, one of the best night's in London, Cybil's House , hosted by Cybil of course. I put an idea to Cybil to create a combination of a corset and a leather harness. I'm going to call it a corness. The material used was a faux leather from Dalston Mill fabrics. This was of my own design and I set about creating the pattern. Initially  I was going to just sew the straps to the corset part, but i wanted it to be all one piece and the straps grow out from the corset. I wasn't entirely happy with my sewing between the panels, so, to resolve this I got some trimming to cover up my bad work and I think it actually enhanced the piece.

After the corset, I was ready for another challenge. I decided to do something a little more masc - a waistcoat. This was a real challenge, I've never attempted any sort of tailoring before let alone the welt pockets! I decided to use Vogue pattern 7488. The fabric I used was a woolen Herringbone from minerva crafts . I managed to get this far, and then I got stuck on the lapel. The instructions in the pattern made absolutely no sense. I couldn't decipher it. I needed help. Luckily, I have a friend, James , who works at Budd Tailors . So, I called on him for help. He guided me through the pattern and I finally finished it, and was pretty impressed with the 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 :-( 

I thought it was about time that I got some proper training. Searching online I came across  this course  at Central Saint Martins. It's a 5 day course in professional sewing skills covering the following; Seams  Zipper (concealed, exposed and trouser) Collar - shirt, jacket/coat  Pocket - jett, welt, patch hidden stitch Sleeve opening for jacket and shirts  Hems - pin, single, double and cover seam  Handstitching - slip stitch and cross stitch for jersey/stretch fabric Checking patterns (to be used for Introduction to Professional Sewing Skills Part 2) So. i'm all paid up and ready to go in July. Can't wait!

Every third Saturday of the month, at a club not far from me is a club night called Cybil's House . It's an amazing party,  great music, a good variety of performers and a good mix of people in/out of drag. I don't claim to be any good at drag, but I enjoy the creativity, the dressing up, expressing myself and not giving a damn what anyone thinks. Every month is themed, and the next party was going to be musicals. I decided to do Norma Desmond from the musical Sunset Boulevard. A musical icon, brilliantly portrayed by Glenn Close. The look that I wanted to re-created was this; First thing was to source some fabric. Not far from where I live is a fabric store at Watney market. Prices are reasonable and there's a good selection of fabrics. The first fabric I found was (1) below. However, I felt the print was too big, although it was reasonably priced at £3 a metre. (1) I then moved on to Dalston to Dalston Mill Fabrics. This shop is amazing...