Cracknutter - emiliacouture commission piece

The idea for this piece started out as a beefeater uniform combined with a tutu in colour of purple and acid green. The working title was a "Beefeater on Acid", but the uniform evolved more into British palace guard, very classic Nutcracker ballet tin soldier look, hence the name "Cracknutter". ;)

The OOAK outfit consists of numerous mix and match items: an acid green tutu of finest silk chiffon with asymmetrical neckline revealing on breast, a deep purple faux snakeskin uniform coat with golden embroidery, a black vintage fur hat lined with acid green velvet and decorated with a removable feather pin and a embroidered vinyl chin strap, a set of purple sequin bra and high waist hot pants with garters supporting vibrant purple net stockings, a black vintage fur purse with golden chain embellishments, and last but not the least buckled over knee boots of soft black leatherette.

Modelled by Sybarite Queen B. *The Superdoll props (Ban the Hunt rifle and Cross shoes) not included.

This was a commission piece and hence already sold. I have some commission appointments open from June! Recerve your appointment now!

 

See more photos at the Cracknutter flickr set.

Dark Thoughts - emiliacouture Japan charity gown

I'm happy to tell you that I'm much recovered and back on the saddle again. I cannot say that was able to take it as slow as the doctor ordered, as I did put in long hours working on my newest creation, but I did try to take a break every hour and mind my posture while working.

The horrors of Japan: the earthquake, the tsunami that followed, the fires and the unspeakable risk of nuclear destruction have left my mind lingering in Dark Thoughts. I channelled these thoughts into a black and alarm yellow gown and will donate the profits to help Japan. *The gown is already sold.

The "Dark Thoughts" gown is made for Sybarite dolls and consists of a translucent and long sleeved corset bodysuit with garters and closed from the back with a row of buttons, net stockings with wide decorative lace, black and yellow shoes, a voluminous and richly rouched tulle petticoat that consumed more than three meters of tulle, and a sequinned over skirt with two trails. These parts can either be mixed and matched or worn together as a full and luxurious gown. This creation is also the very first to carry the embroidered em'lia logo tag. The fashion is photographed on Sybarite Queen B who I temporarily flocked with a matching yellow KatSilk flock.

 

See more photos at the Dark Thoughts flickr set.

Taking a break

It has now been nearly a month since I released the last doll I made for the Insectopia collection and many have been wandering what is taking so long with the third doll in the series. I did tell people I was taking a small break after my last doll was done, but as I didn't expect this break to become so long I never really told why. Of course it's good to let one's mind rest a bit between the pieces, but the real reason is that I had hurt my back already when making the first doll, the Damselfly. The two weeks I spend 24/7 sewing miniature sequins locked up my spine and muscles tight and the next week working on the Orchard Spider didn't help either.

I thought a week of rest would do the trick, but it didn't. With the pain and immobility growing by the day I finally went to a doctor, who send to a chiropractic and it turned out I had 2 facet locks on my spine, which explained the blinding pain quite well. In addition the nerve pain has caused all the muscles in my back and shoulders to cramp. The chiropractic opened the facet lock, but the overall damage would take months of physiotherapy to heal. Instead of working on my art project 24/7 I now have a regular schedule of physio, swimming and pilates to keep me occupied. I should be able to work soon, but I'll need to take it slow. I apologise to everyone if this will delay the commissions scheduled for this Spring, but you will be notified of changes in the time table if any when your appointment time arrives.

Now, before you say anything, I know it's not healthy working like I do, consumed by the inspiration and forgetting everything else, but that's what I live for. I'm afraid that trying to slow down the process and giving myself time to rest will take the fire out of the inspiration and it'll just die out, but naturally, in order to continue my work, that is exactly what I'll need to learn how to do. Damselfly and Orchard Spider were both born in a spur of inspiration and I forgot myself so totally it was almost like they forced themselves out of me without my conscious effort and now I'm paying the price. Of course I'd prefer not to be in such pain, but on the other hand, I would do it again. I'm really happy how these two turned out.

And to give you hope of things to come, here are some sneak peeks of the material testing for the remaining 3 creatures in this collection. And don't worry too much about me. The worse is over and I'm getting back into the saddle already. Just need to take it easy!