Corset Making Supplies

Corset Making Supplies
A corset can be worn in any way you imagine

Thursday, January 28, 2016

Bone Tipping Tool

A tool to apply the tips to corset bones with no effort...

Farthingales has one in production!

Many years ago Farthingales developed a bone cutting and tipping tool. It was a set of hand tooled, hardened steel dies that worked with the power of an "arbor press". They were expensive to produce and the unit was expensive to ship due to it remarkable weight, but they were a great tool for any costume or corset shop that needed to tip a lot of corset bones - both spring steel bones and spiral steel bones. Ultimately they became too expensive to have made as the selling price would have had to surpass $900.00.

It's now been several years since the Bone Cutting and Tipping tool has been made and the last of the dies have been sold. BUT...there is a new product on the horizon!

New dies have been created that will not cut the bones but do apply the "U" tips perfectly and with very little effort. They attach to pliers that you may already own but Farthingales will sell the pliers as well. These bone tipping dies will soon be in production and may be ready as soon as early March 2016

Now that these dies have been proven effective, a set is in development that will work with our eyelet setting press machine, so if pliers just are not an option for you - you can use an eyelet setter press.

No more wondering how to finish the ends of corset bones. No more balancing two sets of needle nose pliers, sticky dip or dabs of glue. These bone tipping dies create a neat and secure finish to the cut ends of corset bones!

When the Bone Tipping Dies are ready it will be announced on Facebook...likely with a special price Follow Farthingales on Facebook so you don't miss the opportunity.


https://www.facebook.com/Farthingales/


If you know any costumer or corset maker...pass this on!


Thursday, January 14, 2016

A Little Bit of Farthingales History

Every once in awhile I find a file I haven't seen in ages and I came across some pictures the other day of some rather distant past work....it does not seem that long ago, but it is.

Some memories...

This was piece that I worked on with Liz Gerds who built it - she's an amazing seamstress. We had some great collaboration while I was in L.A. it was there that I was introduced to Burlesque and we had several clients from that field of entertainment. I often did the cutting and Liz the sewing, we developed the designs together. This corset is black lace over white satin with exterior bone casings, a floating busk and beaded fringe that moved beautifully.

This awesome neck corset was made for Farthingales L.A. by the notorious Sue Nice of Sue Nice corsets - another amazing seamstress who was in L.A. at the time. This is just one of several pieces she did for us. Most of them matched with corsets we made or that she made. 


The corset above is one of several pink satin with black lace corsets that Sue Nice made for Farthingales. The lace patterns matched perfectly on all of them - Sue pays serious attention to detail.

This is just one of our production corsets - in the day when we made 80% of the corsets sold, and made them on the other side of the wall from the retail space. It was a great set-up - too bad the economy crashed in 2008. The photo was taken during a shoot with an up and coming musician and the white guitar was a perfect prop. These basic black corsets were made as waist cinchers, under busts, and over busts - they flew off the racks as they created serious shape.

Farthingales L.A. has now been closed for 5 years...hard to believe.

You can now find books on how to make corsets on the Farthingales website, we no longer make or sell them, but focus on selling corset making supplies.





Tuesday, January 12, 2016



Hello,

I am historical romance author Killarney Sheffield. I am delighted to be here today! As a historical romance author I share something in common with all of you. I love corsets! Corsets are a big part of history and historical romances, after all, all Regency, Victorian and Georgian ladies wore them. In addition to wearing them, getting in and out of them often proved exasperating, and a whole lot of fun to write about as an author.

Corsets come is all shapes and sizes, colors and materials. I recently saw an amazing hand embroidered one of mint green silk with pink panels and tiny fuchsia flowers sewn on it. I also came across one in black patterned with bright red roses, so well sewn that the pattern matched up perfectly when fastened. And don’t get me started on the lacings! I even discovered there is a right and a wrong way to tie the laces. Go figure!

Something that really surprised me during my research was the fact that women in the Regency, Georgian and Victorian era often wore a pregnancy corset. Women tried to hide their pregnancies as long as possible back then to avoid having to ‘lay in’, in other words retire to the country and not be seen in public until after the baby was born. The thought of compressing ones stomach like that with a growing fetus inside was horrifying.

