Monthly Archives: August 2016

by Michaela de Bruce | 2016-08-31 · 21:16

steampunk corset photos

This was my favourite set of stays I have ever made for myself, and I am totally struggling to remake them! I am also trying to illustrate why I love them so much to help someone with their gussested corset.

So the first part was the pattern. These are all the pieces I used laid out. (whoops, the back hip gussests are on the left, the front hip gussets are on the right.)

I had already semi mocked the pattern. It’s a mix of 1870s and 1900s corsets. Mainly 1870s but I knew what I wanted was a long torso and defined bust. I am pretty small but I was able to get really good uplift by making sure the gussets were as deep as possible To do this I turned back the edges on the body panels and stitched them down then fitted the shape of the gussets on the form.

I also fitted the body panels and hip gussets separately. This allowed the body panels to do all the vertical shaping and pulling in while the gussets were made slightly larger to add to the illusion by allowing what was displaced at the waist to sit in the gussets.

When laid flat you can see how the gussets act independently of the torso. And you can also see a principle I try and use in everything- no bones over the bust. I use long stays to the inside and the outside of the bust but not over it. This just helps with definition like nothing else. I used a similar method for my Mina lining as well as my Elsa.

And I am very happy with how well this worked!

Like I said, this is the best pattern for me and I needed this boost to remind me to remake it in silk and with a real busk!

Marie Antoinette Progress

My Marie Antoinette hoops are too big to easily adjust which is why it has taken the entire 7th Season of New Who to get them to the point I can just push the hoops out or in.

These are deceptive, a little. The first test wound up kidney shaped and I wound up with more elliptical and normal shape tonight!

They are currently 160cm wide, but the hoops are a little deeper than I want and they’ll be flattened a little more once the tapes are in place at every level I’ll also have to drop the diagonal short hoops.

I still will be able to layer both fine cotton and tulle to soften these. In photos of Normal sitting there are a few indicators of hoops but they are subtle. SO I definitely need to remember all the fluffy layers needed and that adds bulk both depth and width. But I really think it’ll be the tapes inside that help. I may even wind up sewing in a few more sets than I normally would.

I originally wanted to make this to join in with the Robes de Cour group Kendra had organised a few years ago, but I wound up setting that aside as I wanted to be in the group and between me saying I was thinking about making the gown and not saying so in time and what not I wound up shifting to starting an actual Robe de Cour based on the various silver gowns from Sweden. I stalled on that as well as I just wanted to not use the dead dino fabric I had!

Basically I knew how much fabric any of these options needed and I wanted the best fabric for my needs. And I only managed to find that in may this year! That is the fabric above that had to be decoloured. It was very brown originally 🙂

But since then I have become completely smitten with the “confrontation” gown too, so well there may be a few gowns to wear over these hoops and eventual petticoats as well.

testing comments

Marie hoops

I use double thickness for each hoop. Just bought another 22.5 for the upper hoops. Next step degreasing and strapping.

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by Michaela de Bruce | · 23:20

Passion project-2 1600 silver Spanish court gown before I fall alseep

Its a cool name for a cool but insane ensemble I have been plotting for years. It has taken years just to get the fabric sorted! but sorted it is ????
This s the portrait that inspired it all. Well actually a copy of the portrait that inspired me. That one though is just madness embroidered in insanity…

I have discussed this on Livejournal several times so I shall try and copy the entries over here.

Or I shall just link to the tags ????

http://pinkdiamond.livejournal.com/tag/spanish
http://pinkdiamond.livejournal.com/tag/saya
http://pinkdiamond.livejournal.com/tag/ropa

So I have several layers:
Camisa (chemise/shirt)
Verdugardos (farthingale/hoops)
Cuerpo baxo (stays/corset)
faldalin (petticoat)
Saya (skirt)
Jubon (doublet)
Ruffs (ummm ruffs- haven’t tracked down the Spanish term, I really should)
Galerilla (a semi fitted Ropa or surcoat or robe) y manga redonda (hangng sleeves of a circle folded in half)

I have several fabrics:
Camisa fine linen, approx 3m
Verdugardos approx 2.2m canvas, 2.2m green ilk twill, 15m crimson velvet ribbon, 2.2m brown linen
Cuerpo baxo approx70cm linen-cotton twill, 70cm linen lining, 100 cable tie bones
faldalin 1 yellow silk saree, approx1.5m brown linen
Saya, Galarilla y manga redonda 7.5m white and gold silk and cotton brocade, 7.5m calico interlining, 7.5m silk dupion (two shades as t is partially recycled) for lining, 50m heavy bullion braid trim, 50m cotton twill tape to support the braid, brass buttons.
Jubon silk charmeause backed with cotton sateen (recycled would be approx 1.5m), 1.5m calico, 1.5m cotton sateen (both for lining), 7m wide silver ribbon, 9m narrow silver rbbon, brass buttons
Ruffs sheer linen, unsure of what lace, but will require 10m in length of fabric/lace for the neck and 1.5-2m for each wrist.

