Ankle Corset, Thy Name Is Vanity

The idea of a new ankle corset design wormed int way into my brain and would not let go so the second I was finished with the task at hand it was straight off to my stack of vintage pattern books for inspiration. This is the point where I confess that I consider myself much more of a reinvent-er than a designer on most accounts. I flip through those pages looking with a different perspective looking for something to bend to my will. I found this one fairly quickly. It's the pattern for a vanity set with a fabulously 40's description on top. I'm sad I never lived when every woman just needs a gaily designed vanity set for pleasure.

Anyway, my method for adapting these patterns is very simple. Read the stitch counts, ignore the pattern and use the pictures for structure. Follow the design exactly at least the first time. Like teacher always said, you can't break the rules until you know them. The large openness of the design made it a fairly quick piece to work up, just a couple of hours during the kids naps. Though I was tatting at should aching speed. The first prototype worked up so well size wise that the changes I'll need to do are quite small. Of course that means the changes are quite fiddly. i want to bring the design down a bit int he front filling in the sides just a bit I think.

I did try one variation already and that was simply to add a scalloped edge along the front bottom edge. While I like that it ruffled up a bit, the problem lies with the loose structure of the bottom center. Whenever I start walking the center begins to curl up a bit and won't lie back down on its own. I have started on the second version though I only got a a bit into it last night. I have a plan that I hope with give me the edge I'm looking for and if it works it will likely still have the scalloped edge as well. I like that it help differentiate the piece from my others. In the end the changes to the original pattern will be slight, only it's usage will be drastically altered. Sometimes I wonder what these ladies of the 40's would think of the blasphemy I unleash with their tried and true designs. Oh, vanity set, welcome to ankle corset.

Tatted Spats

I'd love to tell you that I'm all better, but the throat zombie is still there, though it seems he might have sent home his friends. The worst part about this cold thing is that my family got it first so I know what is coming next and I am not looking forward to it. I suppose it is possible that my body will react differently, that my nose won't start running like a sieve, but I fear it unlikely. That's enough sick talk though, onto the tatting.

I did finish working up the second ankle corset and since it looks so much like a spat, I went with tatted spat as a descriptor, though I kept ankle corset in there as like a brand identifier of something. Okay, it sounds ridiculous to refer to oneself as a brand, but whatever. I thought I'd give you some details on the design. The center section was tatted in a discontinued cebelia light gray. I have a just a couple of balls of this left in this shade. The outer ring is made up of small motifs tatted together using the hand dyed gray. There are slight variations in the batch, but overall a very smooth color. Then the outside is just plain old black. The first time I did this piece I did not add the edging to the top, but I thought it needed the outline with that very light gray center.

It's kid of funny, in the browns I think this piece had an entirely different look. In the gray and black, they come off very lolita. I can just see them with a big poofy tea lengthen black skirt. But I digress, next up on the tatting list is to get a wrist corset, gauntlet made up so I can list one and I might even list the first neck corset I made, the one without the beads. Sure, I could keep it, but where would I wear it, Target? Then I need to get a few more things remade, namely the headband. I think I might do up a black version this time. You know, I'm thinking to myself right now, if this is my sick time list of tasks...there is something very wrong with me. Of course, I am avoiding the major cleaning that the house needs before the weekend. That is how I chose to rest, sue me.

Ugh

So, Pam...how you doing this morning? Well, you remember that I mentioned there seemed to be something dead in my throat. It seems that over night, it invited over some friends and that urban myth about fingernails growing after death must be true because they are using them to do a little jig all over my throat. Other wise, I'm just peachy, thanks. Of course on the plus side, the rest of the family appears to be doing better so I didn't get to stay up half the night listening to the symphony of the coughs, so there's that at least.

The day wasn't too bad, I did a short school day for my oldest and they managed to be fairly well behaved thanks in part to art class. I finished wrapping the wire on one mask and made another that had been ordered. Then I got back to a project I wanted to do a while ago. I don't know if you remember an ankle corset design I did in browns that looked more like a spat. Well the brown version was promised to someone exclusively and while I still wait to break that surprise, I figured why not make it in another color scheme. I had taken out the gray threads quite a spell ago to try it, but with the desire to move a lot taken out of me, it was the perfect time to give it a go.

I of course did not write down the original pattern, as I had a prototype, never mind that said prototype is relatively useless as I made a major design change in the final piece. So, I used both that and the pictures I took to make the new one up. Now only one is done now, but I should be able to get its twin made today. If things go according to plan, I'll get pictures and get it listed as well. No guarantees of course. It always amuses me going back to a pattern like this. I wonder why I thought this strangely shaped mess would work in the first place. I do spend a lot of time stopping and trying things on to see if they will lay properly, but still, what a strange shape.