I myself have worn a corset on exactly two occasions, my wedding day and at a large book award ceremony a few years ago. Being a farm gal I don’t have much call for a corset I suppose, it would be awfully uncomfortable to try and feed the horses and cattle in one I am thinking. However, because I write about periods in history where all women wore them they are something I have gotten a chance to admire on many occasion, especially now with the upcoming release of my 19th historical romance called, ‘Corseting The Earl’. An Earl in a corset you say? Highly unlikely and very unconventional I know, but trust me, I had a blast putting him in one! A little womanly payback to the male species is always fun, am I right?

Blurb: Pippa Nickle is a merchant’s daughter who has made a grave mistake. When the chance to leave her little town to help with a cousin’s nuptials arises, Pippa hops on a mail coach grateful the trip will buy her some time to figure out what to do about her predicament. That is until she ends up seated across from a Mrs. Percephany Doyale who is not exactly what she appears.

Lord Heath Sedgewick has been put in charge of finding the ringleader to the corrupt faction willing to kill to put Queen Charlotte on the throne. When he meets Miss Pippa Nickle he is hard pressed to decide if she is a friend, or a foe. Either way, falling for the doe eyed girl is not part of his mission.

Can Pippa be trusted to keep Heath’s secret? Or will falling in love expose them both?

Excerpt:

“Could we please not talk about it?” Pippa held up a corset of black satin, whalebone and threaded with bright yellow ribbon. “I would rather forget it all happened.”

“That will be mighty hard in a few months’ time.”

“Be that as it may, I refuse to think any more on the subject, or discuss it with the likes of you.” She thrust the corset into his hands. “Put this around your middle.”

He eyed the contraption in his hands as if it were going to bite. “You are not serious?”

“You can never hope to fit into your gowns without a corset. They are made for a woman after all and you…” She swallowed, her cheeks heating. “do not have any, ah, curves.”

Holding the material betwixt his thumb and index finger he lay it against his flat stomach. “Man was not designed to have curves,” he groused.

Pippa snickered. “Be a big boy now.” She made quick work of the lacings and braced her foot in the small of his back. “Now exhale.” When he let out a whoosh of breath she pulled as hard as she could on the laces and cinched them up tight.

“Dear God,” Heath grunted. “No wonder women… are always fainting. How does one… breathe… in this thing?”

“With great difficulty,” she snapped, tossing the gown over his head.

Heath adjusted the two rolls of cloth supposed to resemble breasts in the chemise before tugging the high neckline of the dress in place. “Do you think these breasts are too small?”

Pippa snorted. “I am sure I would not have an appropriate opinion on the subject, Sir.”

He gave her a quizzical look. “Why not? You are a woman after all.”

Her face heated. “Do you go around ogling other men’s, ah, attributes?”

Drawing himself up tall he shot her a wounded look. “Certainly not! What do you take me for? One of those reprobates who like young boys?”

“Well you are wearing a dress, Sir.” She snickered.

He let out a huff of air. “Well, that aside, no I have never leered over another man.”

“Good for you.” Shaking her head she fastened the buttons down the back of the dress. “And in answer to your absurd question, the size of one’s breasts are neither here, nor there a consideration. After all I am afraid us women are stuck with what the good Lord gave us.”

“Hum… ‘Tis truly a shame the good Lord is so generous with some and meager with others. I myself think these need be a little larger. I mean to draw the eye from my face.” Heath turned sideways in the mirror, studying his profile with a thoughtful expression.

“I do believe you have crossed into inappropriate subject matter again, Sir. I must say it is beginning to be an awful habit, and more than a little disconcerting.” Pippa looked away and busied herself tidying up the room.

“Well, I am only trying to be a convincing specimen of the female persuasion. How can I hope to cajole any useful information out of a man without a tempting distraction now?”

Pippa made a face at him in the mirror. “You could try using your brain; most women have those, I hear.”



