Cinch!

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2009-10-27T22:21:38Z

THIS is what Etsy is good at!

2009-10-15T15:31:16Z

I just ordered a lovely necklace from this Etsy shop http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5192804
Well actually A bought it for me, but I had to do the actual purchasing - of course :/
Anyway, it's partly for me and partly for one of the photoshoots. What persuaded me to buy from this guy is that the proceeds go directly to buy materials for the project he runs. He holds jewellery making classes for cancer patients. He started when he was ill himself to pass the time during hospital visits, then started showing other people how to do and now runs regular classes. Read his profile, as he of course explains it far better than I could.
I just had a lovely mail from him thanking me for my purchase. What a pleasure to not only buy a lovely piece of jewellery from such a friendly seller, but also support a great project!

Another announcement - LJ swap tonight!

2009-10-02T11:25:29Z

Tonight I'll be clearing my friends list on this account. I'll go through and add anyone (that still appears to be in the land of the living) to the new journal if they've added me for corsetty things, as that's what the new journal is for. If I miss anyone just add me there, it's open to all. I may well miss people as i've been painting and decorating all week and I'm shattered, my head is mush!

New Journal Announcement

2009-09-30T23:16:54Z

Anyone who is interested in seeing my work and not reading my rambles please add me at crikeyaphrodite
In a few days time this journal will be going completely friends only and anyone I'm not in the habit of talking with will, I'm afraid be removed from my friends list. This is nothing personal to anyone, but is simply a process of dividing personal from professional.

Anyone who wishes to add me here, please contact me first. I'll probably be more than happy to add you, but I'd prefer to have control over who is added.

Thanks everyone

Mulling over some changes

2009-09-30T22:32:02Z

I'm thinking of having a journal restructure and starting a fresh journal for Crikey Aphrodite to separate work from personal. This would mean some people on my current list whom I don't converse with regularly would be deleted. They of course would be welcome to add the Crikey Aphrodite journal where I would continue to post information and pics on my corsets.

This journal would then become fully locked to all but people I currently regard as trusted. Anyone wishing to add me would have to contact me first, which is of course good manners anyway. It's sad that this should be necessary, but it seems that it is.

I'm going to mull over whether to do this as of course it means the hassle of logging in and out of different accounts. I'll post another notice if I''m going ahead with this, directing people to the new journal, before I remove anyone.

Why oh why...

2009-09-27T11:49:03Z

do i have venetian blinds in the kitchen! I've just spent ages scrubbing the bally things! And not even a wee, reasonable window - nope it's a big 2m x 1m window. That's a lot of narrow slats! My hands now stink of spray bleach.

The kitchen is nearly done though. It's now seriously pink. It looks like cupcakes! Nice with the stainless steel fridge and stuff though, very 50s. I need to go and get a big film poster to finish it off.

Blue Peter corsetry

2009-09-27T09:41:38Z

I spent a rather interesting evening last night cutting out photocopies from the Jll Salen book and sellotaping them together to get a better comparison of shape. I started because I was going to use one of the stays patterns as a starting point for the next shoot - the 1790 one. It comes up tiny. I'm kicking myself for not photocopying the 1750 ones at the beginning as the pattern is curiously curvy.

Of the later ones, the 'pretty housemaid' has a nice, wearable shape. The 1890 with the hip gussets is interesting. The 1890 with the corded cups is also interesting and also miniscule. One other, can't think which off the top of my head, is very close to the TV110. I didn't do any of the regency or the ribbon ones, or the Edwardian (as she didn't pick very inspiring examples of later ones). I wish I'd copied more of the stays though, and I'm off work this week, so no photocopier (and I'm too lazy to do it by hand tsk tsk!)

They're almost all very shortwaisted, even allowing for sitting lower on the bust. The pretty housemaid and the black with yellow flossing are about the only ones that look comparable to modern figures. Interesting that the former was aimed at lower class, working women. (of course I'm well aware this is a small unrepresentative sample).

