This is one of those posts inspired by mild outrage at the price of a commercial version of a product vs. the materials and effort actually involved in making it. The product in question are Poizen Industries’ Vixxsin corset leggings, which are lovely but could be made a teensy bit cheaper than $50.

All you’d need is an inexpensive pair of leggings, a couple strips of contrasting fabric for the inner panel, some ribbon, and some grommet tape.* Sew the contrast fabric to the sides of the leggings. Sew the grommet tape along the sides of the fabric, hiding the raw edges. Lace with ribbon. Boom; done. Maybe an hour’s worth of work.

The leggings are nice because they stretch, so it isn’t difficult to maneuver them through a sewing machine. You could try the same technique with trousers made of other material, but it might be harder to keep the fabric from bunching up. If you’re making the clothing from scratch, just apply the contrast fabric and grommet tape before sewing up the inner seams.

The same technique can be used for other articles of clothing, such as jacket sleeves or the sides of a dress. Instead of appliqueing contrast fabric and tape on top of the article, you can also cut it and apply the tape to the raw edges. There’s a tutorial at Trash to Couture showing that method. (There’s an even simpler method at Aliennation which doesn’t even use the tape.)

This is an inexpensive, easy way to add a little pop to clothing, and a great way of giving a makeover to an item you’re bored with.

*Grommet tape (also called lacing tape) can be found at fabric stores or corset-supply retailers like Farthingales and Corset Making, where they’ll also have long laces if you’d prefer something sturdier than ribbon.

1. In Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Master originally planned to escape the Hellmouth through which ritual?
   A) The Ritual of Restoration
   B) The Harvest
   C) The Ascension
   D) The Rites of Gordobach
   E) The Sacrifice of Three
2. Siouxsie and the Banshees’ hit “Dear Prudence” was a cover of a song originally written and performed by what band?
3. Tartarus is the deep abyss below Hades where the particularly wicked receive punishment. This flaming river surrounds it.
   A) Acheron
   B) Cocytus
   C) Lethe
   D) Phlegethon
   E) Styx
4. After Ash loses his hand in The Evil Dead II, what tool does he replace it with?
5. The Kremlin is said to be haunted by the ghost of this tsar, whose appearance is a portent of disaster for Russian rulers.
   A) Peter the Great
   B) Nicholas II
   C) Catherine the Great
   D) Constantine I
   E) Ivan the Terrible
6. Every Halloween, Linus van Pelt waits for what character to appear?
7. In The Stand, where does Mother Abagail tell the survivors to establish a new society?
   A) Boulder, CO
   B) Seattle, WA
   C) Boston, MA
   D) Las Vegas, NV
   E) Lincoln, NE
8. George Lucas’ directorial debut was a film depicting a dystopian future where the populace is controlled with android police officers and mandatory drug use. Lucas alludes to its title in many of his other movies. What was it?
9. The “Book of the New Sun” series by Gene Wolfe relates the story of Severian, an apprentice in the Torturer’s Guild. The uniform of the guild is a cloak of this color, which inspires terror in common folk.
   A) Aquastor
   B) Fuligin
   C) Khetan
   D) Sardonyx
   E) Chrism
10. Which story by Poe begins with the sentence, “True!–nervous–very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?”

(Answers below the fold)

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