Under it all - HSF Challenge 4

Morning all

Well another challenge rolls around and this time the brief  is 'under it all', so I'm sure you can all work out what this one is about.

I originally wanted to make myself some tap pants. I've wanted to for quite awhile now, since I first saw an article about them on 'foundations revealed' (such a useful resource, see the button to the side if you haven't heard of them) and I did get as far as drafting the paper pattern.  But the rest will have to wait, and I'm sure I'll manage to fit it into another challenge as I am determined to have some little silk undies by the end of the year. oh and for those wondering, tap pants are a sort of wide leg knicker.

No, this week I have a very tight time schedule so why not I thought put in something that I am already making?

Pasties, 

No not the edible kind, a nipple cover used when ladies did not/do not want to break the law. Burlesque has been around since the 19th Century when it was comical theatre using scantily clad women to keeping the lower and middle classes entertained. Only in more recent times has it become more connected to striptease. Which in my mind is rather sad and I am always glad to see a burlesque show that harps back to its proper roots.  Anyway to avoid breaking laws and corrupting their audience, dancers covered the relevant section of their chest area with small discs, and these became known as pasties and would be stuck on with various types of glue.

This weekend, if you are a regular reader you will already know, I have a stall at the Alternative and Burlesque Fair here in Birmingham. And at that fair I will be selling hats, jewelry and you guessed it pasties. So does this break the rules of the challenge in sewing for someone else? well I'm not saying if I'm selling them all or not.. But there wasn't any real sewing?

If people are interested, then, when things quieten down around here, I will put up a more detailed blog on how to stretch the material over the buckram without puckering, and make these lovely little things.

So my pasties, what do they entail? well little discs of buckram, a slit cut to the centre and overlapped to give you a pointed shape covered with material and then decorated. Firstly with lace tatting and a tassel, and then usually as befitting burlesque often finished off with sequins. All these things and the construction methods are all historically accurate so I think I'm good to go.

The Challenge: 4 - Under it all

Fabric: buckram and then satins, chinese brocade fabric and the like

Pattern: a 10cm diameter circle

Year: I'm going for 1920s, but they have been around longer

Notions: cotton thread for tatting and tassel making, glue and don't forget sequins.

How historically accurate is it? I'd give myself 9/10 for this, my glue probably isn't accurate.

Hours to complete: hard to say I have been tatting most nights for a fortnight. Taking out glue drying time I think about 3 hours per pair.

First worn: not telling

Total cost: £2.99 for some new glue, but not really anything as they only use up scraps of material and stuff I had lying around anyway.

Well next time I write will be Monday with the launch of my website, oh I hope it all goes smoothly.

Wish me luck with both the stall and the internet.

Hugs and Kisses
Ally