Mom's leaving in TWO days - yikes! I need to get an appropriate, fitted size figured out for the top, so I can get my final pieces cut out of the taffeta. I need to get these put together so I can layout what I want embroidered where and send the partly assembled top home with my mom for her to work them on her machine.
I'm also 2 different sizes on the pattern according to the large discrepancy between my bust and my waist/ribs, so I will need to blend from the largest point on one to the other, essentially making my own pattern pieces. I start by ironing my tissue pattern pieces on a dry, synthetic setting. Because they were so tightly folded, there are micro wrinkles that can make a difference in the fit lines if they are transferred to how I cut the material. Especially on such an exact fitting garment, I want to eliminate possible discrepancies.
Top (Garment A) - 5 pieces
- 1 - Side front
- 2 - Front
- 3 - Side back
- 4 - Back
- 5 - Back extension
Then I pinned my pieces to muslin. Material comes already folded width wise and then wrapped onto the bolt. So 60" wide fabric comes folded in half to be 30" wide and 45" wide is about 22".
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| 60" lilac fabric is 30" on the bolt. The silver organza on top is 45" fabric (22" on bolt). |
When cutting pieces, they are usually arranged on the instructions in a way to minimize how much yardage is needed. Most pieces require 2 of them to be cut from material, which is where the material bolts being folded in half comes in handy because this minimizes cutting. Front center pieces need to be pinned with the center line on the fold line of the fabric so when the piece is opened it is symmetrical.
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| Front piece - The center line is at the bottom |
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| Center piece unfolded The pattern is "half" the material which was cut on the center fold. |
It's important to lay pattern pieces out "with the grain" of the fabric so that seams match up, the garment lays well and forms where it's suppose to and so that the weave is all running in the same direction. Differences on fabric with a pattern or a texture will show up! Simply laying out the patterns the way the directions give is the easiest to ensure this.
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| Incorrect - the arrow on the pattern (grain line) should run parallel to the fold of the fabric |
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| Correct! - Although this "angles" the pattern piece across the fabric, the grainline is now parallel to the fabric fold |
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| All of my pieces cut out |
As I feared, this top is not as long as I'd like it to be. Although I could add length to each piece where the pattern indicates, that point is at the waist line, so I would also need to add height from the fullest point of the bust. Keep in mind the top and bottom edges are the raw material lines. The finished product will actually be 5/8" shorter on the top and bottom for the seams.
In the back, the edges are appropriately spaced at the waist. Once the edges are seamed, the pattern indicates there should be about a 2" gap where the laces would run (less depending upon how tightly I can get my friend to lace me into the thing at ball!). But there is a much wider gap at the top in the back. This isn't surprising since the front of the mock up has already indicated to me that this won't work for a full-figured bust without modifications. Lastly, I don't feel like I'm getting a good exact fit at the rib cage either. Grumph...
Mock-Up, Take 2
All of these conclusions led me to get out the Vogue pattern and make a mock up from it's top. I mostly expected this, which is why I think I put off sewing for 2 days, wasting valuable time while my mom was here. This and some psychological size issues, but we won't get into those. Suffice it to say that my mom is leaving in the morning, and I'm 98% sure I won't have a completed top done to send home with her. Thank God for the postal service and web chats.
I knew from the outset that this top would be easier to provide an exact fit because it is made up of more pieces. More pieces means more seams which means more places to make adjustments to the curvature of my hips, ribs and Da Girls. More seams also means more boning which is more support for Da Girls. And I could already see that the pattern pieces are longer as I cut them out. (The grainline pictures taken above are actually from the Vogue corset. Compare those to the cut out pieces of the McCall's pattern below it and you can see the length differences.)
Top (Garment B) -
- 2 - Middle front
- 3 - Side front
- 4 - Side
5 - Underflap- This piece will be eliminated, see next paragraph- 6 - Back
- 7 - Side back
- 8 - Back band
- 9 - Front
The Vogue pattern calls for hook and eye closures across the front seam and lacing up through grommets on the back seam. It was easy to modify the front to be one solid piece just by placing the center piece on the fold. This also eliminates the need for pattern piece #5. I also didn't like the severe dips of the sweetheart neckline in the Vogue pattern so I used the curve at the top of the McCall's pattern to cut the material.
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| You can see where I diverged from the severe sweetheart neckline and modified this front piece to have a curve similar to the McCall's top |
Once assembled, I was already much happier with the feel of this top!
Although it will need some finer details altered, I'm much more confident using the Vogue pattern for my top.
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| This side seam flares out a bit more than my natural curves, but it will be easy enough to alter that seam on the final product |
To Do List
- Cut mock up lining of Vogue top
- Assemble lining, add boning, and sew lining and outer layer together as pattern instructs
- Proceed with enclosing the back edges of the mock up
- Try on and fine tune!
- Proceed with top from real material and lining
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