Jubon progress

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by Michaela de Bruce | · 23:14

I have not forgotton my passion projects-1

So:

(last scan is mine, from the cover of Hollywood and History.)

And who doesn’t want a tea drinking gif that matches *actually that the the confrontation gown I love, and her self striped sheer.. bascually I want the wardrobe.

Obsesses since I got hold of the Hollywood and Fashion book in my teens and sort of feared it due to lack of frerences.

But the silk is bought.

Also we have similar features, this could be awesome.

Past posts with images:

Further weekend good times: changing fabric colours!

Panniers

I have made a page for this

I did find really lovely recreation:

Tanya Dawn at Magic Theatre as Marie Antoinette. Magic Theatre Act IV – preparations

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by Michaela de Bruce | · 15:45

PhD… err, I need to think about this

I have gathered an overwhelming amount of information and I am at the stage I need to think about the implications of this.
The first is that I ndo still have novel research even if I am now ableto find support of it, this means it has a financial incentive for some while I just cannot afford to do what I should do and use is for postgrad. It is PhD level but that is well beyond my financial ability. And that has a lot to do with my disease and limited abilty to turn this in to a paid role here in NZ and one that would work with my disease.
But I can still be peer reviewed. So I am thinking of the best way to package all the research I have, my new ideas as well.
I have so much potential to really contribute so I am looking at the costs of making my work open access but peer reviewed.
So once I know this dissertation is on the way I can relax and get my primary document sorted, my appendices, and my bibliography.
But it is going to be expensive. I may have to go for peer review and see if I can then crownfund the costs of making it open access. I have a few academic sites to look in to as well.

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by Michaela de Bruce | · 11:11

A rest from document hunting

I got so much closer to what I need that I have to take a break, and sort the books. I have now several dictionaries and a few cool snippets that could lead to a different topic :0

But today I am going to stop and just sew. I haven’t been because I am sharing the lounge for warmth, but it’s hard when you have a skirt that takes the whole table.. I could go back out to the studio I suppose.

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by Michaela de Bruce | 2016-08-27 · 16:12

Showcase cosplay talk next weekend

The world of cosplay

When: Saturday 3 September, 2pm – 3.30pm
Where: Highland Park Library
Cost: Free

Join Michaela de Bruce as she introduces us to the World of Cosplay

I’ll be bringing historic as well as media recreations because I put the same level of research into both and I like the idea of showing how you can approach something in different ways 🙂

Might just try and get a range of “this is something I lucked into finding as a screen accurate fabric” as well as ‘this fabric took effort to see it in a different way” and I will bring Shae and my Ashara Zavros headpiece for people to try one. She is durable.

And Elsa, absolutely Elsa because she is the perfect example of bringing subtle skills in to play 🙂

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by Michaela de Bruce | · 14:53

Rheumatoid life

Fatigue edition.

I occasionally realise that people don’t experience pain in the same way, let alone experience different types of sources of pain. There are also different kinds of tiredness so that it can be hard to understand when someone with a fatigue symptom can appear to be okay.

Tonight I was supposed to go to an SCA feast but with the time frames, the distance traveled, the time waiting, I simply couldn’t commit. This is fatigue- looking at the full time frame and working out how long I’d be sitting upright, how long I’d be walking, how long in a car, how long standing. It’s a calculation I wish was much easier but it’s not, and I don’t always get it right. This is because it is complicated and relies on variables that can change in under an hour.

This is not about prioritising, not about saving energy for people and things I love, it’s the on the day calculations and working out if there is a cost, and at what point it will come up to pay. If it comes up during a time I’m away from home I have to err on the side of caution. It’s not about making choices of who to spend time with.

Fatigue itself is not about being tired, it’s more like misfiring communication between different parts of the body and brain. Right now I am upright and not really going to be doing anything different to what I would be, on the surface at least. But there are few consequences for myself or other if I stumble a bit, or bump into things.

Mistake making is high when brain and body are not quite fully in communication with each other. It feels like there is lag between thoughts and between thoughts and actions. That delay is okay when I can self correct, but it’s tiring on top of being tired to try and stay vigilant for errors. Am I going to trip, where are my feet, where are the feet of the people around me, is there a rug, or equipment? I am not naturally tidy, but I have had to make sure that anywhere I go there is a clear path on the floor. Not just because of fatigue but because I can’t just step over or around if my ankles or knees have inflammation.

I am avoiding a fatigue crash because it is so vile. We talk about brain fog, or the methotrexate hangover. And for people who have experienced being hung over it really is the same. The seasick feeling, the delayed response, the sensitivity to light and sound and smell.

But imagine that if there was no payoff. That you didn’t have a crazy night out.

And yep, there are times you just say if I’m going to be this miserable after then just do it. Today is not one of those days because I know the time frame would be too short for me to manage it.

Other times I have been able to. So that is always something to hold on to- there are times where everything works out.

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