Corsetra Designs: March 2014

Sunday, March 23, 2014

A NEW Direction

I am taking my pattern line in a new direction. This change was brought about by some feedback and instruction that I recieved this month.

I took a couple of workshops through my local Score location covering many topics from How to Start a Business to Social Media Marketing. It was a lot to absorb in a small amount of time and many days I returned home with a brain that was turned to mush.

By the end of the last workshop I had decided that my market, was actually two markets: Historic Costumes and Plush Toys. While there is some overlap, I am willing to bet that most of you who are reading this fall more into one camp than the other. While I had debated with myself periodically for years about this issue, I never really wanted to separate the my work into two categories, because frankly it means more work for me, I have to have two of just about everything in order to have the two pattern lines. I also never came up with a name for the soft toy patterns I liked.

That is until the other night, after the last workshop on marketing.

Introducing Sew Pandi

I am moving all the plush and craft patterns over to Sew Pandi, also any modern styled clothing would be featured there.

Corsetra Designs will remain for the corsets and historical costumes.

There may be some cross over too, only time will tell what I accomplish.

One of the biggest reasons for this change is to control my image better. If you Google “Corsetra” a good percentage of what you will get back (that is in English) is directly linked to me. However Corsetra.com is NOT me, and I would recommend against visiting the site.*

If you Google “Corsetra Designs” you will get references to me exclusively.

I intend to market my corset patterns to the historical costume community, and many of those in that field do not overtly sexualize the corset, knowing that it is just another aspect of the whole package.

Doing an image search for corsets on the internet can be a dangerous place, many images will not be considered safe for work/children . This NOT good for a line of soft toy patterns DESIGNED for children!

So with that in mind I have decided that Corsetra Designs is not a good name for the toy patterns. I LOVE the name, and my logo and that is not going anywhere. The Skeleton Corset Pattern is still going on, and will be released this Spring/ Summer.

What does this mean for YOU, my followers? Well it means you now have a choice, and having choices is good! You can now choose to follow Corsetra Designs, or Sew Pandi, based on your interests. I have already duplicated my social media outlets, so you can follow Sew Pandi on Facebook, and Pinterest.

I will be moving over the toy and doll posts to Sew Pandi from here, so those posts will become links to the content on Sew Pandi.

For the rest of April I will be duplicating some info on both outlets, staggered on different days, so hopefully I won’t annoy you.

I learned some of how Facebook works in the Social Media Marketing workshop. I will be implementing some new techniques. I can tell you that the algorithms that Facebook uses to determine how many of your fans it will show your posts to is complicated. certain times of day work better, the more people who see the post, the more it will show them to others. The more YOU like a post and otherwise engage with that page, the more you will see that page’s posts. So if you like a page, engage with them! Just like a real-life relationship between friends, if you don’t do your part to be there for your friends, the less likely you are going to be friends for the long term. It doesn’t take much to “Like” a post.

I will be releasing a BRAND NEW pattern over on Sew Pandi later this week, I hope you come follow the website and the Facebook page.

*They appear to sell cheap corsets, most likely made over seas, probably by very low paid workers. Having never owned a mass produced corset, I would guess that any corset bought from these type of places will not hold up well to wear, and likely be uncomfortable. I am a big fan of custom made corsets if you are going to wear them.

Friday, March 14, 2014

Felt Celery

With Saint Patrick's Day coming up on Monday I decided a quick sewing project was in need.
To show my geek pride, I settled on a felt celery pin.

Here is what you need to make it:
My Pattern
1 sheet of green felt
Thread to match
Hand sewing needle
Pinking Sheers
Pin back or Safety Pin
Optional: Freezer Paper

Here is how to make it:

1. Download the PATTERN and print it out.

If that link doesn't work for you, try this Craftsy link!

Source: Felt Celery Pin via Corsetra on Craftsy

For best results print the pattern directly on to freezer paper.

If you don't have freezer paper that will work in your printer, just trace the pattern pieces on to freezer paper.

If you don't have any freezer paper, carefully pin the pattern to the felt.

2. Cut out shapes, DO NOT use your good fabric scissors to cut through the paper.
3. Peel off Freezer Paper

Please note pattern has been modified since this example was made up.

4. Pink the ends of the leaves with Pinking Sheers.

5. Stack pieces from largest to smallest

6. Stab-stitch down the center, then come back filling in the spaces, this is called a Holbein or Blackwork Stitch.

Stab Stitching is done with the needle held at a right angle to the fabric being stitched, unlike running stitches where the needle is woven through the fabrics. The difference becomes noticeable when the fabrics are thick, such as with several layers of felt. the running stitch will have varying distances, but the stab is always the same.

7. Stitch the outer edges, pulling then flush with each other, this will cause the natural curvature seen in real celery. Stab stitch up and then back down.