A lass wanted me to make her a dress. After much conversation that was about the equivalent of beating my head against a wall, I said no. She just would not understand that certain period gowns simply cannot be worn without the accompanying undergarments. Sure I could redesign the thing so that it could be worn without them, but she does not want me to do that. It would change the silhouette of the garment to the point that it might as well be another dress entirely. For those that know, it is one of those barely pre-edwardian lacy confections that is supposed to go over an S Curve corset and bum pad. I don't blame her for not wanting to wear the corset. The S Curve was _supposed_ to be healthier, but mostly just destroyed your posture as well as crushing your ribs and smooshing your bosom. However, without the corset and bum pad the only person who could wear the dress would be a skinny girl with scoliosis. Not taking on this headache, and I don't know of anybody else who will.
Now I have to go and put the finishing touches on the embroidered velvet corset made to show off the corset piercing in somebody's back. Making fetishwear is always a lot of fun, and I actually like doing burnout embroidery on velvet.
LOL and good GOOD for you, NM. I have been a skinny girl with scoliosis and if my figure and condition come back, I'll call on you. Meanwhile . . . saying "no" doesn't come easily for me but I have done it. When somebody says, "We'll let you do the curtains" I softly say, " I don't do curtains". They're always surprised and I can see their eyes glaze over as they search their heads for another victim. So. Tell us about your technique for doing burnout. I've seen some but never ventured in. Polly
I love stories that end with "...and then I said no. Because I didn't want pain and suffering to rain down on my head." I just love that assertive stuff. And I want to see pics of the corset once the girl is wearing it. At least I assume it's a girl. I have seen those corset piercings. OMG that looks painful. But whatever floats your boat. And it does look .... exotic.
There's a good reason we aren't all still wearing those clothes! But what do the actors in period films wear? Bum pad without corset? That's probably more what she had in mind.
If you are really up for it -- just do a Google Images search for corset piercing.
Basically you have 2 parallel vertical columns of piercings -- with rings that you then lace up like a corset. Picture a back (or a side or even a chest) with about 8 pairs of little pierced rings an inch or two apart vertically -- about 4-6 inches apart width-wise.
On Thu, 05 Aug 2010 23:37:46 -0500, Polly Esther wrote:
You were Gibson Girl? Wow!
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That posture is not affected, it is forced by her corset. Some ladies had even more extreme curves to their posture. If you had been out and about socially in that day and age, your uncorrected figure would have been the height of fashion. Think of it, Polly the titian haired temptress who could make it through a whole dance without swooning.
I generally used silk-rayon velvet and a chemical burnout. The order in which I do things varies according to the project. I consider optimal something that I can fully assemble the shell of and then burnout. It is fussy compared to doing it before assembly, but sometimes the results are a lot better especially if you are dealing with something with a lot of seams. Less matching and less swearing. Beyond that I pay close attention to grain and draw the design on with water soluble markers, this is iffy and I always use the lightest colors I can still see. You never know how permanent something like markers are going to be on silk, and you do want to apply it to the silk side (more later on seams) If it is a very complex design I might use a stencil. Very often I will apply a resist to the outside of the pattern. Then I will use any of a number of squeeter bottle tips to apply the chemical to the fabric. Usually a straight from the bottle through a sized and sometimes shaped tip is easier than using a brush, though a brush has it's place if you need to cover a largish spot. I have talked to people who use plastic pastry bags for putting the chemicals on. I can see the allure of using the disposable bags, but so far I am happy with plastic boston bottles, and sometimes even gutta bottles for silk painting if there are fine lines involved. You do not need to soak the fabric if you work from the silk side. Just burning away the anchor points of the pile is all that is needed, so a thin coat is perfectly adequate. When sewing velvet I tend to french seams. So I will follow the pattern on both sides of the seam right over each side of it with the chemical, if the pattern passes over a place where seams join, I might direct a little chemical into the join from the pile side, but only if I deem it truly necessary. After it all has dried it is just a matter of ironing the chemical until it is a nice toast shade, and then bagging and washing the item. The treated pile will wash off, and you are ready to dye or embroider.
You do want to clean your iron afterwards. You do want to work on all parts of this process in a well ventilated area, free of pets and children. You do want to wear gloves when applying the chemical, and goggles when you are ironing. The still wet chemical can burn your skin, and the fumes when you iron it can irritate your eyes sometimes very badly.
It is a girl, though if it comes out nicely her fella may want one to match. He is thinking about it.
Alas, I absolutely do not share pics of clients in fetish dress. I do not even keep a portfolio at the moment. I would love to, and in fact I used to, but it is just too dangerous to home and hearth in this day and age. The variance between should, legal, and is, is rather largish still, and I would just as soon avoid pushing the boundaries there right now.
I do well enough by word of mouth. It is not so much the making of the things that is an issue, but having the pictures at the same time that you have children. Stupid, but there you go.
NightMist, I was subscribing to a 'fabric play of the month' and got a bottle of burnout. I never played with it -- seemed too complicated. The instructions said to use 100% nylon thread and satin stitch around the area to be burned out. The chemical won't affect the nylon thread so it acts as a resist. Is this the same thing you use? What do you use for resists?
Okay, stupidity and Dark Ages mentality still reign, clearly. I completely understand the issue of not having fetish photos in a household with children. Good grief. It's a sad world we live in. Well, if your client puts her photos on Face Book (and I betcha dimes to donuts she will) tell her I'd love to see your work.
Mostly I use Jaquard water based resist, which I keep by the quart for various and sundry purposes. Once and I while I live dangerously and use Inkodye, which is not much more than cassava paste. Both wash out easily. I figure if the burnout is eating the resist it is not eating the fabric, so far I've been right. Truthfully most people I have talked to don't use a resist or if they do it is inadvertent, for example using a freezer paper stencil. IME the biggest danger is not the chemical migrating through the fabric, it is me getting sloppy with it. Though it is amazing how neat a person can get when working with something that can burn them. If I mangle a bit I may end up doing the project over again, but I always find a creative way to repair the damage. Add a little embroidery, expand the pattern, sneak some colored water soluble gutta in and call it a highlight. I have doubled my money on pay projects more than once by creative repair, though thankfully not all that often! When the client wants what she wants, but also wants what I "got carried away" on.
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