( Prototype one Amanda )

So, that looked pretty good, I just want to add another .5" to the side back seams at the hip so they are smooth without low muffins. This being proto one and looking better was a releif. I won't be working on these until after the new year.

( Left Side mockup and final )

( Front mockup and final )

( Back mockup and final )

I smoothed the bust line considerably, but have the problem of back spill in an attempt to bring the bust under the arm forward. I have the previous iteration with a smoother back to refer to in prototype 3. I may also make the more dramatic pattern change and add another shaping panel. It's funny, I had an epiphany while at the spa for the approximate seam locations based on the wrinkles apparent in the robe I was wearing at the time. Even when I'm relaxing I'm thinking. Incidentally, every seamed bra I've ever worn has two seams that roughly join at the apex. If I eliminate the piecing over the apex you still need two seams that cross the bust line.

Anyway, this is the pattern I've delivered to her so that her skirt foundations can begin with the dressmaker. I have another corset that I have drafted and prototyped and two more to draft. That proto will be in another post.

It's the end of the year, and that means tax write-off time. I bought a wide, full length mirror for client fittings, a sofa for my office, three new light fixtures, and a new storage unit to house orders that are in progress.


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Another beautiful yet ordinary late Victorian.

More photos and construction details on my website:





http://www.laracorsets.com/Antique_corset_0115.htm

(when I post it this way is the photo too large for you all?)

It says all over on my website that LaraCorsets is by appointment only. I make it deliberately difficult to find my exact address and I even explain that I work out of my home and am not a store.

I just got a call from a woman who is on the way and wanted to confirm my location.

I am in my "hang around the house" comfy clothes, scooping the cat litter box and there is over 14" of snow outside.

I told her I was by appointment only, not a store and do custom work from my home.
I jokingly said that if she shows up now she'll catch me in my pajamas.
I asked what she was looking for and she got off the phone quickly.

Aw well.

Back to my Sunday cleaning then.

i've just finished the last corset for my graduation collection, which will be presented at mid-january. instead of the required 8 complete looks, i'll be presenting 5, hopefully, i'll still be able to graduate. it was either this or another full year working on this collection. things would look a lot better and i wouldn't have to make so many compromises but i can't stand this feeling of being stuck, not moving forward...
i had major set backs on my personal life, and as much as i hate to put off work, family is more important.
anyway, for this corset i went for a victorian bodice look, so most od the boning channels are hidden by the fashion layer. 54cm waist, spiral and spring steel boning, two-part grommets, 2 layers of coutil. got some wrinkling at the bust sides :( it was fine when i did the mock-up...sigh...



( detail + matching choker )

Newly photographed and studied, here is a corset the average lady of the 1890s might buy at the local shop:




http://www.laracorsets.com/Antique_corset_0121.htm

Well, that's it for me in 2009. Demi and I are finally taking some holiday in 2009, from now till Jan 4th, so you may not see me on here till then. Have a wonderful holiday, everyone!

Right kids, it is almost Christmas (reminder, I'll be non-Sparklewrening between 22nd and 30th December) and as a last little goodwill gesture I am listing the 36" purple Ruffles & Lace sample corset with free shipping :-)



( Follow for a couple of new (and old) photographs! )

Snagged from blackbyrd2:



Very cool. Extra points for Ave Maria.

People are logging onto YWU in droves trying to find out, I suspect, what periods won the DPP. We're working as fast as we can, promise! Just putting the finishing touches on two articles and then we'll go live.

Volume 11 was created by corsetiere, labellefairy. Please support these talented artists by clicking each item, leaving a comment, and promoting the treasury on your social networking groups.

that is not a 1820's waistline though. Delicate is the word

Hmm... would a silk paj be too delicate for loose lining a corset? It wouldn't be taking any strain, and could always be fused to a soft cotton I suppose...

I want to watch the BBC2 show about Strictly Come Dancing on the iPlayer, and it just won't work! How annoying!

If you like my website and want to get the latest updates...
come be a fan of LaraCorsets on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/LaraCorsets/235230689368


I will be posting updates soon.
So far I am the only lonely fan of my own website...LOL.

(Please forgive my shameless self promotion and cross posting, Thank you!)

Order now to get the 15% discount. Your gift recipient can let me know what size and fabric they want so I can start making their corset for delivery after the holidays.



This is the biggest sale of the year and the largest discount ever offered by Electra Designs. It only happens once a year, for two weeks only.




Contact Alexis at alexis(at)electradesigns(dot)net for information.
Electra Designs Price List and Ordering Info


Cannot be combined with any other offer.

It's the biggest discount ever offered in Electra Designs history. Don't miss this corset sale!

The weather outside is frightful, which makes it a shame that I don't have a fire to be delightful. I do have a small electric heater, however, and a new curtain up at the doorway, so one room in the house is periodically warm enough. When I venture outside this room I need a hat and scarf, partly because this house is really set up for summer (laminate floors, large airy rooms, etc) and partly because I'm cheap.

We have an enormous kitchen-garden room with a stone floor, and one year we made the mistake of using the spiffy underfloor heating that the previous owners installed. We're still paying the bill. It is truly a fabulous room and we bought the house because we fell in love with it, but it ain't so fab at 6am in December. Brrrr.

If the Powers That Be could just get their act together and organise some snow, I'd get a lot less mock-grumpy. Winter weather is not worth it unless you get a soft, white, silent, magical payoff. Damp, grey, cold and rain is not what I signed up for, people.

It's not really the weather, though. It's the fact that I really want to be a super-healthy eater, but that SALAD is not an appetising prospect when you're shivering. I have no problem from May to September (in fact I'm a smug b*stard all season with my water bottle and my lettuce), but once winter comes I get into a cycle of healthy - cold and hungry - stuff face - guilt trip - healthy that doesn't serve my emotional equilibrium well. I made a vegetarian stew last night that should stave off the cravings for Tesco Finest sausages and mash for while. I'm not saying the C word at all, but for the record, having an advent calendar full of very small fragments of the stuff is not helping. *flail*

I get an excuse to leave the building today, by the way. In fact, I get to go on the motorway and actually leave Hucknall. In fact, I think I may even stray into a Derbyshire postcode, although sadly not in the general direction of the Peaks or Pemberley. :) I'm going to collect an obscene amount of fabric for a couple of pirate dresses with deadlines in the first half of next year. Considering the price of the stuff around here, there's no way I'm paying them to mail it to me aswell. See above re: cheap. So I get an excursion instead, which can only be good for me.

Now, where did I put my hat, gloves, scarf, warmest coat, flask of peppermint tea...

What does "nesh" mean?