Tutorial: My Satin'N'Lace Corset Dress Part 1

I've been having fun making dresses now that I have a bodice block. My latest project is a lace overlay dress for a wedding we are going to next weekend. It will have boning and a lace-up back. This tutorial requires a bodice block, which you can make following the instructions here. It takes some time, but is totally worth it.

You will need: (part 1, part 2)

bodice block, cut to form

stretch satin in color of your choice

lace in color of your choice

matching thread

corset boning (I chose the most heavy duty Joann's had)

eyelet kit with tool (also called grommets)

corset threading

adornment (I chose a sew-on sparkly trim)

cat for moral support (optional)

I made my bodice block several weeks ago. From this, you can make a pattern for your top. Just get separate paper and trace a new block with a neckline you'd like. I chose a strapless sweetheart neckline.

It turned out like this.

Cut out your satin on the fold so you have both right and left sides.

Pin the darts together, right sides together and sew.  

I used a straight stitch for my vertical seams and zig-zag for any horizontal seams, because my material stretches horizontally, but not vertically. Yours may be different, so check before you sew. The straight stitches won't allow your material to stretch and move the way it was intended to.

Sew your right and left sides together. When you're done, your bodice should look like this.

Serge or zig-zag the edges of your bodice. I zig-zagged since I don't have a serger yet...the trick I've found is to sew, then pull lightly on the edges and clip off any leftover threads. The zig-zag will save the fabric from a lot of fraying, but you'll need to cut it close and be vigilant about strays.

Cut out your lace, and repeat the pinning and sewing of the darts. I don't have pictures of these steps, but it's the same as above. Lay the finished lace bodice over the satin and line up the seams (you could also sew each panel together separately, then assemble the bodice, but I wanted to minimize the appearance of seams on the lace later on...you'll see what I mean in a bit.) Fold the satin and lace neckline over once (like a hem) and sew. Now your lace is attached to the neckline, but not the sides or bottom.

Lift your lace away from the satin and turn to the wrong side of the satin.

Next, cut your boning to fit the length of each seam. I came into some trouble because I ended up lowering the neckline and messed up my measurements, so make sure your neckline is set first. That is why the lace is not attached yet in this photo. 

Cut strips of satin slightly longer than the length and slightly more than twice the width of your boning. Pin right sides together lengthwise and sew.

Zig-zag the seam and trim loose threads.

Sew the bottom of one end, leaving an open end to insert the boning. Insert the boning and close that end in the same way.

Pin your boning case along the seams, centered over the seam itself. This took a lot of time and fiddling, but the end result is worth the care. 

Sew your boning case along each long side.

You can see not all of my boning cases meet the waist...not sure if I will add or take away to make this even...we'll see. Yours will be perfect though. ;)

And here is where we are at the end of Part 1. Next, we will sew the lace down and add the corset back. Until then, happy sewing!



Getting Down to the Wire...

I start graduate school in just three weeks, and I have a BUNCH of projects to get done before I am busy, busy, busy...at least, busier. It's already been a very busy summer, but I guess I better get used to it. In any case, I have a few things to post about.

First off, here is the giveaway project I've been working on for Jel...she wanted a pink, green and purple theme for her wall organizer...I am saving the purple part for last  because I want that to be a surprise...hehehe. Hope you like it, Jel!

The next thing I have to share is a dress and headband I made for nannying. It is bright, cheerful, and is modest enough for work...AND has pockets! 

It has the same type of back as the red dress for Hawaii. And I love the pleats on the skirt.

I had fun wearing it to the Franklin Park Zoo recently. Great photo opps.

Here's the matching headband, which I also made for a friend.

I've also been asked to make a bear and blanket for a baby shower, in the Baylor University school colors. I'm excited about that one too, although disappointed in Joann's for not having better fabric choices for those colors.

 In related news, I am putting my bears on clearance on my shop...I decided not to renew my MA stuffed toy license, since I didn't even make back the cost of the license last year, so if you've been wanting one...now is the time! I am selling them at cost...I've put a couple on clearance already, but if you want one that isn't changed yet, I'll refund you on PayPal. I'm still going to make them for friends at cost, so don't worry...I'll still be posting those cuties. And I plan to come up with some new things for my shop that don't require a yearly $300 license. Anyhoo...on to other things.

Today I learned how to change my rotary blade. It's really easy! 