So now to the fun of selecting one and scaling it to fit. The model is a bit of a waif, but a tall waif.

Published!

2009-09-17T12:53:29Z

Anyone remember that book that I got a slot in last year? Well it's out. I got a copy in the post from them yesterday. I've got a suspender belt and a garter featured. It's so cool to see my work in print. The suspender belt particularly, as they've used one of their pics of it on one of the intro pages too.
It's a nice book actually. Hardback and spiral bound with a folder of patterns in the back. Quite a few knicker and soft bra patterns. Some nightwear etc. I haven't had time to really read it properly but I'm pretty proud to be in there :)

The link on Amazon is... here

Jeepers - they're no feart!

2009-09-02T22:35:26Z

Or... they're no feart the coos get them... as my gran would've said. Never did really understand that expression. Anyway, just means they're not frightened to overcharge. In this case MacCulloch & Wallis.

I was looking for buckles for a sample outfit I'm working on. I found perfect ones on M&W and (what looks like) the same ones on Bedecked. Bedecked were slightly more expensive until I totted up the postage. MacCulloch & Wallis want a flat rate of £8.60 for postage! For four small buckles! Ok I appreciate a flat rate benefits if you order a lot, but it's so unfair on an order that'll cost them less than a pound to post.

Ridiculous! Needless to say, Bedecked got the order. But I very much doubt Messres MacCulloch & Wallis will lose any sleep over it.

Tudors

2009-08-28T21:09:54Z

Watching a bit of the 'The Tudors', I normally avoid this programme like the plague. It is complete and utter tosh!

Furious furious furious!

2009-08-24T23:46:51Z

I've not had much time to be on here firstly, as I was out over the weekend etc. I've a few posts to respond to which I'll get round to tomorrow hopefully. But before I go to bed I need to get this rant out my system.

I am beyond furious at this proposed boycott of Scotland by the US due to the release of the Lockerbie bomber. I've yet to hear any ordinary person in Scotland support the release. Most people are angry and baffled by the decision. To say nothing of believing there's far more to it and that it has come from higher up the political ladder than our wee Edinburgh parliament. We lost people to that bombing too. I've got family connections to Lockerbie and used to visit as a child. That little town has suffered greatly.

This country is struggling financially, as is everywhere. The knock on effect of the banking crises will reverberate for many years. Do I think this boycott will have any impact on jobs? Probably not. But the potential is there if it grows in fervour. The whisky industry for instance is struggling. Distilleries are closing. Can they bear a decrease in sales from a major market? No, people could lose their jobs. Yet are those employees responsible for a government decision? Or course not? Can they do anything about it? Not much.

The suggestion that we need to be told to be angry is insulting and disrespectful. To punish us when we were victims too is deeply, deeply unfair.

Wasted weekend

2009-08-02T17:20:24Z

Really feel like I've achieved nothing this weekend! Yesterday I went as far as Aldi to look for an offer they'd had a couple of weeks back and today I went to Bikehut to pick up locks I'd reserved online. Of course they weren't at the Rutherglen store as arranged and I had to trek over to Paisley where they still didn't have the right one but gave me an alternative at the same price. Can't complain. They were clearance stock (due mainly to old packaging it seems!) and were a total bargain.

I'm planning on bringing my bike over from my dad's garage and A is getting his brother's old bike from his parent's house. But we had to make sure we had something to secure them with first in the close. So, no excuse now!

Other than that I've wasted time online and lazed about and now feel guilty about it. Especially as I have samples I really need to make!

Oh well, too late now. Need to go and make a batch of homemade burgers for dinner and the freezer then faff about some more :/

verdigris

2009-08-01T19:26:36Z

Isn't this a pretty shade? It's a pretty regular corset, but I love this colour. It was for a burlesque perfomance and she wanted it to represent money. This green was the one that made us think of dollar bills and old pennies :)

(not a great pic though. It was very, very late!)

Yay!