About Author Killarney Sheffield:

Killarney is a Canadian prairie farm gal. Corseting The Earl is her 19th published historical romance novel. In addition to penning romances she breeds Appendix Quarter Horses, raises a family of 5 kids, rescues horses and is often found wrangling the cats and reading.refuse to think any more on the subject, or discuss it with the likes of you.” She thrust the corset into his hands. “Put this around your middle.”
He eyed the contraption in his hands as if it were going to bite. “You are not serious?”
“You can never hope to fit into your gowns without a corset. They are made for a woman after all and you…” She swallowed, her cheeks heating. “do not have any, ah, curves.”
Holding the material betwixt his thumb and index finger he lay it against his flat stomach. “Man was not designed to have curves,” he groused.
Pippa snickered. “Be a big boy now.” She made quick work of the lacings and braced her foot in the small of his back. “Now exhale.” When he let out a whoosh of breath she pulled as hard as she could on the laces and cinched them up tight.
“Dear God,” Heath grunted. “No wonder women… are always fainting. How does one… breathe… in this thing?”
“With great difficulty,” she snapped, tossing the gown over his head.
Heath adjusted the two rolls of cloth supposed to resemble breasts in the chemise before tugging the high neckline of the dress in place. “Do you think these breasts are too small?”
Pippa snorted. “I am sure I would not have an appropriate opinion on the subject, Sir.”
He gave her a quizzical look. “Why not? You are a woman after all.”
Her face heated. “Do you go around ogling other men’s, ah, attributes?”
Drawing himself up tall he shot her a wounded look. “Certainly not! What do you take me for? One of those reprobates who like young boys?”
“Well you are wearing a dress, Sir.” She snickered.
He let out a huff of air. “Well, that aside, no I have never leered over another man.”
“Good for you.” Shaking her head she fastened the buttons down the back of the dress. “And in answer to your absurd question, the size of one’s breasts are neither here, nor there a consideration. After all I am afraid us women are stuck with what the good Lord gave us.”



Anyway, if you love corsets and historical romance feel free to check out my new release Corseting The Earl.

Thank you for having me,

Historical romance author Killarney Sheffield.


Facebook: Killarney’s Kozy Book Korner

Twitter: @authorkillarney

Books available online Amazon, Itunes, B&N, and anywhere ebooks and paperbacks are sold and in paperback at your local Chapters, Coles and Indigo stores.



Thursday, January 7, 2016

International Shopping - what to be aware of

The internet has opened up the world as our market place. We no longer have only local options, but can "shop on-line" and this is awesome because we can get things we may not have access to in our village, town or city, however there are things to be aware of when buying from somewhere else!

Sometimes we can see a product on-line and think "What an amazing price." and before thinking any further we click the "Add to Cart" and complete our purchase. We wait excitedly for delivery and sometimes we wait and wait and wait. The product arrives and it's perfect...or not. But most importantly is the arrival of our Credit Card Statement and discovering what we really paid for that item.

Always check the value of the foreign currency before you press that "Buy Now" button! Always, Always...Always!

This is especially important when you live in Canada but also when you live in other countries. Right now the Canadian dollar is pretty much at an all time low as far as "value compared to other currencies" and this means you will pay a lot more than you expect when ordering from another country.

Here's an example to make this a bit more clear...and a bit scary!

Let's say I want to order a 12" busk.

A US source has them for $13.50 USD
A UK source has them for    7.60 British Pounds
A Canadian source            $16.20 CAD

Well, it seems pretty obvious that the UK price is the best! But..."google" the term Currency Convertor and you'll get something that looks like this:


1 Canadian Dollar equals
0.71 US Dollar
Chart of exchange rate values over time


See the two boxes...enter the amount of the item you want to purchase in the top box, then using the drop down menu (that shows "Canadian Dollar" in the image above), chose the Country that you are ordering from. Then use the drop down menu for the second box and find your own currency, click on it. The amount in your home currency will change...to reflect an estimate that is close to what you will pay...but not exactly, what you will pay.

The currency exchange rate is constantly changing and this is why you will only get an estimate. The exact rate of exchange will be determined by the Credit Card company at the moment they process the transaction.

The results today, for the sample product above were:
A US source has them for $13.50 USD                           = $18.50 CAD
A UK source has them for    7.60 British Pounds            = $15.58 CAD
A Canadian source            $16.20 CAD                           = $16.20 CAD

So, it looks like the UK option is still the best deal...but now you have to add shipping to wherever you are. How do you get this amount...go through the ordering process until the Shipping Fee comes up and then plug the amount into the currency convertor and add the calculated amount to your product cost in your own currency.

Then of course...you don't know if the items from each company are identical in quality...and that too determines "a good deal".

World currencies have widely varying values - always  use a currency convertor...ALWAYS