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For those of you who aren't subscribed to eternal_magpie, here's a brief summary of what I've been up to since I last posted here.

I have some original kniting patterns available in the Eternal Magpie Shop

I've been inspired by some pretty wool

I've climbed a tree wearing an outfit that I made

and my new Alexander Henry fabric's arrived.


I've also been making corsets, fitting dresses, joining a new choir, and generally keeping myself extremely busy!

pesky33's cupcake dress is finished!

You can read about it here.



I also made a matching suffolk puff corsage. Cute!

I may have accidentally bought a few dress patterns for myself.

You can read about my plans for them here.

(Or you can friend eternal_magpie, and I can stop bugging you...)

This is Vogue 8470.



You can read more about it here.

(blah blah eternal_magpie blah blah...)

Today I have been mostly unravelling a massive jumper.




*cough*eternal_magpie*cough*

While I was at work yesterday, I may have accidentally picked up a piece of pink leopard print satin.



I have enough of the pink to make two corsets.

Also available in red, blue and purple, if anyone's interested...?




You can also see photos of my pink tartan corset, over at the Eternal Magpie blog.

(Or you can add eternal_magpie to get the updates directly in LJ.)

Over the weekend I made a couple of brooches, for my Mum and for Paul's.





You can read about them here, if you like.

Or add eternal_magpie to your friends list, to get the updates automatically.

I have puddingcat coming over later today, to be measured for a corset to match her coat.

I needed to have the contract ready, along with the instructions for how to measure yourself for a corset.

The contract sets out the terms and conditions of the sale, and also confirms the customer's choices of fabrics and trimmings. This makes sure that we both know exactly what's going on.

I'm going to be doing most of my orders via the internet and without fittings, so I've drawn up a handy sheet of instructions which will hopefully enable the buyer to provide me with accurate measurements. The instructions come with a tape measure, and three pieces of elastic which you use as a guide for where to take the measurements.

Obviously I'll provide a mock-up if a customer wants one, but it helps to have accurate measurements in the first place!

If the pack works well, I'll probably make it available for download. (You'd have to provide your own tape measure and elastic to go with it though!)

To go with it, I was thinking of sharing the details of how I use these measurements to draft the corsets. Most of the searches coming to the Eternal Magpie blog are looking for instructions on how to draft a corset, so it might be nice for me to share that information.

Is that the sort of thing that people would be interested in, do you think?



[edit] I'm taking orders for September, by the way! You can find out how to order over here.

I'd never made a Suffolk Puff before today, and now I've made a dozen:



They're made from offcuts of the Bishopston organic cottons, with a little bit of Fair Trade batik thrown in for good measure. The centres are made from self-cover buttons.

These particular puffs are going to be sewn on to organic cotton tote bags, which I've been embroidering for Paul's cousin's daughters. I haven't done any embroidery for a very long time either, but I'm pleased with the way it's come out. Pictures will follow when the puffs are attached!

Before the Art Market in September, I plan to make a whole bunch of these as corsages, with brooch pins on the back. If I'm feeling particularly creative, I might go mad with multiple layers and feathers and ribbons and sparkly bits.

I've really enjoyed making these little pretties. I can't wait to see how they look in lots of different types of fabric!

I'm thinking of selling my badge machine.



It's a London Emblem Badgeworx kit, plus approximately 500 parts to make 25mm badges.

The kit includes the badge press, the die for making 25mm badges, a circle cutter and cutting board, and approximately 500 parts for making the badges. I'll throw in the clamps I bought to attach it to my table!

Brand new, the kit cost £235. The badge parts alone are worth around £35.
(Prices include VAT.)


Would anybody be interested in taking it off my hands for £150, including shipping within the UK?

This morning I had a very productive time drafting a pattern for a pair of leggings. By lunchtime I'd transformed a piece of lovely cotton jersey that I bought from The Cloth House several years ago, and in the afternoon I started on a simple tunic to go with them.

Say hello to Simplicity 2927:



It's not finished yet, mostly because I was taken by surprise at how complicated this little dress turned out to be!

It's one of Simplicity's Project Runway patterns. As it happens I've never actually watched the TV show, but I'd sort of assumed that the point of the patterns was to encourage young wannabe designers into sewing their own clothes.

We'd already discovered at work that the patterns are quite difficult to read. The back of the envelope is quite confusing in terms of being able to work out what you need (more so than normal!), and the instructions often seem unnecessarily complicated.

This particular design comes in a choice of two lengths, has three different sleeve styles, and optional pockets. Directions are also included for piping all of the seams. Throughout the pattern you're sewing concave to convex edges to make the curved side front seams and the neck band. The sleeves are either faced or bagged out. The front facing's rather fiddly, and the sleeves and neck band were a nightmare to put together neatly.

I sew three or four days out of every week, and I found this pattern rather difficult!

I certainly wouldn't recommend it to anyone who didn't already have plenty of sewing experience - and plenty of patience. It took me around six hours to get this far, and I was expecting it to take about half that time.

