Victorian Bustle Cage Part 3

Ok, Here is Part 3. Not too bad so far. The only thing you have to pretend you don't see is the glaring mistake I made. Yes, me...mistake....:) I guess I'm not perfect after all...Which by the way is a total blow to my ego. I treid to skip a step later and sew the ties into the seam. Wrong side, as I discovered later. So, ignore the sight of the ties on the boning side. Duh.... and sew them in later on the side without the long boning channels. Have fun... You're almost done. Brandie

Victorian Bustle Cage Part Two

Here is the second part of my Victorian Bustle Cage Video. In this part we are going to sew top part B together and add the boning channels. Have fun, Brandie

Victorian Bustle Cage

For all you renactors out there, or any of you who just want a really cool Halloween costume, here is Part One of my tutorial on how to build a victorian bustle cage. I'm using a pattern from Truly Victorian, TV101 Revised. I also bought the precut and pretipped boning from them which was totally worth the $8.00 that I paid for it. You will need the pattern, $14.00 from www.trulyvictoian.com. This pattern went together fairly easily. Even a new sewer could put this together. You could make this out of a solid color cotton, but you could also get a little crazy and experiment with a satin flounce and overlay. Maybe eyelet lace or fancy ruffles on the overlay. You could make different overlays and make them interchangable to match your dresses. The sky's the limit. I would still make the actual cage part, where the bones go, out of cotton just because it needs to be able to keep it's shape, plus it will never be seen. Have fun with this and post any questions you have. Brandie

How To Take Out A Diaper Allowance

Here's a tutorial about how to take out a diaper allowance. Remember to add some wearing ease to your measurements. 1-2" for close fitting, 3-4" for standard fitting, 4-6" for loose fitting, and 6" or more for oversized.

Gidets and Gadgets...

I just added a new Gadget to my Blog. Now you can see some of my favorite sites to visit and find inspiration. Threadbangers is my first because they have such great ideas and projects. Many do not need a ton of experience and they try to use readily available materials. They show alot of my favorite "Frankensteining" techniques.:)Their You Tube videos are great too. Maybe someday I'll have a production team too!!! With special effects.....hmmm.....:)Brandie

Easy Summer Top Part 5

You made it to Part 5!! Yes, It seems like a long time, but the time it took to make these videos is just about the time it took to make this top. In about 1 hour you can make a cute new summmer top with lots of room to add your own designs and ideas. Drop me a comment about any how to's you'd like to see posted. Sewing is easy and fun once you learn the tips and tricks, and it's great to be able to say "Why yes, that outfit is designer...I designed it myself." Brandie

Easy Summer Top Part 4

Part Four!!!! Almost done!!! Here is how to finish the hem and add the little sleeve flounce. You could use the same color or a contrasting fabric. You might even think about adding a trim to the edge. Brandie

Easy Summer Top Part 3

Ok, Now that you're getting the hang of this, and so am I....Here is part three, how to attach the skirt portion to the top. If you feel like spicing up the skirt you could make it colorful by using different stipes of different fabrics. Vary the width of each stripe, just put together as many stripes as you like to equal about 45 inches long. Brandie

Easy Summer Outfit Part Two

Ok, Now that you have gotten started. Here is part two. Try this with any cotton or cotton blend fabric. You could even make the skirt portion of a different fabric. Mixing different designs and colors is very popular right now. I do have to give credit to my videographers, Ricky, who is 7, and Dara. Ricky did get bored a little through this so there is a few sighs and little shaking...:) Brandie