Studio shenanigans at Sew Curvy

I've already done several corset making classes this year including corset making for beginners, intermediate corset making, and how to make a corset pattern from scratch.  Most of my girls this year have been two or three times which is lovely because instead of a bunch of lessons, it feels like a nice sewing circle/social!

Erica, Emily, Tamina and Michele learning how to flat pattern a corset from scratch

One of the girls who came along, lets call her "Erica, Queen of Sewing Gadgets" had the most superb sewing machine, which I had been lusting over for a while before Erica brought hers to class. Upon seeing it's performance, I was immediately smitten, and I decided I had to have one!  I wrote to the nice people at Janome, and they sent me one on loan for a year in exchange for me saying nice things about her.  Well that isn't hard because she is utterly Fabulous!

She's ARRIVED!!! Glee!

And.. here she is:

My new Janome 1600P - she is fast.... very very fast

I immediately set to work on the wedding dress commission I have to finish by the end of this week, while my friend Izabela who had joined me for the day, worked on a very complicated corset drafted from an 1884 patent.

Scaling the pattern

Working out the stitching methods ..

et Voila!  An 1884 pregnancy corset (no she isnt!) come to life, with 'steam punk' customisation in process

The lining of my wedding skirt

Completely ironic really when you consider that Izabela's main occupation is making big flouncy dresses for her brands Prior Attire and Prior Engagement, and my main occupation is making fancy corsets!