THE GODDESS COLLECTION PART 1

A little while I shot a series of images with Grace Elkin Photography and I’m delighted to finally share some of results with you including part of the ‘Goddess Collection’: a capsule collection of corsets. 

FREYA (the Nordic goddess of  love, beauty, fertility) is the first corset in the collection. More on the inspiration and construction can be found here.  Teamed with the limited purple ASTA body and leg harness SET.

OSTARA (The Nordic Spring Goddess) is the second corset in the collection based on a vintage 1940’s pattern from my personal collection. More on the inspiration and construction can be found here. 

Teamed with the limited KISA harness in a matching purple elastic with gold hardware

CREDITS

PHOTOGRAPHY: GRACE ELKI PHOTOGRAPHY 

MODEL: KIM SMALLWOOD
All the items can be found in our online shop. 

Im so pleased with the outcome. More images to share soon from this shoot! 

BEHIND THE SCENES: SHOOTING WITH GRACE ELKIN PHOTOGRAPHY

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of spending an afternoon with Grace Elkin Photography shooting lots of harnesses and corsets for the Etsy store. 

All our items are made to size order using luxury materials and components 

Here are a selection of shots I took behind the scenes. I can’t wait to show you the final images.

Model/ MUA: KIM

The ‘OSTARA’ corset from The Goddess Collection

The ‘OSTARA’ corset from The Goddess Collection and ‘KISA’ harness

The ‘FREYA’ corset from The Goddess Collection

PENTACLE harness bra and PENTAGRAM suspender belt and mesh cincher

‘MIMI’ lace full body harness

White ‘TALIA’ harness bra and high waist brief and white mesh corset

White full body harness

Find all the items in the Etsy store.

OSTARA: ‘THE GODDESS COLLECTION’

Having drafted the pattern several years ago I recently found the time to make up one of my personal projects: a longline girdle inspired  a 1940’s utility corset from my own vintage collection.

OSTARA is the second corset in ‘The Goddess Collection’. Ostara is the Nordic Spring Goddess.

The corset is constructed from a silk taffeta backed with coutil (pin rolled pieces). Centre front and centre back casings also made with silk backed with coutil

For this sample I chose to omit the underbelt seen on the original 1940’s garment focussing on cut and shape over making a historically accurate reproduction. For a detailed study of the original Avro garment follow the link to my other blog.

The corset is finished with gold hardware including the busk and eyelets contrasting nicely with the silk- a little out of my comfort zone as I don’t tend to work with gold. I chose to use a  busk the length of the centre front panel rather than the original garments reduced length and  hook and eye feature to the lower section.

The corset is decorated with gold tone hand cut lace applique and finished with bead and sequin embellishment.

Pattern drafted using CAD system

Plain finished corset front view

Plain finished corset back view

Progress of lace application

Being watched…

Flat lay of the finished corset with lace application

Close up detail of lace

Finished corset

Finished corset on the mannequin

Finished corset on the mannequin front view

Just before writing this article I used the corset in a photoshoot. I’m really excited to show you the images in a later post.

WASPIE DEVELOPMENT

Developed for a customer order, this simple yet sophisticated black underbust style corset is constructed from 14 panels (7 per side) of satin backed coutil with a coutil strength layer for added durability.

Trialling a new construction method the corset features bone casings made with a tape maker and applied to the inside, pushing the seam allowance toward the back. One side stitched down to the seam allowance to hold in place before topstitching.

Facings used for centre front and centre back panels with front modesty panel behind the busk. 10 sets of eyelets at the back for lacing.

Hopefully adding this style to the store soon.

INTO THE WOODS: BEHIND THE SCENES

Over the weekend I had the pleasure to collaborate with some of my favourite creatives shooting a few of the one off harness designs currently available in the Etsy store. 

We were a little unsure on how the weather would play out for the afternoon so decided to shoot a couple of sets indoors before heading out to Swithland Woods (Leicestershire).

The weather held out for us thankfully- just a little chilly!! But we were able to get a few sets using some of the delicate lace harness styles with the woodland backdrop for a whimsical faerie like aesthetic. 

I’m really excited to see the outcome from the shoot and share the images with you all.

Credits:

MODEL: Bex Fisher Facebook

PHOTOGRAPHY: (Monika) of MoniaPhoto Facebook

All harnesses by TWILIGHT SIREN and can be found in the Etsy shop

Head pieces by Sparkle Kitten shop

CB9

This week I revisited a pattern I drafted some time back. CB9 is the smallest pattern I’ve developed to date. Featuring a 12cm busk and 6 sets of eyelets at the back this pattern is cut high over the hip bone. The pattern was designed so the corset could be styled as a belt, that can be worn to dress up any outfit.

