EMILIO PUCCI SS12

Steam Punk is rolling along. Here's a quick snap on the design wall. Steam Punk quilt top with sawtooth sashing So many people wrote very supportive comments as previous photos were posted. Thank you all very much. A few said they would never have thought of this arrangement. That's the same way I feel when I look at your quilts. Isn't that why we're posting and blogging? To share ideas and build an artistic community. This spring I read Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon. He posted his rules here. I see these guidelines as a tongue-in-cheek 21st-century rewording of John Donne: "No man is an island, Entire of itself. Each man is a piece of the continent, A part of the main." So we go to shows and galleries, read books and blogs, attend guild meetings, interact with others. Mull over what strikes our fancy and let it morph into a new creation. This is not wholesale copying but rather a synthesis of ideas and techniques in the manner of the Impressionists. While each was unique, all were inspired by the interaction of color and light. They lived, worked and exhibited together. They shared models, locations and design layouts. You probably know this story about Mary Cassatt and Andre Degas but it's always fun to read. Their courage to break new ground came from their common bonds. I've known about traditional New York Beauty quilts for years. Some of the best examples are in Bill Volckening's collection. He generously shared many at the San Jose Quilt Museum exhibit in 2013. Multicolored teeth, cogs instead of teeth, reverse colorways, elaborate or plain quilting. My favorite was set at an odd angle with crude patches in places before the border was added. What caused that design decision? Did a dog chew it or did the original maker die? My sashing is my first attempt to incorporate what I learned from this show. The four 18-inch Steam Punk blocks Large-scale prints that needed a showcase led me to draft some larger blocks. Kona Bay fish, Alexander Henry cherry blossoms, Kaffe Fassett floral and a batik. Some centers are this exceptionally bold print; the maker is not on the selvage. Fabric used for some propeller centers But Ruth McDowell's Pattern on Pattern (printed in 1991) must have also played a part. She updated traditional quilts with scale change, overlays and transparency. My copy of Pattern on Pattern by Ruth McDowell When I got stuck during construction, these ideas emerged. It's my work but it wasn't invented in a vacuum. Your quilts are just as unique a synthesis. That's why we love to read about the processes. What do you think? Enjoy the day, Ann

Welcome to the first post of my new steampunk blog. Other versions of me have other blogs that I should be updating instead of creating a new one, but my steampunk addiction needs an outlet. This blog, I may actually be motivated to post in. But no promises. I feel obligated to take a moment to introduce both the blog and myself before diving into content. If you know what steampunk is, and you know all about me, feel free to skip ahead. What is steampunk? You may be a relative of mine, or someone I went to middle school with, surfing your way here from facebook and you may be wondering, "What the hell is steampunk anyway?" I imagine one could easily write thousands of words on the topic and not run out of new things to say. But I'll try to be brief and practical. The simplest and most inclusive definition of steampunk that I've see is that "Steampunk is Victorian Science Fiction." That can mean either Science Fiction as the Victorians imagined it, ala Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, or Science Fiction that in some way incorporates Victorian attitudes, style, or technology. "Steam" obviously refers to the cutting age technology of the Victorian period: steam power. "Punk" has nothing to do with music, but attitude. Good steampunk, like good punk rock, is DIY, non-conformist, and anti-corporate. The best thing about steampunk is that no two steampunks are going to have the same vision of a steampunk outfit, aesthetic, or world, though there are common design elements. Gears, cogs, brass, copper, goggles, elaborate weaponry, the color brown. All these things are the typical elements of steampunk, though one could be perfectly steampunk without incorporating any of them. Steampunk as a subculture has been growing by leaps and bounds in recent years. There are steampunk bands, steampunk clothing lines, a growing number of steampunk events in every part of the world, and innumerable websites and online communities. Who am I? My name is Violet von Micklesburg. Actually, no, it's not. That's the name of my steampunk character. My real name is Kim. I'll answer to either. Violet's story will be told at another time. Mine? I've always been obsessed with the Victorian period. I became a fan of Sherlock Holmes at the age of 11 and have remained a Sherlockian all my life. I've also studied Victorian literature and most of the fiction I read is set in the 19th century. I've been aware of steampunk for years, but only realized in 2009 that people actually dressed up in steampunk costumes and went places. A little over a year ago I started surfing around the internet, looking at gorgeous Victorian dresses that I couldn't afford and wishing I could. Before I could spend any money on a Victorian outfit, I told myself, I needed an excuse to wear it. Steampunk was that excuse. I somehow got my husband to agree to dress up steampunk with me, and we chose A-Kon, the huge annual anime convention in Dallas, as our first outing. That gave us from January to June of 2010 to put together our costumes. I don't think we did that bad for our time and budget constraints (although there's been better pictures): From A-kon 2010 Somehow I imagined these outfits would be simple pieces of clothing that we would purchase the bits of once, wear once or twice a year, and that would be all. How naive I was then! Steampunk isn't a fashion statement. It's a disease. And we infected ourselves. We had no sooner returned from A-Kon than we started improving and revamping our outfits. Three weeks later, we were at San Japan, San Antonio's Anime con. And we haven't really stopped since. We wore our outfits to the Texas Renaissance Festival, and Dickens on the Strand in Galveston. In two weeks we're attending a steampunk evening in Dallas, and are planning on hitting at least five cons this year. I've taught myself to sew and plan to make a full Victorian bustle dress. (I've already made the bustle.) I'm knitting lace gloves, shawls, parasols, aviator hats, and anything I can find. My husband spent a large part of today working on painting a toy shotgun for his costume. It's a full-time addiction and we wouldn't really have it any other way. As for this blog, I intend to share both my completed and ongoing projects and more general thoughts about steampunk. Even after only a year doing this I think I've learned a lot about what not to do that might be useful to someone else.

