I was going to write about marking the bone placement on the pattern after alterations, but I'm tired of looking at that pattern, which means others must be tired of looking at it too. Plus, marking the placement is simple, it can wait. We've spent half the sew along preparing patterns and fitting mock-ups, and soon our corsets will start to look like real garments. Hooray! The desire to see if a finished piece will look like I imagine it will keeps me going when I'm feeling frustrated or bored with a project. Sometimes they turn out better, sometimes worse, but I never know until they're completed.
This illustration is from and advertisement printed in the June 26, 1912 edition of the Bisbee Daily Review. If I had a gown like this I'd want to knock a corset out so could wear it.
I'm curious, what pushes you? Is it the thrill of wearing of wearing a pretty ensemble to an event, or the challenge of learning something new? I'd love to hear how you keep yourself motivated!
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Usually my inspiration is a deadline.
ReplyDeleteFor this its a 100 year tatanic anniversary ball so I've got till april to finish this and a ball gown to go with it.
The one and only corset I'm doing with no deadline has taken 6 months and isnt even half way yet.
Deadlines are definatly the best motivation.
Deadlines help push me too!
DeleteRight now it's 'I know if I slack off I'll get behind so I'd better do my homework'. Thankfully it's been in very manageable chunks. If I was doing this on my own I'm sure I'd have tucked it away in a bin by now!
ReplyDeleteThe whole sew along is set up to prevent a half finished corset sitting in a bin. I'm glad it's working!
DeleteI love wearing pretty clothes. I like learning new stuff too but I'm definitely a clothes junkie.
ReplyDeleteI need more excuses to dress up so I can make fun outfits.
DeleteDeadlines usually kick me in the rear to finish a project, such as an event.
ReplyDeleteOf course wearing the project is another motivator; I've said that getting to experience another era vicariously through its clothing and fashion gets me inspired. I always want more.
Last but not least; I grow bored of certain outfits easily, worried that someone will think "oh, she wore that gown last time" etc.
I know that is really just in my own brain, but like most women, I like having new clothes to show off ;-)
You can only be photographed in an outfit so many times, a girl has to have something new to show off!
DeleteFor my own projects I am pretty awful. I have to really want the thing, and I have to not be totally bogged down with other work. Usually there is a client's hard deadline (such as a wedding) and money waiting for me at the other end. Normally, I rarely have time to do much of anything outside the confines of my business. At the moment, I am restructuring my business, so I have no custom projects going. Right now it seems most important to do some personal projects of inspiration, and since I am working on a line of corsets to add to my lingerie line, this project is perfect. It is a good exercise in making me follow all the steps, something I haven't made before (my line is more neo-victorian in construction) and I am held accountable by posting my progress. It is even getting me back into the swing of blogging; which was on my list of things I need to be better at doing consistently.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for hosting this project! It is a perfect new year's resolution sort of thing for after the holidays.
Money. :) And thank you for participating!
DeleteOther people motivate me. Yeah, deadlines, and I've gotten really behind, but I'm catching up to the rest of you! (stupid real life getting in the way of costuming!) A lot of times I'll just put something down if I don't get any feedback, but if I have other people, I'll stay motivated. :) (I'll be able to finish this assuming I can find my boning stash)...
ReplyDeleteFind the boning stash!
DeleteThis is a good question...My work is all deadline driven and I never allow a client to tell me "whenever you get to it will be fine" For my personal sewing....I just really enjoy making things and prioritizing becomes the issue. I try to avoid deadlines in my personal sewing it saps the fun right out of it for me.
ReplyDeleteAs I have gotten older I do feel more pressure to finish what I start, not something that plagued me as much when I was in my twenties.
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ReplyDeleteFor me the prospect of having yet another finished corset is all the motivation I need! But this is usually a problem as I then work very fast and often make mistakes or leave out important steps (like making a mock up!). This sew along is good exercise for me to slow down and concentrate on what I'm doing.
ReplyDeleteSo many motivation points for me! The quest for a more feminine silouette you can't find in today's high street cheap made clothes, the joy to participate to the same sew along as a few blogers I've been folowing with admiration, the feeling I get when I leave my daytime job, so looking forward to sit behind my sewing machine, and a litle bit of defiance towards all the people asking me: "but when are you going to wear THAT?"
ReplyDelete