Hello lovelies,

sorry for the lack of blog posts, I have been super busy filming videos and didn't have time to blog. I used to update weekly during the lockdown and as the numbers are rising again in Vienna, it seems that a second lockdown is close. Maybe I'll have time for writing again. But my time table is so full, plus I have my first bachelor seminar about film noir that I fear I can only concentrate on one medium.  

 I started filming short sewing tutorial to make myself aquainted with the video software and everything else. After that, I already have plans for bigger projects, and there is a swan -, strawberry -, and regency dress waiting to be finished and then cut and edited. My hopes are to upload a video at least a month. So if you are interested, follow me on youtube! 

Watch the video here of the sleeping mask tutorial I did back in May. 

The paper pattern can be downloaded from by dropbox.  

 

Enjoy watching it!

 If you want to read or print the written version, click here to get to the blog post.

All the best,

 

Auris Lothol

 

 

Hello lovelies,

I couldn't hold my weekly schedule the past month and now I am back to posting only once in two weeks. I am reviving my youtube channel and it is more time consuming than I thought. Plus I am actually sewing dresses again, so that's a plus. 

It's mid-August again and time flies past so fast even though we are in a pandemic. I am still self-isolating most of my free time but I am really angry that I have the option to work from home but my boss would rather see me in the office. Of course I am the only one who has to use public transport everyday, so I am sitting on the bus and tram for two hours each day and just hope that the masks really work, because nobody is social distancing anymore. We thought about getting a car just until everything is over (?) but our fixed monthly expenses would be about 100-200€ more per person and neither of us wants that. Oh well, enough of my rant and on to the pictures!

This was my outfit for the Summer ILD. The community organized a small picknick meet and I was very happy to see all the girls again. it had been ages since our last Teekränzchen or meet-up. A follow up post about the picknick will follow soon, I hope.

I an wearing Baby the stars shine bright and Liz Lisa shoes. I tried putting in some 50s vibes with a red lipstick but I am so bad at doing these curls. There are pins sticking out everywhere.

This dress is one of my newer additions and I was happy I bought it nevertheless even though I had my doubts if the colour fitted my wardrobe, as it has mint coloured elements in it. 

The jsk is from baby the stars shine bright and the wrist cuffs are from Bodyline. I am not sure from which brand the bonnet is, I think angelic pretty but I am too lazy to check. Sorry.

The next dress is from Classical puppets and I got the matching bonnet and wrist-cuffs with it. This dress was a super lucky second-hand buy because I had been looking for it for ages. The shoes actually have the same colour as the red on the skirt but it looks almost black.

And now for something more summer-y. This is also a super tight dress and I am glad I lost some weight so I can finally wear it again. The hat is vintage and the dress is from Magic Tea party.

Apart from the lolita outfits, I also had other cute coordinates. 

This was for a casual matcha date with my sister. 

The dress is from Liz lisa and always kind of reminds me of a dirndl?

The dress is from Lady sloth, the cookie print is so adorable.

The skirt is from Emily temple cut and the top from Liz Lisa. I asked M. to snap a view pictures quickly because I actually hate taking pictures in public. I always have the feeling that people judge me for it.

All in strawberries! The dress is from Liz lisa and the bag from Japan. I bought the bag on my first Japan trip in 2006.

Here is a bonus pictures because Maja looked so cute with my Classical puppets wristcuff on her head. It reminded me of the fontanages in the 17th century. Too bad that we only holds still for a few moments before jumping up and about again.

As I mentioned before, I am doing more youtube videos again, or at least trying to. I made a June coordinate video. View it here or on my channel. 

All the best,

Auris Lothol

Hello lovelies,

sorry for my absence. I was on vacation and even though I was "only" at home, I had other things on my mind. We refurbished the kitchen, I sewed an Edwardian corset and played Assassin's creed odyssey most of the time.

But can you believe it? I finally finished my Edwardian corset after my first four attempts didn't work out. I used flimsy material or the wrong size and it somehow never fit me. You have no idea how happy I am, that it finally worked out and it fits me.