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♁ vintage treasures just listed on my etsy. i have thrifted and collected for so many years now, it is time to share what i have found.

This blog is for the inspiration of being a Thrifty-Steamer, Couture Steampunk Enthusiast, Dieselpunk Daydreamer and Whimsycal Gypsy Romantisism. I do not own nor did I create most of these images, if you want to find the source of an image I recommend reverse image searching. Thanks for following!

A Mighty Girl's top picks of girl-empowering graphic novels for teens.

Update: I have an improved tutorial on this method published on the site Foundations Revealed. It is available now for free. As I mentioned in my previous post, my favorite method of corset construction doesn't really have a good, agreed-upon, descriptive name. I've seen it called a lot of different things, but none of them really say much about what the method IS. So I've named it the Folded Seam Method. It probably won't catch on and I'll just be one more person calling this method something different, but oh well. 1. Cut all your corset pieces for all your layers. For this method it helps to have a generous seam allowance. I am using a 3/4" allowance, but you can use 5/8". For this corset I have my outside fashion fabric layer, one layer of coutil, and one cotton lining layer. My next step was to combine my fashion and strength fabric into one. I did this by flat-lining: sewing around the edges of the pieces. You can also use fusible web. You can see I've marked the numbers of the corset pieces with chalk. This is important, since they can get confused. I number my corset pieces from the center front to the back. It doesn't matter how you number them, just so long as you're consistent. 2. I wanted this corset to have a floating lining for a cleaner look, so I assembled my lining layer first. I sewed the seams, pressed the seam allowance (SA) towards the front of the corset, and topstitched the SA down about 1/8" from the seam. I do this extra line of stitching for added strength and to keep the seam allowances out of the way. 3. Insert the busk at center front, attaching the front layer to the lining. Busk insertion is not really difficult, but does have a lot of steps. I'm not going to cover them here, but instead I will point you to the tutorial I used to learn how to do it. Sidney Eileen's busk insertion tutorial. The difference from her method is that I am using a 3/4" seam allowance to cover my busk pieces in the back, rather than two layers of strength fabric. So you can see that my lining is now attached to the front of my corset, as is my waist tape. As a floating lining is only attached to the corset at the busk and at the back grommet panel, I simply fold it out of my way for the rest of the corset assembly. 4. Attach your next corset panel. Sew the panels, right sides together. If you have two layers of coutil, or a non-floating lining, you will sew ALL the layers of your corset together at once, right side of the top layer against the right side of the previous panel, right side of your lining layer against the right side of the previous lining panel. Fold the panel pieces into place, leaving ALL the seam allowances pointing towards the rear of the corset. Press. (You can see I have carefully pinned my waist tape into it's right place. It will be caught in the stitches for each seam, so it is secured in place.) 5. After pressing your seam allowances towards the back, topstitch them in place, about 1/8" from your seam. (Note: at all points, you are sewing through ALL the layers, unless you are making a floating lining like me. You can see the lining hanging down, not attached anywhere but at the busk.) 6. Sew a second line of stitches 1/4" from the first line of topstitching. This is your bone casing. If you are using boning wider than 1/4", make your stitching the width of your boning. For 1/4" bones, I find the standard machine foot works great, because it is the perfect width if you line it up with the previous line of stitches. You want your boning to insert smoothly, without having to force it in, but not to be loose in the casing because it can twist or rub, causing wear to the corset. This is what the inside of my corset looks like at this point. Again, if you are using two layers in your seam construction, all the raw edges will be bound up between your layers. You can see that the bone