40 DTG-A Critique

What To Do?


Well, now that the euphoria of getting into the mock-up and the excitement that it worked and did what I want it to has worn off, I've been able to do some thinking.  And some criticizing of my work.


I don't want to get so wrapped up in the fact that it works, to substitute 'good enough' for what I REALLY want.  Otherwise custom making this puppy is pointless.


When I tried it on with the crappy ribbon, and DH pulled to get me into the thing, the ribbon snapped.  Ego bust, yes.  But, I can honestly say that it really was because of shoddy ribbon and not that I'm a fat girl trying to squeeze into a tiny corset.  I could breath.  I was comfortable.  I could even eat and not worry that something would burst loose.  I did, in fact, bend over and pick up my 2 year old with it on.  So the ribbon snapping curtailed pulling down the rest of the lacing to really see where I stood on pulling it together.


So we got into it again today.  This time with real ribbon.  The nice satin kind with bound edges.  I say we because this IS a two-person job.  Remember the scene in Titanic where Rose is clutching the bedpost while mama dismisses the maid and cranks her down into the corset?  Yes, THAT.


So with real ribbon in place, DH laced me down.  And then pulled up some more slack.  And then pulled up some more.  Until the 2 sides of the back were touching all the way down.  And that's when a problem I noticed last night became obvious.  Right where bra straps would meet (if there were straps), the corset gaps outward.  From my view, you could see my bra down the gaps.  Like I would need to take in the seams about 1/2" for the top 2 inches or so on the seam between pieces 2 and 3.

6  -  7  -  4  -  3  -  2  -  9 (center)  -  2  -  3  -  4  -  7  -  6

However, DH solved the problem by saying, "Or if it were smaller, and I could lace it up tighter, it'd be like this," and unceremoniously pinched the side seams.  


And when he did that, Da Girls suddenly looked 20 again.


Let me diverge here with a very honest moment.  We all know that breasts travel south given any length of time.  And that travel pattern is accelerated the larger and heavier they are.  And it's sped even further by breast feeding.  All of this applies to Da Girls.  So any attempts to lift them back to their former glorious position above my stomach will be met with strong resistance.  I'm happy to find as much support as I do with my undergarments, but there's alway The Slope.  You know what I mean.  The obvious, inward, L curve between where your chest left off and your breast begins.  That shelf.


But when DH pinched those sides, The Slope disappeared and Da Girls came up and to attention.  In a nice, well-rounded, 20-year-old, perkiness abounds kind of way.  Not a bursting out, heaving bosom, enough to rival The Tudors kind of way.  Just, enough for me to realize that my top could fit better than it does now.


Sigh.


And the fact that the lacings are touch all the way down means I have no where to go.  If I gain weight, a corset can always be left to gap in the back and a modesty panel sewn under the lacings.  But if I lose any weight, I'm SOL.  Which is something I'm actively trying to do.  And because the planned embroidery pattern sprawls across all the pieces, it's not like I could just take in those side seams later.  So I need to plan for the dress to fit 6 weeks from now.


Sigh again.


Lastly, there's bunching lines in front under the bust and in back at the spot where my bust line comes around to the back and the line where my waist pivots out to my hip.  In traditional sewing, this usually means something's too tight and it's pulling.  But extensive online research regarding corsets reveals that this happens because of shoddy, cheap boning.  Which plastic is.  Steal coil boning is the recommended fix for this.  I'd looked into buying some online previously, but the serious corset supply manufacturers (several in Europe) would all take 4-6 weeks to ship it to me.  I looked online today and found a ebay supplier shipping out 20 feet with 24 end tabs (perfect for my 12 pieces) for $10.  So I ordered it.  I figure I have to send the semi finished top to mom to embroider so I have until it comes back to put the boning in.  If the ebay order isn't here in time I can always just use the plastic boning.


So all the sighing because...I really need to make another mock up and try it with another size cut down.  I know, I know.  Y'all are impatiently waiting for The Real Thing.  I am too.  This is the most tedious part of sewing.  But I want to feel and look FABULOUS in this dress.  Who knows when I may ever get the chance to wear something like it again.  And I want my work to speak for itself.  So Mock Up, Take 4...here I come.


PS-How on EARTH did I ever imagine I was going to get this all done in the five days my parents were here to send it home with my mom?  That was right brain thinking right there.  Yeesh.

41 DTG-Mock Up, Take 3, Continued

Now, with right sides together (so all the seam backs face out), I pin the lining and the outer layer together.  There's a few guidance notches along the way and the seam edges to help line everything up.

To stitch together the top and bottom edges, the pattern calls for a zipper foot.  A zipper foot sits to one side or the other (depending on where you want it) of the needle.  A regular foot has plates on either side of the needle, to hold the fabric down flat against the feeder plate of the sewing machine, so the layers stay together and feed evenly through the machine.  But, when you are sewing on a zipper, that little ridge of teeth being pushed down by the foot would get caught in the feeder and wouldn't feed through properly.  By using a zipper foot, the foot will only push the fabric down on one side of the needle, not both, allowing the zipper side to not get caught in the feeder.  This comes in handy for my purposes because the close contact with the ends of the boning would act just like a zipper and get caught in the feeder.

Zipper foot          -          Standard or zigzag foot

Sewing together the lower edges

Me-hard at work :)

I trimmed up the seam allowances where they stuck
out beyond the line of the garment edge

Here's those same seams with the allowance
protrusions trimmed off

Essentially, the top is now a tube of fabric I need to pull inside itself, to turn right side out.  I press the upper and lower edges.  I learned a few lessons right here.  1)  I had put the boning into the lining curved out side facing the finished seams, which would be correct if the boning was going into the outer layer and then the lining sewn to the back of that.  BUT, it's in the lining, which will be right side against my skin (so that the wrong side with the seams faces the underside of the outer layer).  So I really need to put the boning in so it appears to be curving up toward the unfinished side.  2)  I really need to reinforce the seam where the semi-sweetheart neckline curves between the bust and then clip to the curve here because it's a really stretched area with a lot of pressure on the curve.  I'll explain this more when I make The Real Thing.

