So...who wants a vagina pillow? You know you do.

 Hi all!

I would ask how everyone is doing during this time, but man, ain't you tired of people asking that?

Things have been good, and bad, and unfair and infuriating but all in all I'm glad that as writing this, no-one in my family has had to deal with COVID directly.

For the most part, I'm scrambling to save money for when the rent moratorium is over. Though people have that reprieve, those of us gig workers still feel a weight approaching at the start of the new year.

Yay...

But I am picking up a few gigs, so please send me good thoughts on that. 

I'm still making patters (I'll never stop) when I'm not up at 3 am sewing to pay rent. *crazy eyes*

And, I decided to give myself a mental health day and get something out of my head that I've been having in it for years.

I am around a lot of creative and artistic types and I finally, finally decided to formulate a lot of what I have been given from them and push some of my more subversive ideas out into a store.

So here it is.

www.etsy.com/shop/LadyBusinessbyS

Right now I'm starting with the Vagina Pillows, but once things begin to normalize, I plan on taking on more couture BDSM sewing projects and see where that goes too! I had no idea the demand for the costuming was so high. Plus, the people I've talked to are so nice! It's gonna be a fun extension of my sewing skills.

So!

If you want a pillow for the holidays, or know someone who does,

then take a look at my store,

Lady Business by S.

www.etsy.com/shop/LadyBusinessbyS

Oh! I got so much going on!

I miss regular blogging. I think I'll get my ass in gear.

Talk to you all soon! Byeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Making the theater production version of The Phantom of the Opera Mask of the Red Death costume: The final-ish pictures

Thanks for following me to the last post about this project. It was a lot to take on, overwhelming at times. 80+ yards of lace and trim, 5 yards of fusible interfacing, 3 yards of black felt, 5 yards of velvet, 8 yards of red fabric, and tons of trips to the fabric district.

Would I do this project again...yeah, I guess.

Would I need more money...Absolutely!

Thanks all!

PS: The hat and shoes were still being finished, and the cape was changed in the end, but you get the idea of eveything :D

Making the theater production version of The Phantom of the Opera Mask of the Red Death costume Pt 5: the finishing touches

Hi all.
I've showed you how all this craziness came to be, how I made this incredibly rich costume in too little a time, and a lot of the tricks I used (not all #tradesecrets).

I stopped at a point because it would have been foolish for me to continue without a fitting. I had a friend be a body double, and I was finally about to add the bells to the sleeves in their correct places, fluff the sleeves by stuffing them with tulle, and adjusting the fit (mainly the back of the bodice, yay) so that everything hung the way it needed to.

Here are a few of the final things I did.

Making the theater production version of The Phantom of the Opera Mask of the Red Death costume Pt 4: the bodice

We are almost there...kinda. This one I decided to do in pictures (mostly) because all the techniques I used for it are described in the previous posts.

Okay, back to words. This piece I will say was kinda a challenge. The bodice has some exposed parts on the chest to show the business beneath (one reason why I attached the sleeves to a red shit) and matching that and making everything lay as well as I could make it required a lot of tucking and darting and reinforcing.

Once I laid the lace on, and after I contoured the front of the bodice, I laid the pipped pieces staggered to the flat velvet pieces.

From there I topstitched everything down, hand tacked the bottom of the bodice, and added the buttons. See the gaps in the front chest? The red will poke through. It's a cool look. This bodice fits over the head (a small seam at the back of the neck, and the sides velcro closed because of those sleeves.

Oh, and I made this, too.
It's the lace at the neck. This was just a tube with a drawstring at the top to tighten it as you wanted around the head and chin.

Easy enough.

We're almost done, I swear!

See you next post!

Making the theater production version of The Phantom of the Opera Mask of the Red Death costume Pt 3: Pants

Let's talk about the pants.

I gotta say, this was proably the most uneventful part of the project.
IM JUST KIDDING! These were a nightmare!

Okay, not so much a nightmare, but a pounding migraine in an earthquake.

Let's begin.
This was the first time I was using the stretch velvet in large pieces. As I mentioned in part two, I had to back the velvet because of the stretch, but here, the pants had to have a weight to them, and that meant I had to back them with something a bit heavier.

I used two fabrics to back the velvet. A red cotton polly for the pants to give them a good drape, and for the bodice of the costume, a firmer black felt.

I had a few yards of polly felt that had a good body to it, so I laid out a couple yards of the stretch velvet and sandwiched the fabric infuser sheets between the black felt.

Only one problem, the black felt didn't want to retain the heat of the iron!

I kid you not. I'd go through a full pass with the iron, pausing for a good ten seconds on each hit with heat and when I checked my work, it's like noting happened.

UGH.

When dealing with heat and thick fabric and fusible facings, there are so many variables:
I couldn't iron on the velvet because I could crush it or the heat could be too hot and melt the fabric.

If I increased the heat, I could melt the black felt and ruin my iron.

If I paused too long with an iron pass, I could melt everything.

UGH.

I decided to use a cotton pressing cloth and bump up my iron heat. That meant that I would be using more heat to penetrate not only the cotton pressing cloth but also the stubborn felt to get to the fusible interfacing so it would bond it to the velvet! Yikes that's a lot!

