The Joys of Hand-Worked Eyelets (and Other Things)

I finally got started on the pair of bodies (aka Elizabethan corset) that I was planning on making for the upcoming Ren Faire. I used Drea Leed's Custom Corset Pattern Generator, modified it according to her instructions for the strapless, boned tabbed version, and then dived right in. Unfortunately (historically accurate purists, look away!), I don't have room in the budget for coutil right now (Richard the Thread is close by and reasonably priced, but they have a minimum order of five yards!), so I had to make do with the rest of that donated upholstery canvas for my strength layer. The other layer is part of a tablecloth, also from that same bag of donated fabric. I tried stretching both and they seemed fairly sturdy; I know it's not kosher but this is really a practice corset anyway. I'm not a rennie or historical reenactor, so this is more for the experience of making one, and if something comes up in the future I can try my hand with more appropriate materials.

Cream-colored tablecloth with light green swirls + floral home-dec canvas, eyelets in gold jeans thread.

Speaking of inappropriate materials, my wooden busk is a paint stirrer (thanks to the nice employee at Dunn-Edwards for just giving me four even though I didn't buy anything!) and my boning is going to be cable ties. If I were using metal grommets, I could have even more hardware store materials in this, but no, my one nod to historical accuracy is hand-worked eyelets. I never thought I'd say this, but they made me incredibly excited. Like, so-excited-I-couldn't-sleep excited. Once I got the method worked out and my eyelets started looking more regular (and I got faster at it), I just wanted to put eyelets in everything! I think my husband thought I was crazy. Anyway, here's the tutorial I used. I took her advice and used topstitching thread (leftover from hemming jeans for someone) to do them, and it is indeed a pleasure to work with. Although, I am thinking I might need to get some beeswax if I keep up this hand-sewing thing. It took me all of Strictly Ballroom (I love that movie so much!), which I just discovered on Netflix, to finish the eyelets. The first one took about fifteen minutes, but eventually I got it down to two minutes each!

The other thing that's been keeping me up is excitement over the Paper app by 53. It's a sketching/notebook app that comes with various "pens" and a pre-set color palette, and it is seriously awesome. I am rediscovering my love of drawing through it. So much so, I decided to start a tumblr just for my sketches (almost entirely of Walnut) since Blogger isn't the best for posting lots of pictures. I'm still learning the nuances and idiosyncrasies of the app, and Walnut keeps getting up halfway through my sketches (it's like he KNOWS I want him to stay still, that contrary old thing), but it is really so. much. fun.

I love how his mane is so big and fluffy, it starts swallowing up his head.

Today's poem is the first poem I remember loving. I had to memorize a poem for recitation in seventh grade, and this is the one I chose. Do you remember the first poem you ever read/loved?

Father William, by Lewis Carroll

"You are old, Father William," the young man said,
"And your hair has become very white;
And yet you incessantly stand on your head--
Do you think, at your age, it is right?"

"In my youth," Father William replied to his son,
"I feared it might injure the brain;
But, now that I'm perfectly sure I have none,
Why, I do it again and again."

"You are old," said the youth, "as I mentioned before,
And have grown most uncommonly fat;
Yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door--
Pray, what is the reason of that?"

"In my youth," said the sage, as he shook his gray locks,
"I kept all my limbs very supple
By the use of this ointment -- one shilling the box --
Allow me to sell you a couple?"

"You are old," said the youth, "and your jaws are too weak
For anything tougher than suet;
Yet you finished the goose, with the bones and the beak--
Pray, how did you manage to do it?"

"In my youth," said his father, "I took to the law,
And argued each case with my wife;
And the muscular strength which it gave to my jaw
Has lasted the rest of my life."

"You are old," said the youth, "one would hardly suppose
That your eye was as steady as ever;
Yet you balanced an eel on the end of your nose--
What made you so awfully clever?"

"I have answered three questions, and that is enough,"
Said his father; "don't give yourself airs!
Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff?
Be off, or I'll kick you down-stairs!" 

I was initially attracted to this poem by the drawings. The expression on the son's face is the best.