So, that's the plan for the day providing that the undead in my throat allow me some energy, it's too early to tell for sure yet. Oh and did I mention that my youngest turns three on Saturday which means I need to clean the house for the celebrations as well...so fun all around.

What Didn't I Make?

So Friday was a busy, busy tatting day, followed by a busy tatting weekend. I finished the first spat and then it's mate and I shared the results on the facebook fan page. The design is apparently acceptable. I also spent the weekend making up a second pair in terror that I would run out of thread before its completion. It seems I had just enough of the discontinued shade to finish. I guess that makes them limited editions right?When I can breath, I will likely try a few other color combinations as I think this design benefits from the technique. All in one color I think the elements might get lost and blend together.

Did I mention that I acquired yet another vintage tatting book from the 40's? Well, I did and as is my way I needed to find the first project from its pages. This was an easy pick. There was a hankie edging I fell for immediately. It was one of those that you would have had to cut the corner to fit, which I think would have been a ridiculous task, but I digress. I made some minor modifications to the design for structural purposes, but otherwise left it fairly intact and I think it makes a stunning necklace. I already sold the first one to the fine lady who I let name the piece, "A Scandal In Bohemia". I don't know if the real Irene would wear this one, but it is dramatic.

Then Saturday evening, my ankle corsets got a shot at the front page of etsy. This time during the day, for a whole hour. I was lucky to have gotten home right before they were up and the twitterverse immediately alerted me to the feature. The views were spectacular and the corsets got 112 new item hearts. Really, not much beats the front page treasuries for exposure, though it is fleeting, very fleeting. During my stay on twitter, I mentioned that the new necklace design was going to serve as a base for a belly dance inspired piece that I should be getting to this week. My comment was met with the phrase, "bet you could churn out tatted shisha like nobody's business. Maybe make sew-on shisha for people to use on their own stuff." Of course my first reaction was to look that up, because I had no clue was shisha was...if you look it up add the work embroidery or you will be further confused. Anyway, I gave it a go because I am hardwired to accept a challenge no matter how vague it is or busy I am. I found plenty of instructions on how to do this with embroidery, but none of that applied here. I made this with one of the smaller mirrors I picked up and after some stitch count adjustments we have a little mirror encased in tatting that can be simply sewed on.

What am I going to do with it? No clue. I think it might make a cute pendant or perhaps an element to be added to my larger designs or maybe I will just offer them up for other to use in their own designs. See, I told you it was a busy tatting weekend. What is up for the coming week you ask? Oh, I don't know...maybe a nap would be nice, of course I don't nap, so more tatting I suppose.

This One Is A Spat

Another day, another storm. It's wet, it's windy and I really have no desire to leave the house. So why did I run outside to stop the barbecue cover from blowing away, in my slippers? Why did I then run inside and not wipe my wet, slick feet on the rug before stepping onto the tile? Because, apparently, I thought it would be fun to slip all cartoon like, my legs flying into the air while I land on my bum so hard that sitting is still now, nearly 24 hours later, painful. Sure, I should feel lucky that I landed firmly on one cheek, sparing my tailbone and leaving me a side to sit on, but really I'm just annoyed at my lack of forethought. To recap, my rear hurts.

In other news, I was hard at work on my newest ankle corset design. Everything started to come together and the shape started to form. I did do one thing I rarely do while designing, I did cut out the bottom center motif you see here and replaced it with a smaller, different one. That's the thing about making pieces meant to fit the body. It's hard to visualize where bends are needed and this one was sticking nearly straight up when I arched my foot, which would have made it look ridiculous in heels.

Again, I don't have the final picture yet, but I added an edging to help it match another piece and aside from choosing the final color gradation, the prototype is done. I'll probably play with colors today, or I might just take a break from this and pull out those fingers and give them some attention. I am wishing however that I had started working the gloves in ecru as counting stitches with black thread is quite the eye strain and as I get further on, I'll need to do that. No, I didn't write anything down. Do I ever write anything down?

Still waiting on emails. Of course this illustrates how insane I would be if I was waiting on actual mail...insane. I have also been neglecting my shop a bit, which is ironic given the amount of energy I usually pour into the thing. So many of my recent projects have been custom pieces I've been emailed about, or secret projects, so I just don't have anything new to list in the store. I've even let a few things expire since they were more seasonal and despite what people say about clearing out old inventory to make room for more, I've got plenty of room as I'm certain they do too, so I'll just reintroduce them when appropriate. Anyway, traffic is down and I think I need to get on some advertising or something too. I refuse to use all my social media to constantly stream promos as I think it's actually counterproductive. I will have to think outside the box a bit to get my precious attention, you know, when I get around to it. Back to tatting then.