will be surrounded fully by the top layer's seam allowance, ensuring it has very strong coutil all around it. If you are using more layers, obviously your casings will be that much stronger. This is one reason I like this method: because it is very strong. Your bones aren't going to be popping out anytime soon. If needed/wanted you can trim the seam allowances now. 7. Insert the bone into the casing. Make sure it is sliding in between your coutil (strength) layers. I guess you could wait till the end to insert all the boning at once, but I like to finish a seam/bone casing and be DONE with it. That's another reason I like this method. It feels faster (even if it isn't) because you're just working from start to finish and not having to go back over and over again. (Notice the tips of the seam allowance poking out along the edges. There are fancy ways of drafting patterns to avoid this, but I just trim them off at the end before binding.) 8. Continue attaching each new panel in this way, until you reach the back of your corset. Congratulations, your corset is all assembled, though you still have some work to do. 9. Now is the time to insert any additional bones. I usually like to have one bone down the center of any but the thinnest of panels. This helps with support and smoothing the figure. So for this pattern I am going to add bones to the three side panels. I do this by cutting strips of coutil and sewing these down the middle of the panel, forming a channel. If you are concerned about strength, you can also make tubes out of these strips and sew the tubes to the inside of the corset, but since I am using really strong fabric, I'm not worried. The seams take most of the actual strain. 10. Close the corset at the back by folding over both the top and bottom layers and topstitching. I was careful to fold my lining layer a bit more that the outside so it wouldn't show along the back seam. 11. Sew away from your topstitching at the width of your flat steel bone. I'm using a 1/2" steel bone, because it's what I have on hand. If your seam allowance is not large enough for your bone, you can add a large strip that will serve as protective backing for both bones and the grommets. After inserting the center back bone, measure the width needed for your chosen grommets. I've marked a line with chalk to help me make my next line of stitching. Create the channel for the bone for the other side of the grommets by stitching two lines 1/4" apart. 12. Insert your grommets. This can be time-consuming. I hand-grommet my corsets because it is the most secure and reliable method, and I can't afford the really expensive presses. I also stretch my holes rather than cut them, since this makes the grommets much stronger and less likely to pop out. I use a corset awl to make the hole and then insert a chopstick to further stretch out the hole so I can get a #0 grommet in. For further tips, see Sidney Eileen's grommeting tutorial. You can use any grommets, but I've had a really good experience with these Lord & Hodge Grommet Kits. The tools are quality and don't warp when you hit them a lot like the ones I bought at the craft store. 13. Almost done, Almost Done! All that's left is to clean up the edges of your corset and bind them. This is another complicated step that I will let Sidney Eileen explain. I recommend using pre-made bias tape for your first attempt, as the stretch will make it easier. For this corset I used self-fabric, but after trying to make my own bias tape and ending up with a mess, I decided to try using strips of fabric cut on the crossgrain (with the edges melted to prevent fraying). It ended up looking pretty good. And that's it! If any parts of this tutorial are unclear, please let me know. And if anyone is interested in this corset, it is for sale!

Katsuni is quite the busy gal! You can see her all over the world with her various modeling gigs, not to mention her illustrious career in porn with over 200 videos and counting. But despite her busy...

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CM73_03 Främre-armböjningsapparat. Konstruerad av Gustav Zander och tillverkad vid AB Göranssons Mekaniska Verkstad. Armbendingdevice. Designed by Gustav Zander and manufactured by AB Göranssons Mechanical Workshop. Armbeugengerät. Entwickelt von Gustav Zander und produziert von AB Göranssons mechanischer Werkstatt. Photo: Unknown. www.tekniskamuseet.se/1/706.html