Turned the position so that the blade in unlocked and remove the screw (I thought locked seemed safer, but apparently it also locks the screw).

Carefully remove the cover and blade, and put the new blade in place. Put the old blade into the plastic from the new one to save yourself from any cuts.

Replace the cover and blade on the handle and attach the screw. You're done! I couldn't believe the difference this made....yay! Anything you're wrapping up as the summer comes to a close?



Third Dress for Vacation...and Creating A Bodice Block!

I am sooooooo proud of my final dress for vacation! Before I start my non-vacation projects, I wanted to finish this series of dresses, because otherwise I may never finish them. Well, once I finished this one, I caught the dress bug! Why so much excitement??? Well, Heather from Feather's Flights (fabulous blog, I learn so much every time I read it!) suggested I check out Burdastyle.com for dress patterns. I found this one by elegant-impressions and decided to download the pattern and try it out...until I realized that the pattern was for a size 2, and there was no way it would come out just right. But, luckily, burdastyle posted an article with links about creating the perfect fit, and I found a tutorial on how to create a bodice block. A bodice block is basically the basic pattern for a top based on your personal measurements. On Tuesday, I ended up in the emergency room with the abdominal pain...after chugging barium and getting my 8th CT in 7 years, I found out I have (again!) multiple kidney stones on both sides, the largest of which is almost 4mm. That is the largest one I've ever had...mostly mine have been under 2mm. They break them up at 5mm, so this is a doozey, but I'll have to pass it on my own, as well as the others. Needless to say, I stayed home from work and needed some distractions. Thank GOODNESS the ER doctor found a pain medication I'm not allergic to...not nearly as strong as my last one, but it won't cause heart problems....she did suggest the drug that killed Michael Jackson, but we went with something else. :) In any case, I spent the day creating my bodice block...it took a couple of hours but I am thrilled with it! You can use it to create personalized patterns in a snap, which I love to do. Yay!!

Here's the bodice (front and back) that I created using my modified block and the back of the Katjusha pattern. I made my block on plain white paper but plan to transfer it to a more permanent form soon. The back was easy to create...just a basic rectangle twice the width of your back, with quick elastic casings. I used a straightened wire hanger to thread the elastic through easily.

The elastic back makes the dress easy to slip on and off (my usual necessity in a garment) and I used the white lining to accent the hem and create the straps. I plan on making a fabric headband to go with it.

I was so pleased with how this dress came out that I went to Joann's and bought four more pieces of fabric to create some more dresses, perhaps for work with a longer skirt and pockets too. I've been really nervous to use non-knit fabric because of my large chest, but the bodice block has made this easy as pie! Tomorrow I am finishing the giveaway project (very overdue!) and I am excited for you to see how that comes out too. Then I am making a peach colored dress with white eyelet trim and pockets. :) What are you working on? Would you sew more dresses if you had a bodice block?

Second Hawaii Dress without a Pattern...or...The Day of Un-Picking

I am very happy with this second dress, although it did not turn out how I had envisioned it. Because it needed to be lined (didn't realize that at the store) I had half the fabric I planned for, so the very flowy, swishy, gathered dress turned into a short, cute, straight dress. Here's how I started.

This time I chose a three piece pattern, in a blue jersey (very cheap, and it definitely showed while sewing...ran like pantyhose when you nipped a thread). I chose a deep v neckline and cut the bodice big enough for lots of gathering, which turned out to be just way too big. I made the pattern by simply measuring my own body and where I wanted the different parts to hit.Even though I measured this time, I added a little too much. Better than too small! I didn't take a picture of the first draft, so to speak, but it had the right look, just needed lots of adjusting in the bust. That took forever! I cut the straps, and resewed them, but then the bust was too small (lengthwise), so I un-picked them and luckily had left a lot of fabric. Once the length was right, I started fiddling with the width. Being a large-chested girl is very frustrating, and tailoring your own clothes is even harder, I found out. With my last dress, I couldn't get the bust right and it turned out to be the size difference in each breast, plus pinning the clothing inside out (so measuring for the opposite breast). This time, I did a lot of sew-wear-unpick-sew-repeat. LOTS of unpicking, but I am very happy with the result.

The neckline has a great shape to it, thanks to the ribbon. You may notice that I added darts in the chest...I just had too much material. This was my first time darting, AND my breasts are different sizes, so it came out a little wonky. And lopsided. Will fix on another day when I haven't sat in my sewing room for 6 hours. Good enough for now! I also added some black and white polka dot ribbon details for the straps (original plan) and bow on the hip (improv).

