FOUNDATIONS REVEALED COMPETITION ENTRY
Fire and Ash
(click images to to enlarge)
Outline the story …
I have created a design for the character Sydney Carton from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Carton is a man who thinks himself a burden, and finds comfort in sadness. In a brief and uncharacteristically passionate display, he confesses his love to a woman who is kind but promised to another. In his confession he says - "I ... wish you to know with what a sudden mastery you kindled me, heap of ashes that I am, into fire- a fire, however, inseparable in its nature from myself, quickening nothing, lighting nothing, doing no service, idly burning away."
With this quote in mind, I created a stomacher decorated in a way to represent flames, and a pair of stays in black and white to represent the ashes. When I think of Sydney Carton, he is dispassionate and simple on the outside, with a flaming passion on the inside. Thus I chose a lining with a flame pattern to accompany the simple exterior.
I had a lot of ideas for what garment to make to represent Sydney Carton, and eventually settled on stays. A Tale of Two Cities takes place during the French Revolution, so even though my comfort zone is gathered petticoats, I though I would really stretch myself to make a garment that somewhat evokes the time period that story takes place in
Outline the construction…
Most of the materials used in these stays were fabric scraps purchased from Joann Fabrics. I used store bought bias tape for the binding, and cheap amazon eyelets. I bought really nice eyelets from an etsy seller, but ended up not being able to use the tool I had purchased, because it was the wrong size. I went with the eyelets that came with the setting tool instead, and it worked out great!
As for challenges, this project was a huge jump from the other items I have made. Everything in this project except sewing seams was a new skill for me. In my mockup, I had difficulty making straight boning channels. I did not mock up the binding, and to me, that was the hardest part of the entire project. If I could do this again I would mock up the binding. I ended up hand sewing the binding on the bottom, and machine sewing part of the top, and hand stitching the rest.
I used the Red Threaded 1780's Stays pattern which fit well, and had really clear and easy to understand directions. There were definitely steps I missed and had to back track on, but overall I found it a very friendly pattern.
There was lots of information available within Foundations Revealed regarding stays and their construction that I was able to read through, as well as questions asked by others in the facebook group that I was able to use for myself as well.
This is such a visually striking piece and honestly I think is just gorgeously done!
Bravo! I love it and am inspired to try it myself!
Clever, and really gorgeous!
The stomacher is *Fire Emoji*, so good!
I LOVE this! the lining is just SO cool. this is *fire* 😀
What an awesome idea! I love your creativity; I can’t wait to see what you come up with in the future!
What a beautiful fit. And I love the way you incorporated the fire theme in such a subtle way.
This stomacher is wonderful !! And the matching lining, WOW.
Really good job, these stays came together so well!
Oh i love that idea of texture ! that’s very bold 😀
Oh, my goodness, that fabric manipulation! <3 <3 <3 Excellent work, from concept to finish.
WHOA! Stunningly beautiful! You belong the ADVANCED section. Such elegant use of fabric! Thank you!
This is gorgeous! I love the way you convey your character’s innermost feelings through this design, it is so creative and eye-catching! The shape of the stays is lovely, and the flame texture on the stomacher is just perfect! Well done for tackling such a challenging design, you killed it!
This looks amazing. I really like the fabric you used on the inside, like a secret extra.
Whoa, this is so inspired. I love your explanation of the garment and the work it was inspired by. Rock on!
This is so cool! I love how the lacing keeps the stomacher fire “contained” 🙂 Well done!! 👏
This is such an inventive idea! Beautifully done!