What's That I'm Making?

So why on earth do I have a picture of a simple ring posted here. Seems silly I know, but look closely. You see where the thread are coming off that little ring? The center, yep. This is my very first split chain. This was a technique I had assumed was solely the domain of the shuttle tatter as I could find no instruction for the needle at all. Then one day a lovely tatter over at intatters made this video to help the shuttle tatters with the move. At first I was stumped, it was not happening for me, so I put down my little ring and moved on. Then yesterday for some reason I picked it up again and without revisiting the video decided that I could do that with just a crochet hook, and I did. Turns out all I really needed to do was focus on what makes a ds a ds. The half hitch knot. Whew. I don't know how often I might use the technique as it is still a bit of a pain to do and cutting and hiding ends to start a new row is really no effort with the needle, but I am so glad to have learned.

Next up, my new secret projects. Well sort of secret, like most things I have not yet announced, I fear that everything will fall right through, so rather than explain what went wrong later I just don't announce a thing. I will however give you a peek into the creation process. I am creating a matching line of pieces...for a secret reason. Anyway one of those pieces will likely be a new ankle corset design. I say likely because I always count failure as an option in new designs. It's just prudent.

So the new design is starting with this decorative lace up section. I made the prototype in ecru since I have two level tons of the stuff, but the final design won't be black, just a little detail. I've gotten further than this piece now, but this was the only picture I took while working. I got a wee bit distracted by the enormous thunder storm we got yesterday evening. I digress, the piece will have straight sides up the ankle a bit and I'm still working out the curves section for the front. I want a bit of frill without going too over the top. This one is meant to have a slightly more spat like appearance, but like all designs I never know what the end will look like until I'm there. I've one more secret design already done, but I think I'll keep that one under wraps for the sake of drama.

As seems to be the case more often than not lately, I am waiting for more emails on other projects. I keep thinking that I've bit off more than I can chew and then as each project finishes, I think well that wasn't so bad. Perhaps I thrive under pressure or perhaps I just let just enough of those projects fall through the cracks to keep me sane. So if I appear to be ignoring your project, please let me know, it's likely I have had a bit of amnesia about it. I really should start writing these things down...maybe next year.

Look Who Got Tatted

It was another 'up' day at the TotusMel household. Husband was home for the holiday and we spent time cleaning up our shared computer room, took a walk with the kids after lunch and had my sister and her kids over for dinner. My brother even popped by and we all had our hair cut...my sister used to be a hair stylist, yes, it is very convenient. Oh, and the ant invasion appears to almost be over with no new incursions and the bait trails waning quickly. It was a nice day in the real world, but the Internet day was pretty nice too.

I was already happy to have gotten all my wunderkammer stuff done early and I had time off and on to check in to twitter, but in the evening, I was met with a pleasant surprise that spawned more pleasant. The very lovely Jennifer Nicole, whom I've been very lucky to have gotten acquainted with after she won the pair of ankle corsets I gave away back in March, finally blogged some pictures of said ankle corsets. Check it out on her blog Awakened Aesthetic. I had to show you this sexy photo though...wow, they look great.

Her post got some very flattering comments that of course made my day. Then one of her readers hopped over to my shop after making a comment and bought a few small things. So, yeah the day ended on the same kind of high note it began on. Simple, but nice.

We're back to normal...ish this morning. I should get to work remaking some sold pieces and I want to start planning out my next instructable soon as well. I have the pattern written out for the barefoot sandals, so I just need to make a set to take pictures of. It might be a bit before I get around to it, but it's on the agenda...the very long, never shrinking agenda.

Down Off That Cloud

At my husbands seemingly constant request, I have calmed the hell down. I did take quite a few opportunities to check on my ankle corsets on StyleHive and even through this morning, they are holding on strong as the top save. I would be lying if I said that I wasn't truly shocked by this development. Sure they look cool and I've been told by many that they love them, but to see them sitting next to very commercial products, well it's weird.

What knocked my off that cloud though was their sale in the middle of the night...without payment. I haven't lost hope that it might still come through today as it was a new buyer from out of the country, but I'm not holding my breath either. Now all those views and hearts are gone and when people click through from StyleHive, they will see that they are 'Sold Out' and will probably simply move on rather than look for the new custom listing I put up. So, here I sit floating down from the cloud as was the inevitable outcome of a soar so high.