2009-07-22T23:16:18Z

As of next week I have Thursdays off - well not off so much as at home doing my own work :)
It means longer days the rest of the week but I can live with that. Having a whole day here to sew will make a huge difference and might allow me some little bit of weekend sometimes :)

Not often in Scotland...

2009-06-13T21:47:23Z

is it warm enough for this! The water was actually warm! WARM! It's Scotland for goodness sake!

An old story

2009-06-12T17:22:34Z

Many years ago i used to post on a Tolkien forum. I joined when it was small, but as the films were announced it grew and grew like Alice into a very large community. I was shy, read more than I post - as I still do today on LJ and various other forums I've frequented - but I made some good friends there, had some laughs and inexplicably picked up some enemies too.

There was a woman who posted there. She was intelligent, articulate and amusing. She hailed from New Jersey and claimed a rather affluent lifestyle and background. She was one of these forum members who accumulate a following like worker bees around their queen. She could be kind and generous but she could also be a nasty piece of work.

As time progressed and various sub-forum migrations occurred her posting became more erratic and and temperamental. She was eventually found to be indulging in some rather Machiavellian string-pulling and gossip behind the scenes. She seemed to become more and more deranged and more and more inclined to recruit brainless mugs to do her work for her (I'm afraid I fell foul of her scheming at a very horrible low time of my life, and still feel uncomfortable if I revisit that old forum as she spread such a tissue of lies). Eventually she was banned from the original forum and flounced off in a grade A strop.

Of course she returned, indulging in a stream of alter-egos under which she vehemently denied her identity. I became a dab hand at spotting her, as I could pick out her grammar and writing style a mile off. It's remarkably difficult to hide your identity that way, as we all have our little language quirks that are very recognisable.

This type of sock-puppet behaviour is ok now and then for a giggle, if it's purely transparent and humourous. But when it's done in a sly way it's underhand, deceitful and pathetic. Anyone with a shred of intelligence can spot a fake a mile-off. I'm afraid I have no tolerance for it. That woman I was referring to really put the boot into me when I was further down than I have ever been in my life and since then I've had not one iota of time or sympathy for people behaving in such a childish, stupid and sleekit manner. Yet people insist in attempting these stupid masquerades. Quite sad.

PS - Sorry Helen, you know the old story inside out - but some community behaviour has brought it to my mind

PPS - Not filtered or friends locked. This is a public post.

So where was I?

2009-06-11T18:40:10Z

Caribbean? Maldives?

Nope. None of those. A bit closer to home. That clear blue sea isn't the Indian Ocean, it's the Atlantic. Nor is that a tropical island in the background, but a Hebridean one (Eigg in that pic, Rhum and Skye are just out of shot).

We're just back from a few days camping in Arisaig in the West Highlands. The weather was beautiful. Really warm during the day with enough breeze to keep the midges away. A bit chilly at night however. We had no phones, no TV, no PCs and precious few shops. A Spar a two mile walk (or few minute drive) away and a hotel with bar up the road. The buzzing metropolis of Mallaig - 8 miles up the road - manages a couple more shops and a chippy with fabulously fresh fish, but not much else,

We were camped yards away from the white sands that the area is famous for (as seen in Highlander, in fact any film set in Scotland with a beach) and the beautiful beaches were empty apart from a few visitors, the odd dog and a few crabs. Rabbits, sheep, deer, and horses announced their presence now and then but apart from the there was blissful silence only shattered by the occasional distant puff puff of the steam train that takes tourists along the West Highland Line.

Everywhere was dotted with early summer wildflowers. Yellow flag irises along the burn, marguerites, daisies, clover , foxgloves and self-heal.

On the way back we stopped at Glenfinnan where Bonnie Prince Charlie raised his standard in 1745 and where the viaduct that features in the Harry Potter films is located (to carry that same steam train).

I had a lovely few days, so glad we went there as I hadn't been in that area in years and had forgotten how gorgeous it is. But now we're back, sunburnt, relaxed and with a few books checked off the reading list.