I was still concerned with burning/melting/scorching, so I took it slow. Very slow, like take me an hour to fuse two yards slow.

UGH.

Okay, for the most part, the interfacing stuck, and the fabric had a good body to it. After cussing, I set the black backed velvet aside and began on the pants.

The pants were primarily a plus fours shape, so I cut them out using the patterns I listed in the previous blog post.

I them laid out the lace strips, which of course are on a diagonal because my life has to be hard!

I matched the inner and outer seams, marking them as I cut the lace out.

I stitched everything into place, and even zig-zaged over the lace to act as an overlock stitch (that stuff liked to fray).

Then with a bit of careful easing, I matched everything up and had the base of the pants.

I added a gathering stitch (by hand) through the waist of the pants and added a waist bad according to the measurements of the wearer. The pants close in the back with velcro.

From there I added elastic around the legs but the fabric was too thick.

The cuffs of the pants were gathered by hand like the waist and fluffed and a decorative lace was attached. Lastly, to keep the 'fluffy' look of the legs, I added two ribbons to each leg to keep up the gather.

I like them. Thanks!

Making the theater production version of The Phantom of the Opera Mask of the Red Death costume Pt 2: Them Sleeves!

Oh geeze, these freaking sleeves, man.

Welcome back!
To recap, I made a crap ton of lace to mirror the look of the chosen PotO (see part one post), and now it's on to those amazing and headache inducing sleeves.

Firts things first, I needed to examine the sleeves.
Okay, I really don't know the name of these types of sleeves, I forgot, but it's not like that really matters anyway........

What I needed to do was get the drape and the bell shapes right, but before I could do that, I had to figure out how I was going to make them.

The actual sleeve on the inside is made of that dark brocade fabric that we found at an upholstery store.

Making the theater production version of The Phantom of the Opera Mask of the Red Death costume Pt1: So much Lace

So...I was commissioned to make this.

The NVL pin is here!

Hi all. For those following along on my kickstarter adventure, I'm well underway. I post at least an update a week there, so if you want to stay in the know, that's the place to check first.

I just got the NVL pins from the manufacturer and they look great!

Here was the proof they sent and here is the final!

I have listed some extras in my etsy store if you all would love a cool lapel pin to show your support.
Alright, back to work!

#yaysewing

Casual work on a dress.

Hello lovely people.

Brian and Brandy after being out in the sun too long.

We're in the car because walking got to be too much.

The second satchel bag is complete - with a MONOGRAM!!

Hello lovely people.

I made the satchel again using a maroon colored denim and a light cotton plaid curtain I got from the thrift store. I felt extra special and cut the inside lining on the bias.

So how many men's pajama patterns do you really have?

I'm so glad I can answer a question no one asked.

I suppose 'why' would be the question to ask that no one asked, but I'm at a loss as to why I currently own 5 men's jimjam patterns. And YES, I know the lower left DuBarry is a onesie, but come on, it's a onesie!!

Let's stop with the random.

"Hey Shelley, what DID you do this weekend?"

Finished my reworked hiking bag (with awesome pictures!).

Hello lovely people.

Brian had a playmate with his new 'sister', Brandy. She was afraid of Brian at first (naturally) but after five minutes, she was barking and trying to get big man to chase her.

You know, dog stuff!

Speaking of stuff, I have something to show you.

This was the sketch I doodled after I began working on the new hiking bag after I vomited on my old one. It was past its prime anyway, so the gaminess of its new smell just helped facilitate the transition to another bag.

Playclothes repair Friday: The green 60s silk dress

Hello lovely people.

Hope your week was nice and your weekend is going to be better. Me, I've got a list of projects to get through and most of them are going to go on this weekend. 

But first, I thought I'd give you an update on my week.

What's going on…the pot luck post.

Hey lovely people.

MnM 2014: Plaid pants complete!

Hello lovely people. 

As I type this, I'm wearing my lovely brown/pink/powder blue jimjam pants. They fit great! But first, some progress info.

MnM 2014: Plaid is the new relax (whatever that means)

Hello, lovely people.

I spent all morning cleaning the apartment. Mopping and throwing away the last of the cat things that could be thrown away. The place seems a bit empty without a bit of fur running around.

More Jacket Madness!

Hello lovely people.

I hope your Christmas was grand and that the rest of your holidays are going just as well. For those of us who are Grinching, have a hot toddy and chill.

Corduroy jacket conclusion.

Good morning lovely people!

Sunday was the one year anniversary for Brian and I. We celebrated by staying at home and nursing my cold. I've been sick all week and apparently I'm not alone. Los Angeles has some wicked colds that go around, and I've never been sicker (caught the flu the first time in my life in LA) than I have been living here. I guess that's the reason for more bundling up.

More jacket images.

Hello lovely people.

THis week I've been sewing. Winter is coming, but in Los Angeles, it's about 70 degrees. Sigh. Still, I'm making progress on my jacket wardrobe and I thought I'd show you the progresses.

Solids!!!

Hello lovely people.

Boy have I ben MIA lately. It's not for lack of projects, I've just been sewing for other people, repairs and what not. Tons upon tons of mending and repairs Nothing fun, just paying bills. That's the main reason I haven't been able to sew much for myself lately. Sans my tailored jacket, I haven't made much this last month.