It all started out when we cleaned our sewing room/guest room and I found two Edwardian corsets in different stages and decided to toss them and make a new one.

The pattern was in a plastic bag next to the two corsets, bless past me for being so tidy, and I checked my size again, as the top and waist part was a size C and the hip a size E. I had traced them from the original pattern "Truly Victorian TVE 01: 1903 Edwardian corset".
My sizes all were still correct and I pinned the pattern to the fabric. I decided to not go for any trim or fashion layer because if this attempt didn't work out either, I didn't waste too much fabric.


The linen fabric I used was medium-weight and I bought it at a market in Vienna, it was handwoven from weavers in east-Europe, either the Ukraine or Romania, I can't recall which one it was.




I am really proud how pretty the bust gore looks.

I didn't go over the sides with a zig-zag stitch, which I usually do, because it was not mentioned in the pattern and I rued it in the end because the fabric frayed so much.

Inserting the busk was done in a day, I already made a few corsets so this was nothing new.

 I stamped the hooks onto the fabric by colouring them with my pink soluble pen.









When I did the first fitting I could almost close the top and waist. Weird! I should have done a size B at the top and the waist, as it seems like my body is really squishy. I kept it as it was and moved on.

I used wide cotton tape for the boning tunnels and inserted the bonings but it was clear, that it was not working out and the second fitting showed that it was still "big".




I was unsure of what to do because I had almost finished the corset but I decided to re-open it and take away 1cm on each side and it worked like a charm. The corset fitted much better.


 As the project was quite unplanned, I didn't have enough boning for the corset and had to go and buy some. I am so lucky, that there is one shop in Vienna that still sells corset making supplies and haberdashery.

The worst part was filing the edges of the metal. I could feel that my wrist was not all too happy with it because it got the blunt force off the vibration from filing. I had to stop after doing one side and continued with the other side the next day.
Of course, I also had nothing to cover the raw edges. I used tape the last few times but it was not in my corset box so instead of that I used glue. Hot glue, to be precise. And it really worked out well. It is not historical at all but better than nothing and rust.





I bound the corset with cotton twill tape and went over it with the machine. I wasn't careful and hit the metal boning two times, killing two needles. Oops.



I was done after exactly seven days, working on it a few hours per day. I really like the outcome and over the moon that I finally have an Edwardian corset.



So, what next?
I definitely need a complete Edwardian underwear set, and then a blouse, skirt, and a dress. At the moment I am working on a chemise with smocking, pintucks, and ruffles.

Have a nice weekend,

Auris Lothol

Hello lovelies,

it is July already, how did this happend? Every month feels like a century but they still passed away so quickly?
So when I stumbled upon that brooch I made in May, I almost couldn't remember I ever did this.

In December last year I bought a book on embroidery at the women's guild bazaar. In May, I found the  book again and decided to do a brooch from it, as I needed a break from a bigger project. It only took a few hours to make and it really relaxes me.

The book is called "better homey and gardens, Embroidery" and was first printed in 1978. I love old sewing and handicraft books and I already have a small collection.

When I was at the bazaar, I opened the book at precisely this page and decided that I not only need to have the book, but also do the embroidery. I love roses and brooches and this looked like a cute and fun project.



I cut off a bit of fabric from a longer roll and started with the embroidery. It was then when I already made half of it, that I found a mistake I made right at the beginning. Oh, well. I made it again when coming up on the right side so it kind of looks intentional now.


I am not sure how long it took, probably about 5-6 hours or more? I remember doing it in one go. 

To make the brooch, I measured out 1cm seam allowance and cut. 


I pulled the edges to the back and glued a piece of felt the raw edges. 


I didn't want to stuff the brooch as seen on the picture and therefore my brooch is very flat.


After this step I took a long break because I did not find my gold cord. I think I found the thread three weeks later and whip stitched it to the outline of the brooch.

And all that was left was to add a brooch pin and it was done.

I gave it to M. because I usually do not wear brooches, and he immediately wore it for the lolita picknick.
It fits him a lot better, especially in combination with the peppermint fox brooches.

I hope you all stay safe and healthy,
all the best,


Auris Lothol