Walking back from the pub - you can see the campsite from there.

Sunset over Skye and distant rain showers.

tidy workroom

2009-05-10T15:05:10Z

I'm posting this here while I get the chance - as it won't stay like this for long. This way I'll remember what it looks like tidy!
Don't look to closely at my pirate costume! It was the fastest put together outfit I've ever done and it doesn't sit right on the dummy. Tip for quick stays - use fabric with stripes the same width as boning! I might take it apart and redo it actually, I like the fabric.

Personal versus Professional - the diffference

2009-04-30T23:06:26Z

It seems there's a definite gulf on the corset forums regarding construction and I think the basis is of it is a clash between people who make corsets for themselves and a few friends and those who make them for paying customers.

The first can do what they damn well please. The can make it out of felt and bone it with drinking straws if they want. Cable ties, duck, plastic, drill - whatever floats yer boat.

The second have to fulfill a standard of expectations from a client who is shelling out their hard-earned cash. To reward that with cheapo materials is not on. They're expecting professional materials. They want steel, they want decent fabrics and quite rightly. They correctly expect materials to be used that are purpose made for the job. Not make do and mend, or items adapted from the DIY store. If you bought an expensive pendant would you expect it to be strung on a hardware store chain or be packaged in a margerine tub?

tiny tartan

2009-04-26T22:02:00Z

I made this as a sample a while back. I've got a proper one to do in tartan and I wanted to practise. It worked out pretty well. A few things I'll change on the proper one like matching the binding up with the check.
This is tiny though! It was made to a pattern for another customer (whose mock-up I'm still waiting on being returned) it's only 18" closed! Hence the cushion as it won't fit on any dummy.

Dremel (fake)

2009-04-24T15:39:08Z

I tried out my Aldi cheapy dremel last night and it works a treat!
I was finding flat steels a real struggle and this has solved it. I can cut them with no problem with the bolt-cutters, but nipping the corners to round them off and filing them was killing my wrist. I can't be bothered with dipping them, too messy and I'm impatient, so I cover the ends with PTFE tape. That works a treat but means the ends have to be well filed. Not a problem anymore.

Even if this cheapo dremel thing gives up the ghost in a few months, at least I know I can replace it with a 'real' one to do the same job.

I'm a bit worried about this wrist actually. The Carpal Tunnel I could just about handle before. But now I'm getting pains up my forearm and into my elbow. Even carrying shopping is a struggle. Not good (especially with my mums history of athritis). I should go to the doc but I've been putting it off.

this is kind of cute

2009-04-22T21:56:09Z

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUIN8iz0SQ4

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream

2009-04-07T22:25:09Z

I've been terribly lax recently with this journal! Just have been too busy. I'll try to catch up a bit soon - promise :)
In the meantime here's a recent sample. I wanted to make something more bridal. It's heavily inspired by 50's shapes. I want to bring some 40s/50s New Look influences into my work. But all the time I was making it I couldn't stop thinking of ice cream!

It's pale pink and ivory dupion. The lace on the front panel is antique. The pleating at the bustline is backed with a layer of coutil handstitched to the body of the corset and then all backed with the cotton lining.

Quite chuffed with it really :)

And a close up and back view...
..

An odd day

2009-03-01T22:33:09Z

Today I went along to a crafting event in a local pub with a friend, where we made sock-puppets & ate fairy cakes.

Meet Precious....

I then came home and checked my twitter account to find a direct message from Kristen Hersh. Only about something silly & random, but it was unexpected.
Then watched Lark Rise to Candleford and Being Human. The same actor played a policeman in both - only over 100 years apart.
I love Being Human, and that was the end of the series.

Not very happy tonight though, as it's back to work tomorrow after a week off and I haven't got anything like as much done this week as I should have. So I'm feeling a bit panic stricken now!

Sick of this red silk yet?

2009-02-28T19:03:46Z

Cos it's pretty much used up :)

Sample, similar to the last one but with ruffles :)

and ruffly close-up