I have a series of four workshops coming up in the next month, all centered around Renaissance costuming and corset-making. In the near future this series will be followed up with a workshop on Renaissance-style hoop skirts and bum rolls, as well as workshops on how to draft and construct true Effigy-style corsets using reed boning ( Read more... )

This one is image heavy. I finished the wooden busk and took a bunch more detail photos and some still life photos of the corset and busk before packaging it to mail off.

The busk is hand-carved from solid oak using a dremel tool, and finished with Danish Oil. It is 2"x12". I'm hoping to take the time in the next few weeks to carve another ( Read more... )

SchoolI have returned to the local community college extension, part time. I'm taking a class in ancient art history, and a pen and ink drawing class, and I'll post artwork and anything interesting from the classes. I have already been planning for this, and spreading out the orders for the next couple months. Sadly, I underestimated the amount ( Read more... )

Up to now I had been making my plain Renaissance stays with the tabs separate pieces, sewn into the body. While it worked well, it took a lot of extra time and created sometimes problematic bulk at the waistline. I have been experimenting with using integral tabs, with the idea of retaining the simple body piecing without creating tabs that were ( Read more... )

Today I finished a silk cover, fully boned, tabbed Elizabethan corset. I did not take fully detailed pictures since I was pressed for time during construction and the size of the corset made the logistics of using it as a detailed example piece difficult. Next time I make a corset like this one I plan to take detailed photos and blog about it. I ( Read more... )