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Tops!
So, after the failed skirt, Wilma told me that I was Doing Things Wrong, basically, making the seams too small, when Simplicity patterns call for a 5/8" seam, and I was giving 3/8" seams. And all that extra fabric adds up!
So, using the green stuff earlier, we did a mockup of the bodice I wanted to make, and then made it out of a synthetic (VERY synthetic) material I found at Value Village, a nice pink brocade pattern. I wish I took pictures of the process, but the material was too short at the top, so we had to patch on some material. Wilma helped a lot with this one, since I had no idea what some things in the instructions meant (and they were fairly clear... I just don't have the nomenclature yet). Essentially, once you sew the lining to the piece, right sides together, you pull the whole thing inside out. And it comes out looking a bit like this:
The breast seam is fraying a bit, because it's a really shitty material, tbh. The inner lining though? Same material as the bag, and boy is it ever comfortable to wear. There was also the issue of the front part gaping.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
moniquill told me that it was due to lack of boning, and suggested zip ties if I had none. So I added them, and it totally worked.
But the fraying seams? Well, I pinched it in, and Wilma came over with her $5 bag, and in the $5 bag there was this trim!
It turned out really well, if I do say so myself:
But the ribbon wasn't working out very well, too little of it to go on my body easily, and it is kind of a pain to relace everything all the time. So I went to get more ribbon, and ended up with this PERFECT rope thing:
It's the exact same colour as the trim! And thus my bodice is saved. I haven't really worn it out and about, so we'll see if it holds up to my sweating like crazy or something.
And with that done, I had this fantastic black-and-gold striped material! Again, wish I took pictures. It's also a synthetic material, but slightly thicker. And this time, I also had boning for the front band.
And I took pictures of part of the process! I was really pleased with how it turned out. See, the material has black and gold stripes. Like, black bands, then several little gold bands of various shades. The black is uniform, so all the seams could blend in, and so I worked really hard at getting the stripes symmetrical!
The back piece when I had stitched it:
And one of the front pieces:
Like I mentioned earlier, what happens is that essentially you make two pieces: the outside and the lining. Then you sew the right sides of the thing together, leaving open the lines where the underarm sides meet. And then you carefully reach in for a corner, and pull each front side through the corresponding shoulder straps, like so:
So where all the raw edges are, they get folded into the inside. It is kind of annoying and difficult, especially since I didn't trim the raw edges (didn't want a repeat of the pink to happen). Wilma showed me to use a safety pin to help thread it through, but even then it was a pain with this one.
Plus, it has the unpleasant effect of looking like a plush dick in the process:
Which is hilarious but for after wrestling with it for a while, it feels terribly wrong. No it is nothing like putting a condom on.
ANYWAY, the idea is that eventually it looks like this;
Once the underarm sides are sewn together, it looks like this:
I had a lot of trouble punching in the eyelets this time, because, well, in the front bands, I have boning, AND since I didn't cut the raw edges, I had them all bunched up? And the hole puncher had to fight with those too. But Wilma suggested I reinforce the eyelets with stitching. It gives a nice handmade look to the thing, too. And that is what I did. Add in some ribbon and ta-da!
And one of the back for good measure:
So, that's two new tops in as many weeks! The lining of the brown bodice is the same material as the bicycling skirt, so I got matching things.
Problem is I have mostly pink and brown-ish tones for new steampunk outfits, and I decided that my primary colours for steampunk should be green and blue. I need to fix this....
So, using the green stuff earlier, we did a mockup of the bodice I wanted to make, and then made it out of a synthetic (VERY synthetic) material I found at Value Village, a nice pink brocade pattern. I wish I took pictures of the process, but the material was too short at the top, so we had to patch on some material. Wilma helped a lot with this one, since I had no idea what some things in the instructions meant (and they were fairly clear... I just don't have the nomenclature yet). Essentially, once you sew the lining to the piece, right sides together, you pull the whole thing inside out. And it comes out looking a bit like this:
The breast seam is fraying a bit, because it's a really shitty material, tbh. The inner lining though? Same material as the bag, and boy is it ever comfortable to wear. There was also the issue of the front part gaping.
moniquill told me that it was due to lack of boning, and suggested zip ties if I had none. So I added them, and it totally worked.But the fraying seams? Well, I pinched it in, and Wilma came over with her $5 bag, and in the $5 bag there was this trim!
It turned out really well, if I do say so myself:
But the ribbon wasn't working out very well, too little of it to go on my body easily, and it is kind of a pain to relace everything all the time. So I went to get more ribbon, and ended up with this PERFECT rope thing:
It's the exact same colour as the trim! And thus my bodice is saved. I haven't really worn it out and about, so we'll see if it holds up to my sweating like crazy or something.
And with that done, I had this fantastic black-and-gold striped material! Again, wish I took pictures. It's also a synthetic material, but slightly thicker. And this time, I also had boning for the front band.
And I took pictures of part of the process! I was really pleased with how it turned out. See, the material has black and gold stripes. Like, black bands, then several little gold bands of various shades. The black is uniform, so all the seams could blend in, and so I worked really hard at getting the stripes symmetrical!
The back piece when I had stitched it:
And one of the front pieces:
Like I mentioned earlier, what happens is that essentially you make two pieces: the outside and the lining. Then you sew the right sides of the thing together, leaving open the lines where the underarm sides meet. And then you carefully reach in for a corner, and pull each front side through the corresponding shoulder straps, like so:
So where all the raw edges are, they get folded into the inside. It is kind of annoying and difficult, especially since I didn't trim the raw edges (didn't want a repeat of the pink to happen). Wilma showed me to use a safety pin to help thread it through, but even then it was a pain with this one.
Plus, it has the unpleasant effect of looking like a plush dick in the process:
Which is hilarious but for after wrestling with it for a while, it feels terribly wrong. No it is nothing like putting a condom on.
ANYWAY, the idea is that eventually it looks like this;
Once the underarm sides are sewn together, it looks like this:
I had a lot of trouble punching in the eyelets this time, because, well, in the front bands, I have boning, AND since I didn't cut the raw edges, I had them all bunched up? And the hole puncher had to fight with those too. But Wilma suggested I reinforce the eyelets with stitching. It gives a nice handmade look to the thing, too. And that is what I did. Add in some ribbon and ta-da!
And one of the back for good measure:
So, that's two new tops in as many weeks! The lining of the brown bodice is the same material as the bicycling skirt, so I got matching things.
Problem is I have mostly pink and brown-ish tones for new steampunk outfits, and I decided that my primary colours for steampunk should be green and blue. I need to fix this....