For this sample I chose a printed silk for the centre front and centre back panels and a strong mesh for the sides. The corset also features external bone casings in satin backed coutil and satin finish bias binding.

The silk panels were pin rolled to a layer of coutil for stability and to prevent any creasing of the top fabric . Another layer of coutil was used to back the centre front for the busk insertion and to create the eyelet channels at the back.

STRAPPED UP

A few weeks back I collaborated with a  couple of fellow creatives on an impromptu shoot in Leicester featuring a selection of harnesses. Its been ages since ive been involved in a shoot so it was great to be able to go along and contribute. We shot at a local club in Leicester, I loved the use of a speaker as back drop. Makes a change from studio shots! Here are a collection of the images from the evening.

All the harnesses can be purchased via the Etsy store.

Model: Emma Peers

Photography: Vapour Trail

CINCHED

This week I’ve been carrying on with my project to see how small I can make my cincher style patterns whilst still being able to call them a corset finally having my 14cm (5 1/2″) busks arrive. I’ve had in mind something that would make a fabulous accessory to dress up any outfit yet also suitable to be worn underneath clothing discreetly creating that hourlass silhouette.

As a commerical freelance digital pattern cutter I am constantly standing up/sitting down whilst working. It occurred to me that I wanted to do something that could be worn comfortably sitting down without noticing that you are were even wearing a corset. It was cut to finish just on the pelvis bone hence allowing the wearer to bend and sit without the lower edge digging into the abdomen.

This corset was made from a single layer of broche fabric and constructed using external bone casings method. Both the centre back and centre front panels were a double layer. Usually I wouldn’t choose to just use a single layer corset but for the sake of testing out the pattern, the fabric was thick and strong enough to do so.

CORSET A WEEK

Over the last few years I have had a constant battle with myself on my methods of working, whether to A. Make complete collections around a theme or B build up a pattern library of corsets working on individual items at a time. Each has its positives and negatives which left me for a time at a stalemate.
So I have decided to challenge myself to making a corset a week starting from scratch with developing a new pattern and finishing with the complete garment. The patterns may be inspired by historical garments, patents, vintage advertising or modifying existing patterns in my archive. Each corset will be a blank canvas in terms of fabric choice, trims, embellishment. The result: a large catalogue of patterns that can be ordered and customised and then also be able to pick out styles for mini concept collections.

(In the meantime…)

I decided to revisit the pattern from the mesh waist cincher corset from last week. I’ve ordered some shorter busks to make a petite version however I wanted to try out a different way of constructing and a couple of new techniques. This corset is made of a layer of satin back coutil and coutil joined using the welt seam method. The boning would be encased within the seams.
I decided to add a modesty panel for the busk which would hide any skin that could be visible at the front fastener. This is something I intend on implementing on all future designs where possible

I’ve always wanted to include fan lacing on a corset ever since seeing it on the Jenyns’ corset below at the Symington collection. (I have another blog post in the pipeline that looks at this in more detail). I love the intricacy of the lines the lacing creates and thought on a simpler design it would look quite effective

Ideally I would have used a grosgrain ribbon but the only thing to hand was the twill waist tape I use which is slightly thicker. I was reluctant to use ribbon in case it couldn’t take the strain from being pulled. In hindsight I’m not entirely happy with the strap choice made and may investigate some alternative options.

Finally the lacing…
It took me several attempts to put the lacing in. I’m sure there are probably several ways of applying it which I will investigate further. It’s definately a feature I want to be using again in the future. I’m sure I can play around with colour blocking within the corset panels and then the lace colour to make it really stand out.

Another style to get on a body for a shoot. I look forward to posting the outcome in the not so distant future.

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WHITE ROSE

White Rose is the second series of images shot for Twilight Siren on the same day as my Previous blog post WITCHCRAFT’ Collection.

In contrast, I wanted to go for a really light summery feel for thIs series. We shot the set in Bex’s bathroom against a frosted window as it provided great natural lighting. Bex and Monika had already shot some other Twilight Siren pieces in the same room some months previously so I wanted a continuation of the set. I’ll include these at the end.

The white rose crown headress which appears in a couple of the images was made also for the shoot by me.

Credits

Model: Model: Bex Fisher Facebook

Photography: (Monika) of MoniaPhoto Facebook

All harnesses by TWILIGHT SIREN and can be found in the Etsy shop

Hope you all enjoy this mini collection

 

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