In more personal news, I took a big grown up step with my husband yesterday. We went to get pre-approved for a home loan. We've been renting for over a decade and it's finally time to move on. Everything went well, now the search begins and then the worst part, actually moving. I hate moving...so very much. I guess it's a small price to pay for our very own space. Obviously, all this will keep us quite preoccupied over the next few months.

One last thing, I think I've come up with a new barefoot sandal design. While remaking the Queen's Feet ones yesterday, I thought that I needed to make something a little simpler and consequently cheaper before the warmer weather is upon us. Quite frankly, I just don't want to have to keep remaking the same large pieces over and over. I'll share the design just as soon as I come up with it. I've got a pretty good idea of how I want it to look, but my imagination and my ability to tat are not always on the same page, so we'll see how it turns out.

Holy Crap People

I was walking along, minding my business when out of the clear blue sky...okay I'm getting ahead of myself. This weekend I noticed a lot of traffic coming from StyleHive. If you don't know what that is, it is a social shopping site. People see something they like and bookmark for others to see, they in turn can save the bookmark as well. I've been lucky to have several of my pieces bookmarked there, but nothing like this. My In Bloom Ankle Corsets got so many saves over the weekend that they are currently not only featured on the front page of the site, but the top save.

As you might imagine this kept me feeling pretty good all weekend long. Let's face it, we all love attention from out crafting peers, but to be noticed by the fashion community is an extreme step forward. It's much harder to impress people who have no idea how much hard work goes into a piece.

Then this morning I received a message over at etsy from someone who saw my stuff of twitter. I thought, that's nice, I have quite a few great friends over there so I assumed they had tweeted something, but no. This was much bigger. Someone had tweeted the link from StyleHive to MrsKutcher, otherwise known as Demi Moore, who then retweeted it to her followers. This is awsome not only because Demi Moore was looking at my feet, but because the woman has almost 500,000 followers.Did my weekend StyleHive fame result in tons of sales? Nope. Did Demi Moore's tweet make me the next big thing? I doubt it. I am however sitting here verbally vomitting all over my computer screen with excitement.

That's It Then

Okay, I get it. I should have set the bar much higher. I have a confession, when I set the last entry level at 91 people, I assumed that was a ridiculously high number that was likely not to be reached. I thought if I put the ankle corsets up as a prize, there was a slight chance that toward the end of the week it might be reached, but I wasn't holding my breath. It is absolutely crazy that there are well over 100 entrants just three days in...three days.
The last prize has been added, a pair of In Bloom Ankle Corsets! I'd just like to point out here that I sell these suckers for over $90, I'm just saying.

The sale portion of my anniversary event is doing fairly well now too. Of course now that I've said something, I'll get no more sales. That's just the way it works. Since we've reached the final prize level, I can also stop going on and on about the giveaway everyday, but I do have one more little bit to share. I have decided that I will continue to add additional pendants to the giveaway with every 30 entrants. Since I can't really add any more large prizes to the pot, but I don't want the entries to dry up, this seems the best way to continue a bit of momentum. I guess that means your chances of winning something are about one in thirty no matter what, so keep spreading the word.

I guess I should go add that info to the giveaway post now so everyone knows what's up. I did also want to say how happy I am that I am also getting word from several people that my work is prompting them to either start tatting again or to pick up a needle or shuttle for the first time. If you're new around here, you haven't heard my grand plan to make tatting the next crafting craze. I know that it's not very likely, but one should always maintain at least one nice unattainable goal and this is mine. Every time I hear one of these stories, I think that it's not as ridiculous as I thought, so thanks for sharing!

Super Awesome Anniversary Giveaway & Sale

Well, that's quite enough stalling from me. With my blog's first anniversary fast approaching and my third year on etsy next month, now is the time for my big event! This event is just my way of saying thank you to everyone who has visited, read my ramblings and offered their opinions and whatnot. I've decided to go with a two pronged attack to the event.

The first prong is a SALE. Now don't get too excited, it's just a small one. My entire inventory is on sale 15% off until my anniversary on March 17th. This sale will NOT be noted at my shop, it is only for those of you who visit my blog as a thank you for all your help and support. You must mention "anniversary" in the notes to seller to receive the discount which will be refunded after you pay through paypal. If you forget to mention the sale, you don't get the discount, simple as a dimple.

The second prong is a GIVEAWAY and I've decided to take a slightly different approach to the standard blog giveaway, but let me first lay down the entry options for this sucker.

