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

Hello lovelies,

June is almost over as is my time in home Office. I will miss it terribly because I could cuddle with my cat all day and I got two extra hours per day. Usually, it takes me an hour to and from work, and as the way from my bed to the Sofa is not as time-consuming, I really had more time on my hands. I filled it with either napping, playing a Computer game or do some embroidery.
From July on this Option will not be available again for a Long time unless we have a covid case at work and with an open Office space I am Pretty sure this will be the case. It is not mandatory at all to wear a mask unless you take the public Transport and all of the work colleagues decided covid is over and not wear masks anymore. Sure, Jan.

Never mind my ranting, I want to share with you my Outfits from April and May.

April

I wore my l'armoire de Versailles Dress the first time and my AP bonnet fit perfectly with the soft Chiffon sleeves and top.


Normally These off-shoulder straps should sit directly at the shoulder but the elastic is totally stretched out and now it somehow Always Looks like an off-shoulder Dress. And to be honest, I really like how it looks.
Rose headdress was Hand made weeks ago, the post About it is here. 
The dress is from Baby the stars Shine bright, the shoes are from Rosemarie seoir.


I really like the OP of this r-series Dress called Emporer's nightingale but sometimes it bores me that I can't Change the look of the sleeves or of the overdress, as this literally is the whole Dress.
The last few times I added small birds in the hair but this time I didn't and I think it would have worked out better with it. The shoes are a bit off, I don't think they look suitable anymore.

There is no month without at least one swan dress. And this jsk from Cheval de bois is so comfortable and easy to wear and coord.
This time with a bonnet and an infanta blouse.
It is such a shame that my legs are not visible because I am wearing the matching swan stockings to the dress. The shoes are from bodyline.

May

I was totally in the mood for some cult party kei at the beginning of May. I really like these gold-rimmed glasses for the dreamy look, but they are super uncomfortable.
Most of the outfit is thrifted and the hair bow is from Metamorphose temps de fille.
I didn't realize how deep the cleavage was until I saw the pics. Oops.  I should have looked for a scarf or something like that.



The same goes for this dress, while uploading the coordinate pictures to this blog I realized how long it had been sitting in my closet. This is the snow white jsk from Infanta and while I am not fond of the fairytale, I love the snow white aesthetics.

What I said about the two dresses before is also valid for this dress. It was on my wish list for so long and then Angelic Pretty re-released it and I had to buy it. I only wore it one time, almost exactly a year ago and it is much too pretty to be just in the closet.
Matching to the Angelic Pretty dress is the blouse and hairbow from the same company. The tights are from Cheval de bois and I usually wear them with the purple swan dress.
Have a nice weekend,

Auris Lothol