As I was putting this little tunic together, I was a bit worried that my choice of colours was going to make me look like a dental nurse. Looking at the photo though, I think the style is quite cute. Slightly sixties-looking, and I think the button makes all the difference. I don't know whether that's going to be my final choice of button - I need to see the colours in daylight - but I think whichever button I choose, it needs to be a big one.

All I need to do now is put in the zip, finish off the last few loose ends, and give the whole thing a good pressing. I'm disappointed that I couldn't get it finished today, as I was planning on wearing it to work tomorrow, along with my new leggings!

Still, I'd rather do it properly, than try to finish it in a hurry and make a mess of it.

I keep going back to these little raglan tunic patterns, so I guess my next step is to draft one of my own. Whatever I come up with, I do know that it won't have a neckband, and it won't have such complex curves! I'm still in love with the pockets though.

Here it is!

Drafted the pattern this morning; made the skirt this afternoon. :)



It's made from black Bishopston cotton, but it's lined with plain black polycotton because I haven't ordered the organic sateen yet. The pockets are organic cotton too, made from half of one of the Kaffe Fassett fat quarters.

The skirt itself is lovely. It's a nice length, it's wide without being too flarey, and it's lovely and comfortable to wear. Success!

I do need to make some sort of alteration to the pockets though. They look as though they're a bit too far apart, and because they're placed exactly on the hips, it's quite difficult to get your hands in and out of them. I really want them to stay sewn into the side seam rather than simply being plonked onto the front, so I think they need to be even bigger. And a bit lower down. Which means that the skirt needs to be a bit longer, otherwise the band and the pockets will be too close together, on the version with the contrast hem band. Hmm.

A little fiddling will make all the difference, I think.

When Paul gets home (and I've had a shower!), I'll ask him to take a couple of pictures so that you can see what it looks like being worn.

I know I've just said that I need to go back and make loads of changes, but I'm really pleased with the way that this has come out. :)

I've spent ALL YEAR (so far) trying to work out what I wanted to do with the Bishopston fabrics, and finally, I think I've cracked it. (Possibly I may have just cracked. It's hard to tell in this stinking heat.)



These are three variations on the theme of an a-line skirt.

They're made from the Bishopston organic cottons, and will be fully lined in a lightweight cream organic cotton sateen. (Except for the centre version - that will be made from two layers of Bishopston cotton.)

They fasten with a zip at the centre back, and measure 21" long. (Roughly knee-length.)

The illustrations show enormous patch pockets, but if you don't like them I can just as easily hide the pockets on the inside, or leave them out altogether.

The skirts can be made in various colour combinations, or you could choose to have the whole thing in just one colour. I also have some Kaffe Fassett stripy fat quarters which can be used for the pockets, and if anyone wants different colours, or stripes, or checks, I can buy those to order for you.

The skirts will cost £60, plus p&p.

I'll be making them to a wide range of standard sizes, for which I will publish a size chart soon.

If you would like me to draw a custom pattern exactly to your size, there will be an additional charge of £10. This is a one-off fee, and any further skirts made from this pattern will cost £60 as normal.

August is getting quite heavily booked up as far as sewing goes, but I currently have room to make THREE of these skirts. Because I'm feeling kind, these first three people can have a custom sized pattern made for free! I'll just need to know your waist and hip measurements.

I know it's difficult to imagine how a style will look from just the drawings, so I'll be making one for myself this afternoon, and I'll ask Paul to take some photos as soon as possible.

I'm in love with these little skirts, and can see myself making them in lots and lots of different colour combinations!

All four corset pre-order places for August have now been filled. Thank you ladies!
I will be demanding photos for the gallery, so that I can encourage people to sign up to order more. :)


I have made a gallery of corset fabrics over on Flickr, and a page explaining how to order corsets over on Wordpress.

I'm in the process of drafting a contract/set of instructions/massive disclaimer, which I shall be testing out on the first four corset recipients.

Hopefully I'll get a few orders in place for the rest of the year.
*fingers crossed*




My next decision will be whether I ought to move from wordpress.com to wordpress.org. It'll inconvenience anyone who's subscribed to the Eternal Magpie RSS feed (including eternal_magpie), but as Paul pointed out, it's better to cause the inconvenience when I'm only getting 100 hits a week.

It looks as though a day of fiddling about with Wordpress is going to be in my not-too-distant future - along with actually making a corset for myself!

In August, I would like to make four corsets.

[edit] ALL FOUR PLACES ARE NOW TAKEN!
Thanks to faerierhona, puddingcat, madamequeeny and ephemera. :D

The corsets will cost £70 each. (This is roughly half of what I will be charging in future.)
They will be an underbust style, like the fish corset.
They will be made from fabrics which I already have in my Shed. (photos to follow)
They will be made according to measurements that you will provide.

If you would like to sign up for this I will require payment in advance, via PayPal, to be received no later than Sunday August 3rd. If I have not received your payment by this date, I will allocate your place to the next person in the queue. Speed is of the essence!

Once I have received your payment, I will send out a "measuring pack". This will contain a tape measure, three pieces of elastic, and instructions for what to do with them! ;)

I will require your measurements within ONE WEEK of you receiving the pack, otherwise I can't guarantee that your corset will be ready by the end of August.