The Rules:
-Visit my etsy shop and peruse my tatted offerings.
-Pick your favorite item from the shop and then come back here to this blog post, and leave a comment telling me about what you liked (if you can't find anything perhaps this giveaway is not for you.)
-Your comment profile must include contact information, if it doesn't be sure to leave a valid email address in your comment or your entry is void.(if I can't tell you that you won, what good is entering)

Want more chances to win...well, I've got a few

-For an additional entry, tweet this giveaway, then leave a comment with a link to your tweet (you can follow me on twitter too...if you want)

-For another additional entry, blog about this giveaway and sale on your own blog (complete with links and pictures), and come back and leave a link to your post.

-Finally for two entries, buy something from me (don't forget the sale!) and come back and comment with your purchase. (this is the flagrant self promotion portion of the event)

-This contest is open to residents of the Earth only, seriously all humans welcome, aliens not so much.

-Contest ends on Tuesday March 17th. Winners will be announced by that Friday.

Did I say winners... plural? Yes, I did. Here's where my giveaway is a bit different. You see, I always found it a bit anti productive to plug someone else's giveaway thus reducing my chances of winning. What if, however, more entrants meant more prizes? Here's my solution, for every 30 unique individuals entering another prize will be added to the list. So if 31 people enter, I will add a second prize, 61 a third and if by some chance 91 or more people enter a fourth and final prize.

I know these sound like extremely ambitious numbers given my average blog traffic and that is the whole point. The more people enter, the better the prizes are for everyone so I'm hoping that this is the proper incentive for a bit of a viral effect, I guess we'll see. Oh, right the prizes...

First up is a Fully Bloomed pendant in any color of the winners choice. This is the only guaranteed prize.

With entrant number 31, I will add the Viva La Reine necklace to the pot.





With entrant number 61, a pair of The Queen's Feet barefoot sandals are included.








The last prize will only be added if 91 or more unique individuals enter the giveaway and it's a good one, a pair of In Bloom Ankle Corsets!
So that's it, remember the more people that enter the better the prizes get and this is not counting the extra entries each person can get, just actual people. If you want a chance at all four, you best help me spread the word about the sale and giveaway. I will make an announcement every time a new prize level has been achieved. You only have just over a week, so you better get on it!

***More prizes will be added, every 30 entries another In Bloom pendant will go into the prize pool***

I Hope You Like Looking At My Feet

The first pair of shoes I ordered came in, so I took some pictures. There are more of them on my flickr, but here's one of each of the newest designs to enter the TotusMel catalog. The first I've just decided to call 'The Queen's Feet' which would be a play on the Viva La Reine upon which they are based. I've made this motif so many times that it is really second nature to me. They turned out exactly as I had hoped, much more dramatic than the many crocheted versions I happened upon.
Next up, we have the first of the Ankle Corset designs. This one is based on my Portrait Of An Elegant Lady collar and will be called 'Portrait of an Ankle Corset'. They took quite a bit more time to tat up than the barefoot sandals and I think they look amazing with the shoes. I am still waiting for the stiletto sandals to arrive so that I can show them off with a different look.The last one to show off is the only piece not based on something I've already made. These ones started with the edging of a 40's era centerpiece, but evolved far past that. I added quite a few elements including the motif I call, In Bloom. As you might have guessed I used that as their name, the 'In Bloom Ankle Corset'. These too will get additional photos when the sandals arrive.

I'll be listing them on etsy soon and we'll see if they were worth all the effort. Though honestly, the challenge of creating them was quite a rush and I am so glad of all the advice and suggestions I've gotten throughout the process. I think I have a special surprise for you next week as well, I'm just working out the details, so stay tuned.

The Ankle Corsets

I managed to finish the first ankle corset using the design I showed off yesterday. Then I got a custom order so I had to stop work on the second one. Of course, I still have to wait for my shoes for them to have a proper photo shoot and I need to work out a better way to take pictures of my own feet as well. I think I am going to stick with ankle corset as the name for these pieces, but I still haven't settles on a price point.

When I do finally finish up this pair I am going to try to work out a barefoot sandal design that will have a toe loop as many of you have suggested. I do have fairly small feet, so it might be a challenge to devise a pattern that will fit more sizes than just mine. I probably won't add beads, at least not at first mostly because I don't like working with them all that much.

Good news on my instructable, I received an email this morning telling me that that it is now 'popular' and has been returned to the front page. This just means a little more exposure for the tatting. In a month or so, I plan on doing one that will teach split rings and spiral or Josephine chains. I'm also aware that I did not do a personal reveal post last week. I figured all my talk of tooth pain and jury duty was verging on too much information as it was so I skipped it. Tomorrow, I will have one for you, though I don't really think anyone is waiting on pins and needles to find out more mundane details of my life.