Progression

I'm still feeling pretty lousy about my entry. I'm glad I had the confidence to submit it, but I know of at least one person who has done something comparable in style to my entry and I think they have done a much better job of it.
It sucks to know already that I am going to be feel like my piece isn't as good, but I'm trying to see the positives.

This week I was reminded of how far I have come. I started making corsets in about 2006. I was 13/14 and fell in love with Victorian clothing. I wanted to learn to make it, and realized the first step would be the corset. Here I am 11 years later, and although I have made a few historical pieces, I really found my passion lay with corsetry.
I have a couple of images of my very first corsets, but I can't access the old MySpace account they are on, so the earliest I can find are from 2010.
These are the corsets I first made which I considered good enough that they should be photographed properly.

The top corset is from the "dolls corset" pattern in Jill Salens "Corsets" enlarged to human size.

The bottom corset is a self drafted underbust, which didn't actually reduce my waist at all, but still wrinkled horrifically.

They may not look too bad here, but honestly they were AWFUL. The inside was just a complete mess, the binding at the bottom of the underbust didn't meet up properly, and I don't even know where to begin with the Hello Kitty corset:

Just as a starter, look at the stitching on this channel... I have no idea what I even did. There are other things I could point out, but this is one that even a complete novice will be able to look at and see that it is flawed.
Somehow I nailed the pattern matching at the front so... I guess I had that going for me?

I'm writing this because there is a chance someone will read it, and it will help them.

I look at the entries in this competition every year, and every year I am intimidated.
I know that someone else has done a cupped corset with lace, and I know that at least 2 people have made tutus. I know that some people have worked hours and hours creating truly incredible pieces because like me, some people share sneak peeks of what they have been working on. It's a little terrifying, and it took a lot of courage for me to actually submit my entry, but I felt like I should.

Because maybe someone who couldn't find that courage this year will still follow the competition closely, and read through all the dress diaries, and gain a little confidence from seeing that everyone struggles.

You don't think your work would have been good enough? I'm telling you it would. I'm telling you that in a year, or two years, or five years, you will look back on what you have made today and think "I'm glad I didn't give up."

I'm not a naturally gifted seamstress, as is very clear from the pictures above. It took me a long time to get to what is even "reasonable" standard.

This is for those of you who are where I was 10 years ago:

Some people are naturally gifted at sewing. They sit at a machine, and they create mindblowingly beautiful pieces with infuriatingly perfect stitching with what looks like no effort at all.

You're not like them, and that's OK. You're going to put in months, even years of work, and you're going to see people start months or years after you who make things you could only dream of creating. It's going to break your heart.
That's OK. You're not them. 

Don't hold yourself to their standards.

Look at what you create, and be proud that you created it.

Remember that no matter how many books you read, and how many videos you watch, and how much you know about the history of the corset - it means nothing when you actually try to make something. Not everyone learns in the same way, and some of us need to make the mistakes and learn the hard way. Watch the video, read the article, make the mistake and then look at them again now you can see what it is that you need to learn from them. Finish the corset that is lying half completed because you're ashamed that you messed up one small thing.

 If you've ever seen something I have made - whether it is this corset, or any of my other corsets - and admired it, realize that I am not a naturally gifted sewing genius. I didn't get to where I am overnight. It was a very long, very difficult road. But if you're like me, and you struggle grasping the basics, it is not impossible to improve. 

2010            /             2017