Corsets or "How to Make Your Own Girdle"

This illustration is from VintagePatterns. The type is in a small font, so you might not be able to clearly read it. The caption says:

"NOT ONLY HAVE I LOST MY SHEEP, THIS CORSET IS KILLING ME."

This picture and caption are too good not to use as a whimsical embroidery piece on a purse or quilt square.

With the advent of Oprah and her endorsement of Spanx, corsets have made a comeback, but in a much more comfortable venue.

The owner and founder of Spanx is Sara Blakely. What a gal. She had a great idea, and produced a successful company making comfy, workable girdles. Blakely even gave back $1 million to the OprahWinfreyLeadershipAcademy in 2007 in appreciation for Oprah's bringing Spanx to public attention back 8 years ago.

Not wanting to take anything away from Sara, I found a less expensive alternative HERE which says:

Starting at $25 a pop, they (Spanx) are a rather pricey solution to an embarrassing problem. But with some scissors, and old pantyhose, you can achieve the Spanx effect without paying the Spanx price!

Basically, you buy a pair of control-top pantyhose, cut off the legs, and you have made your own sized-to-fit corset. Granted, it would not look too attractive when undressing in front of your favorite person, but it could save some dollars.

Using Crayons & Watercolor Pencils to Tint Fabric

Thinking I would try crayons or watercolor pencils to tint fabric in preparation for embroidery, I researched some options. I knew that crayons could be used to color fabric, but was unsure of applying the waxy color directly to the fabric, thinking the color would run. However, TintedLinenTutorial gave these easy instructions:

Trace your pattern onto your fabric very lightly with a pencil or a water soluble marker... Tape the fabric down on the corners to a flat smooth surface.Take out your crayons and color! You may need to color a little harder in the fabric because the ironing will soften the crayon. Experiment with shading to add depth or only color a few things to really make a bold statement. Try to color in the same direction because the strokes will show (unless this is the effect you are trying to achieve).

When you are satisfied with yourself, sandwich the fabric between 2 pieces of plain paper. Set your iron to the "cotton" setting. Press the fabric sandwich slowly and smoothly. This will 'set' the crayon. You may need to press a few times to get the results you want. I did mine a few times to soften and melt the crayon for a smoother effect. From this point you can either back the design with another piece of fabric or place in an embroidery hoop. Embroider your heart away! Use different stitches, beads, sequins, etc.

The possibilities are endless with this technique. Experiment, be brave, try new things!

But wouldn't it be easier to just embroider a design, and then color it in with crayon? Apparently, this option of "coloring within the lines" is a no-no, because in another thread discussion, Contadine said:

You could stitch first, but that causes a few problems - You can't get right up tight to the stitching without getting some wax on the threads. Once you iron, that wax melts a little and makes your stitching look funny. If you scrub the piece heavily between ironing, you'll rough the threads up too much, and they'll look very fuzzy.When you iron, place a piece of copier paper on your ironing board, and then the colored fabric face down on it, and iron from the backside, or you'll get melted wax everywhere!

OK, so now I was ready to try my hand at this. I pulled out some old fabric cocktail napkins from the 1940's which were still usable, and had nice hand-work on the edges.

Now for a design choice for embroidery...a pink ribbon since Relay for Life is a timely June topic, and I recently knew of a friend with a breast cancer recurrence who might need a "pick-me-up".
Here is a picture of five napkins with pink ribbons crayoned on them. The blue outline is a water soluble pen that I used for sketching the ribbons on the napkins. Then the napkins were ironed between white copy paper to take off some of the waxy color.

And here is the finished product on the right. The pinks came out pretty well, and I was surprised that so much color stayed on the fabric. A heavy embroidery floss in dark pink was threaded and used for the outline whipped stem stitch.

More examples of using crayons to tint fabric can be found at TheFlossBox. Another great source for embroidery patterns can be found at Needlecrafter. And I found some cute pictures drawn by Beatrix Potter through a Google search, and some transfer-worthy images of Peter Rabbit here.

Jemima Puddle-duck of Beatrix Potter fame will be my next quilt square for a baby blanket, and I plan to tint Jemima with watercolor pencils in blues for her hat and pinks and roses for her shawl.

Check out the Beatrix Potter website for delightful illustrations, and more about her life here at the BeatrixPotterSociety. If you are a fan of hers (like I am), you might be interested in seeing the movie Miss Potter. Renee Zellweger was the star, and it was a delightful film IMHO.

At VintagePatterns, an entire free catalog from 1886 of embroidery patterns is available on-line and in the public domain. This site is fascinating. Tutorials are also given of how to turn the patterns into usable designs.

And to think that our foremothers probably used some of these patterns on their lingerie!

Making a Mandarin Collar Several Ways

Wanting to create a mandarin collar from a large and outdated standard collar, I folded the corners of the regular collar downwards, then folded the collar in half, stitching down all sides. Voila! A mandarin collar was created in about ten minutes; you don't even need a sewing machine if you can thread a needle and make a running stitch.

Here is a picture of a mandarin modified collar that I made on a linen blouse with a standard, large collar. It was further embellished with sewn on Cat Buttons:

Other ways to make mandarin collars is to use scarves, tying it in manners depicted in Scarves:

1: Try a GQ oblong style! Fold a textured oblong scarf in half and place it around your neck. Feed one panel behind and then through the loop. Feed the other panel through the loop from the top. Finish the design by adjusting the panels. (Looks great over a jacket!);

2: Start by folding a large square scarf into a triangle. Place the folded edge next to your neck and tie a single knot. Twist the panels together. Wrap the twisted panels around itself and tuck the ends into the center, creating a rosette. Wear it off to the side or at the center of a collar.

Mandarin collars cover a multitude of "aging skin" flaws. Crepey skin can be concealed, as well as double necks.

In her later years, Kathryn Hepburn sure knew how to wear those turtlenecks well!