As soon as I receive your measurements, I will draft a pattern just for you, and make your corset.

It will be made from:
An outer layer of fashion fabric, according to your choice.
An internal layer of polycotton herringbone coutil.
An internal waist tape, made from polyester grosgrain ribbon.
A lining of plain cotton or polycotton.
Straight steel bones and busk.
Two-part eyelets (5mm) in silver, gold or black.
Laces in black or white, with metal-tipped ends to match the eyelets.
Bias binding to match or contrast with the fashion fabric.


If you would like any beaded trims or a gold busk, please add £5.


Please leave a comment if you think you might be interested!

Over the course of the day I will add lots of photos of the fabrics I have available for you to choose from, so please keep checking back. :)

The photos are here.

There are chinese brocades (lotus blossoms and dragons), embroidered taffeta, heavy matte duchess satins, retro-style polkadots, steampunk tweeds, black velvet with stars, sparkly shimmer viscose, silk dupion, satin-backed dupion, silky satins, charmeuse, heart print satin, skulls & crossbones, dancing skeletons, glittery spiderwebs, sparkly satin, rose damask...



DISCLAIMER - I CANNOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY IF YOUR CORSET DOES NOT FIT DUE TO INCORRECT MEASUREMENTS.
I will make the instructions as clear as possible, but you MUST email and ask questions if you're unsure!

This offer is open to the UK only, for speed of sending out the measurement packs and the finished corsets.

Corsets will be sent out via Special Delivery, so that they're properly insured. This is included in the price.

Today I have been mostly drafting skirt patterns, and musing on the impossibilities of size charts.

(See also eternal_magpie)



This journal is probably going to go away quite soon.

If you'd like to keep track of what I'm doing over at Wordpress, you can add eternal_magpie to your friends list. You can leave comments on Wordpress or directly on the LJ feed.

I'll also be using the eternalmagpie account, but mostly for posting to communities.



Oh! I forgot to mention that my computer died a horrible death over the weekend, so I have lost all of my contact details. If you'd like me to have your email address, please can you send an email to claire@designbyclaire.co.uk, so I can add you to my address book? Thank you!

My computer has decided to throw a little wobbly, so I am currently without email. As you can see, I have internet access (thanks to evicting Paul from his computer), but I have no access to my email at all until my own computer's fixed.

*fingers crossed*

So, if you need to contact me at all, your best bet is to leave a comment for me.



In latest "lovely things" news, custard_kisses recently posted about Sarah Clemens Clothing, on Etsy.



I absolutely adore the look of her two-colour dresses, and am now adding this idea to my stash of plans for the Bishopston fabrics.

I'd been thinking of making some asymmetrical a-line skirts, decorated with suffolk puffs and vintage buttons at the hem. Having seen these dresses, I definitely think that idea will work!

Full skirts, large pockets, hemline gathered at one side. Pockets and puffs made from contrasting fabric.

Right.

Now I just need to focus on the plan for long enough to actually make something... ;)

My next dress mock-up doesn't need to be ready until the end of August. Between the next cupcake dress, some slippers, more tote bags and maybe a corset or two, I think I might finally have found the time to make myself a new coat. (Yes. In the middle of summer. I know.)

I bought this Waverley flamingo print fabric last year, and I keep not-deciding what sort of coat it should be. I bought the Indygo Junction pattern and the giant button specifically with this fabric in mind, but having just finished Jenny's brocade coat, I am extremely tempted to make this in a piratey style!



I've also been searching high and low for flamingo-shaped buttons, and finally I have managed to come up with these:



They're from a website called Uptown Flamingo, and they're $4.95 for two, or $24 for 12. I might drop them an email to ask about shipping costs. How could I make a flamingo coat without even trying to buy some flamingo buttons?

There should even be enough fabric left over to make a bag. Or a hat.

A hat! With flamingo buttons on the side!

Sorted.

We have a plan.

(What? You didn't think I could make two classy items in a row, surely?) ;p

I know these photos aren't of the best quality - it's pretty dark out there today, and for some reason my camera refuses to focus on this fabric properly. Hopefully I'll be able to take some better pictures at the weekend, when puddingcat comes to collect it.

You can see all the pictures of the coat as it progressed over at Flickr.

For those of you interested in the details, it's made from John Lewis Classic Brocade, from the furnishing fabrics department! The lining and contrast details are made from polyester satin-backed dupion, and the interfacing is horsehair canvas. There are sixty-four buttons in total.

The first picture shows the inside of the coat, because that's where most of the time went! The facings and the hem were hand-stitched, and you can see the twenty internal buttons at the centre front. As well as balancing the weight of the heavy metal buttons on the outside, they also have another useful function. Jenny can fold the braid loops to the inside and fasten them around these little buttons, if she wants to wear the coat open. That way the loops don't catch on all the buttons, or get in the way.




The pattern is Simplicity 3677, their women's "Pirates of the Caribbean" costume. I added the lining and the pockets, and used different methods for the finishing. The only other deviation I made from the pattern was to make a full bust adjustment, for a better fit.

I can't wait to see Jenny try it on!