How many pieces of fabric does it take to make a corset?

I kinda fell behind there!

Well I shall start at the very beginning, a very good place to start.

Already cut out here are the skort (or culotte or shorts that look like a skirt) for the Snow Princess costume and the various parts of the corset.

I've set the skort aside  and concentrated on the corset.

So just how much fabric is in a corset?  About 4 layers.  The cream coloured fabric is Ticking, a stiff, heavy cotton and there are two layers of it, the fairy fabric is a Flannel and the lavender is the outer fabric.

The next step is to baste the layers together,  first baste the 2 layers of ticking together, and then baste the flannel to the outer fabric.  Flannel grabs most fabrics and keeps them from slipping and sliding.

Now that everything is basted, it's time to pin the outer  pieces together and sew it, but not the ticking.

Almost a corset...

Why didn't I sew the ticking together?  Well, before I can sew it together I must Laminate it and mark where my bones will go.  Below the larger piece (my center front) with the bust line is laminated, and the other one next to it is not (but does have its bone casings sewn).

Laminating is a process where you stitch row upon row of stitches.  It stiffens the fabric and makes it stronger, after its been laminated the ticking layer of the corset can pretty much stand up on its own.

A better shot of the Laminating and a bone casing:

The next step is to sew together the laminated pieces and measure and cut my bones.  I use steel bones.  The plastic ones are cheep and tend to over time, conform to your body shape and then start to bow out at weird angles.  Steel bones do not do that.  There are two types.  White flat bones, which are usually only used in straight areas (like where the grommets go up the back), because the only bend 2 ways, front and back.  Any curved seams, or seams that may be straight, but would be on a curvy part on the body (like side seams) I use Spiral bones, which bend every way :)

Unless you have a bone cutting machine, or access to one, here are the tools you'll need to cut your bones.  That and some good upper arm strength.  The flat steel bones are really hard to cut through by hand, the spirals not so much.  I had access to a cutter to cut my bones thankfully.

Here are all my bones!  Each are marked  as to which seem the go to, so now its just a matter of finishing the corset!  But that is a post for another day.

What becomes of Snow?

Well all that is left for the Jem dress is one final fitting and it's done, all that is left on the dark farie is to double check my hem, hem it and make the hat and staff.  All that is left on Rapunzel is to tighten the upper sleeve (and if I can find some lace aplique I can live with, attach the flower motif along the front and hem.

So I guess the only thing left to do is start another piece!

My Model Laina Martin who you may remember from this post wanted to be Snow Princess Hayate from The Shining Hearts game (a Japanese RPG I believe).  So that is what I am starting this week!

Concept art from the game:

My sketch:

 Here we go!  This one involves another full corset, so I can only hope it will go faster then the Rapunzel one.

(Congratulations,) you're on your way out, from here on in I'll be taking the lead, (Congratulations,) you're on your way out

I'm bound to win; I was born to succeed

Congratulations to me, (congratulations to me

Congratulations!

-The misfits.

This can only mean I am nearing the end of this costume! Which in fact I am.  The asymmetrical purple binding on the collar and hem is attached, and the lining is hemmed and bound as well.

The front

The back

All that is left is to make the belt and legwarmer!  So here we have my green fabric laid out and my belt pattern on top of it.  That will be double the width of that pattern and double the length (there will be a seam up the middle of the belt)

Here is my leg warmer pattern, and the elastic that will hold it onto the leg if all goes well.  I've since sewn it up with a zigzag stitch (straight stitches do not move and will just pop, but the zigzag has a little more give). I hope to fit this on her soon, hem it and be done!

And here is the final piece, now on the proper sized judy so as not to stretch it out.  I will probably be adding some loops to hold the belt in place better as she walks, but other then that, it's complete.

The front

The back

I'm a designing woman (I've got what it takes), I'm a designing woman (I make my own breaks), I'm a designing woman (designing woman)

And I've got designs on you!
-The Misfits

Well I have designs on a Judy, at least.  Here is Pizzaz's dress,  as it was last Thursday. I'd started cutting into the hem.

Here is the back, I had left it uncut at the time, because I wanted to be sure it would be long enough for my model to wear. I don't want any "wardrobe malfunctions" and neither does she.

And here is the collar.  Which started out as a rectangle with the neck hole designed into it, and later became a crazy pelt looking thing.

What a mess it makes!  The fabric is fuzzy, so there was suddenly way more dust in the studio. :)


Fast forward to Monday when my model came in for a fitting! And Point of Light productions came in to take photos.

Working with stretch fabric has its share of issues, in this case, leaving it zipped up on a judy  that was probably too big for it over the weekend, may have stretched out the fabric, that or the fabric just stretched when I sewed it. Either way, I had to take in the sides, which meant removing and redoing my invisible zipper.

It also gave me the chance to make sure the skirt was long enough in back and therefore finish cutting out the hem line.  

It also gave me the chance to measure her leg for that one green sock Pizzazz wears (oh the 80's I love you so, but you had some..special fashion ideas). To make the leg warmer, simply take measurements going down the leg (I did 10 cm apart). Then later, on paper, draw a line, then divide the measurements by 2 putting 1/2 on each side of the line. When that is done, fold your paper in half along the line, join the edges of each measurement together and cut out.

That's that for now!  Today, I got a little busy with work and didn't break to take pictures, but I can say that the legwarmer is cut out, the hem is finished, and bound, the collar is attached and the lining awaits attaching!
Woo!

I updated my blog stats, now anyone should be able to comment and the time zone is correct.

Hooray!

Website

I've started work on an actual website!  Here's hoping it works out well, I've never done it before.  I'll be launching it officially by April 2012 if all goes according to plan, which it has too.

The secret is out!

So I will share a secret with you. It's probably not really a secret, but it's fun to say it is.  My mother taught me this sewing secret.  I'm sure if you have ever sewn you know the mind breaking horror and frustration that can come with putting in a zipper, especially an invisible zipper.  If you don't, consider yourself lucky and believe me when I say they are evil.

Invisible zippers are tricky at best, even now with as many as I have put in to date, I still will almost always put one side in backwards the fist time around.  There is that and if they are just pinned, they can slip and move and be a pain. So my mother taught me to pin first and then go in and baste that sucker down. I works remarkably well!  Some of the girls at school didn't even realize there was a zipper in my side seam until they saw the pull dangling at the top.

My own trick after basting is to use a regular zipper foot  to sew it in and not an invisible zipper foot. I tried in class when they taught us to use a invisible zipper foot, and it had disastrous consequences. I find if you move your needle position over almost as far as it can go (but not all the way over) there will be a millimeter or two between it and the edge of the zipper foot, and that extra distance between foot and needle will bend over the edge of the invisible zipper and get a closer stitch.