It's starting to look much more like the finished product.

The only 2 edges I need to finish binding are the back edges.  The pattern calls for the folded under lining edge to be slip stitched by hand to the seam of the outer layer, but since this is a mock up, I just sloppy baste it to tack them together.  It's not attractive, but it's a mock up.

The pattern also calls for the top and bottom stitches to be top stitched 1/4" from the edges to hold the pressed over edge in place and keep it from rolling on itself.  Again, it's just a mock up and not something I'm going to waste my time on right now.

Last is to insert the grommets on piece 8, but I'm just going to thread some ribbon through the material, instead of wasting my grommets.  Once they're crushed onto the material, I won't be able to reuse them on The Real Thing.  The pattern calls for 10 grommets on each side, but I'll use 12-14 to get the ribbon spaced closer together.

Back into my spanx and bra for...The Moment of Truth!!

DH pulled it tight at the top just to see how much play I had.
Let's just say Da Girls were trying to meet people.

I've got a few symmetry issues to work out at the tops of the cups,
but that comes with more careful sewing on The Real Thing.

What do you think?

To Do List

• How much play do I have?
• Make adjustments if necessary-Mock Up, Take 4
• How large are the embroidery pattern designs?  Which ones would work best for the look I want?
• Lay out what I'd like done where somehow (tracing and pinning to completed mock up?)
• Order embroidery pattern
• Mom get materials-Hancock's sale on 50% off Sulky threads starts Jan 27th
• Make clean pattern copies of much worked pieces (so far 4 and 7)
• Skirt pattern work - assemble and iron
• Layout pattern pieces on lining and taffeta
• Cut final top pieces from taffeta and lining

43 DTG-Mock Up, Take 3, Continued

Now that I've made the adjustments to the hip lines so this portion of the back is now also just touching (not overlapping), I'm going to proceed with the full mock-up to get a feel for the lacing up play in the back.


Using the modifications I made to the pattern pieces, I've cut a second set of pieces from the muslin to act as my lining layer and assembled them in the same manner I did the outer layer.  The lining layer just does not have piece 8 (back band) on the edges of the back (see 46 Days To Go).


The lining does, however, contain the strips of boning that give the garment it's support and shape.  Although I intend to wear my spanx and my strapless bra, every little bit of support to hold Da Girls up and in helps. Plus this will (hopefully) shrink the appearance of my waist by highlighting that it IS smaller than my bust and my hips, thereby making me look...better?  Maybe. Suffice it to say, I'm not thin and angular anymore, like I was in my wedding dress when I could afford to go without the undergarments because what the dress offered was plenty when everything was already standing on end.


Anyway.


I'm going to put boning in the lining and once I've determined everything, take it out and reuse it on The Real Thing.  To insert the boning, I need to sew channels for it to slip into.

After each piece of lining is sewn together and the seams pressed,
I top stitch the seam allowance down, 3/8" away from the seam.

This is what 'top stitching' looks like from the finished side
- basically just another sewn line next to the seam

This is done for a variety of reasons - looks, reinforcing the seam,
tacking down the seam in thicker material (jeans),
or in my case to create a channel for boning.

Plastic boning comes in a canvas sleeve

Some patterns call for the casing the boning comes in to be sewn to the lining and then the plastic kept in the casing.  Since this pattern calls for channels to be made from the lining seam allowances, I'll remove the plastic part and discard the canvas outer layer.


The pattern calls for me to measure and cut pieces of boning the same length as each seam (10 pieces) then to cut 1" from each end of the boning and round the tip off.  Since this is collectively a waste of 20" of boning (2" per piece x 10 pieces), I'll be measuring the pieces 1" from each end before cutting them.  Duh.


I round off the edges using a nail file or piece of course grit sand paper.  I want to be sure and avoid sharp edges.  A lot of weight is riding on the pressure points of the boning, which could cause them to push through if there's any corners.


The lining would over hang the back edges of the corset where piece 8 was sewn  on and the seams were pressed under.  To solve this, the pattern calls for the lining back edge to be pressed under by 5/8", and to top stitch the seam allowance down 3/8" away from the folded crease, forming 2 more channels for boning (and providing another opportunity for support at the lacing edges).

Back edge channel for boning

I follow the same procedure to cut 2 pieces of boning and round them off.  The pattern also called for 2 pieces of boning in similar casings on the front inside edges, but this was when the front was 2 separate pieces that attached by hook and eye.  Now that my front is one solid piece, this probably won't work for a place for boning.  All total, I've got 12 pieces of boning.  Note that the original McCall's pattern (with only 7 pieces) only had 8 pieces of boning.  So I've gained 4 more pieces of boning and more support with this Vogue pattern.


I insert all the pieces of boning in their channels and...

Baste 5/8" from the lower and upper edges across each of the 12 channels

Tops of a few channels that are basted - the corset
is naturally curling up toward the camera now because of the curve of the plastic inserts.

Almost there!  But I'm exhausted and have a long day ahead tomorrow.  Have to stop somewhere, so thus it is.

To Do List

• Stitch outer layer and lining together
• Turn right side, press
• Stitch together back seams
• Thread ribbon where grommets should be
• Try on!!
• Pray I don't need any more modifications (cause that'd be Mock Up 4)