Bustier Hibernation and a Quick Project

Here it is, unfinished.  I know I said it would be done at the end of March, but I just can't take any more bustier sewing.  Therefor this project is going in to hibernation.  I want to get things for Me Made May 2012 squared away before I wrestle this project into submission.

My frustration lies in the fact that my lining and garment aren't lining up and the hook and eye tape is pulling funny.  I need a break and so I'm taking one.

On Sunday I worked on the bustier for about an hour and it felt like I was banging my head against a brick wall.  I put the bustier away and I pulled out this lovely purple cotton blend jersey that I purchased a while back.  Then I looked up this awesome dolman sleeve top tutorial  from Merricks Art.  In about an hour I had completed a great top.  I love an instant gratification project.

It's super comfy and I can add it to my me made tops.  Yes three tops! I am going to make at least one if not two more of these as they will be great to wear to work.

I am looking to maybe stencil something fun on this top.  I found this great freezer paper stencil tutorial on Freshly Picked.  I was thinking an easy old heart or maybe something more me, maybe a unicorn?  I don't know the possibilities are endless.

Bustier III: Cups and Casings

My hook and eye tape finally arrived in the mail the other day.  I have enough for about three bustier tops, but I'll sock away the extra for a rainy day.

Things are going slow on the bustier front.  We've been busy and the weather has been so nice that Simon and I have spent a lot of time outside.  I have been making progress and here is what's been accomplished this week.

The seam allowances are too small to use as a casing for the boning I bought so I had to whip up some casing to sew into the bustier.  I made them about 1/2" wide, my boning is 1/4" and after I sew them in I'll lose a couple of 8ths of an inch.

All Pinned and ready for the machine.

Here's the right side of the bustier before I ironed it.  You can barely see the top stitching.

Here's the wrong side.  For having to improvise this part of the pattern I am really pleased with how it came out.

I was going to but in the bra cups next, but realized that the back band and the top half of the cups lined up after I had pinned one in.  I back peddled, pulled out a million pins and started over on the back band.

Now the bra cups were a pain in my side.  I've sewn curved seams before (the Steffi Jacket) but this was a whole new bag of suck.  The center seam on the bottom of the cup has to line up with the seam on the bodice part.  Then the seam that runs across the middle of the cup has to line up with the seam were the bodice and the back band are sewn together.  Oh, and don't forget that the center of the bodice meets yp with the top inside edge of the cup.

However after all of that I am quite pleased with how it all came out.  The best part is that all of my bits fit where the should.  

Next on the list of to dos:

-Straps

-inserting the boning

-attaching the lining

-attaching the hook and eye tape

-hemming or finishing the bottom, i'm thinking Bias tape, but we'll see.

Bustier II: Sewing the Easy Bits

I have been diligently working on my bustier top.  All of the supplies are purchased and are either in my apartment or on their way to my apartment (I did end up buying that turquoise hook and eye tape) now all I can do is sew.

I cut out the interfacing and fused it to the pieces.  There is something almost zen like to ironing fusible interfacing on to your pattern pieces.  I like the magic of the glue melting on to the fabric and making it stiff. (Ok, maybe it's a bit weird, but I like ironing anyway so fusible interfacing is an exciting twist on an old favorite.)  The one thing about this pattern that I have found a bit tedious is that there is no seam allowance.  You can see in the above photo that I had to measure and cut around the pattern pieces.  

I decided that since I have all of these little pieces that I need to sew together before I can piece them together I would sew them all at once.  

I also decided to sew the lining too.  I mean there all the same pieces and the same fabric why make the bustier only to have to sew the lining.  

The part I'm a little bit dreading with this project is sewing in the cups.  

Sewing them together was really easy. 

Really easy and kind of fun to watch the two dimensional pieces become a three dimensional item.  And the best part is they fit.  I mean who could resist trying on a freshly sewn bra cup.  Too bad Simon wasn't quick enough with the camera.  I'm sure I looked pretty funny holding up a bra cup to my chest with a quizzical look on my face. 

The next part is what I'm calling, "sewing the difficult bits".  Here is my list of sewing to dos:

-Make casings for boning 

-Sew casings to top

-Sew cups to top

-Insert boning

-Attach straps

-Attach hook and eye tape

-Attach Lining  

-Hem or whatever I finally decided to do at the bottom

Wish me luck!

New Project: Bustier Top

Burda Style

I've Picked my next project.  This is another Burda Style pattern.  I've had my eye on this top for awhile.  It looks simple enough and is even rated novice.  But I'm wondering where Burda Style got that one from because after looking at the pattern I would have rated this as intermediate.  The thing has princess seams, boning and a lining, although that part isn't obvious even in the directions.  The thing that is on my side is that I have all the skills needed to sew this even if I find using boning a bit intimidating.  

I found some awesome teal gingham at the fabric store I frequent.  Even better it was only $1.93/yard.  So I'm not out fabric costs if this project doesn't run smoothly or come out right.  The boning was also pretty cheep, $2/yard .  The last thing I need to get is some hook and eye tape.  The place I bought the boning only had black, and this project needs white.  

Shrinkle

However I did find this teal hook and eye tape on etsy that I might be tempted into buying.  

So here's my break down of how I am going to accomplish this.  I think I'm going to need about two weeks to finish this, maybe three, but I'm going to aim for two.  

Week 1: Cut out pattern, interface fused, and seams sewn for boning channels, bust pieced together

Week 2: Line bust, attach straps, attach hook and eye tape, finishing.  

If everything goes well I may just make a second of these in a dressier fabric.