Ignore the wonky boob-lines!!! I love this dress! :)

Literally as comfortable as a t-shirt. I had planned to bunch/gather the straps with another ribbon I bought at the store, but decided this was way cuter.

I really like the bow on the hip. I don't like that the waist bumps where it joins the skirt. I think this is from using a wider zig-zag for stretch, instead of my usual straight stitch.

Wow...hello butt. lol. The backside of this dress, especially on top, turned out much better than my first Hawaii dress.

There's the waist-bump again, but it's fairly minor. Each panel of the dress has two layers of fabric...definitely not a quick dress for me.

Ahhh...I can just imagine wearing this to the beach... :) Loving my new Little Blue Dress!

So...what do you think? I say not bad for not using a pattern! We booked our hotel for the trip yesterday, so I got to working on this dress right away. Surprisingly, I had the energy. I went to the doctor Wednesday and they put me on "watch" for appendicitis...scared the crap out of me! I couldn't get the CT scan to diagnose, since I've had about 7 already and the radiation is cumulative, so I spent a day sitting at home, in pain, taking my temp every half an hour. Luckily, my blood work came back ok, so appendicitis is ruled out, but that means it is likely a cyst. Not happy about that.

Anyhow, my point was that I haven't been up for much, but the hotel booking got me motivated. I am hoping this sewing streak will continue so I can finally finish my other projects. I also have one more dress to make...a cotton black, white and red floral that will need a lining. I am hoping I will have enough to make that one into the swishy dress, but I am worried about the bodice. Does anyone know where I can find free patterns online? Or maybe a good tutorial for a similar bodice to this one, only in a stiff fabric. I find that the hardest part, but maybe it will work if I do the darts and all. Straightly, this time, I hope. lol.

New Dress for Vacation Without Pattern

 I made my first Hawaii vacation dress from a bright, silky material I got at Joann's. I thought this would be so beautiful, but the material was a PAIN! It doesn't sit the way I like, it moves around so much that creating the pattern was just a nightmare, and I had to do a LOT of alterations just to get it to look like this. I am still unhappy with the hem, so I am thinking of making it about knee-length all the way around, like the original I patterned it after. What do you think? Here are the photos.

The original dress

My version (sorry for the blur) with a long back hemline and shorter front hemline. Not completely happy with the back bodice...still needs some altering, but I wore it for the 4th and enjoyed it!

I added elastic at the waist so I wouldn't have to belt it and be hot. The bodice has a modest neckline with some gathering...I need to make the back much smaller because the straps slide down...again...more tweaking needed before the big trip. 

 I do like the length in the front....hmmmmmm.

It didn't turn out exactly like the first...because it is hard to make a pattern from scratch, and it is a completely different fabric (stiff, not stretchy) but I am mostly pleased with how it turned out. What do you think???

Wave Bottles - A Project For Infants/Toddlers

This is an off-topic post, but that's ok. It's not too far off, since it's crafty and it's for my job. I nanny for an almost-2 year old and a 7 month old, and I thought I would bring them a little present that I've used in child care centers before: wave bottles! These are really fun, easy, cheap, fast, and very versatile. I chose to do simple ones, although you can also add glitter and other goodies in the water to make it more interesting. I chose to do rainbow colors and leave it at that for now. The point of the wave bottle is that you basically have a wave in a bottle...children can experiment with all types of motions, speeds of shaking, and see what the water does. You can also make bubbles when shaking, because the water and oil can get trapped inside each other when they separate. Anyhow, onto the tutorial!

Here's what you'll need:

Water bottles, half full :)

Clear oil, baby oil works well

food coloring and any other goodies you want to add to the water

a hot glue gun 

I chose the small aqua pods because they have a neat shape and they are easy for little hands to hold. The wrapper also slides right off, so no mess with sticky residue! You can use basically any size, and 2 liters can be really fun for older children. The biggest thing to remember is to glue the tops shut. If you don't, you will have a HUGE mess on your hands if/when your child figures out how to unscrew a bottle cap.

Start by adding the food coloring to your water.

Next, add the oil. It may bubble, but don't worry, that will settle when it separates.

Heat up your hot glue gun. This should not be done with the children.

Apply a ring of glue around the cap of your bottle. I put mine around the thread so it would glue super tight. Screw on the cap, let sit until cool, and enjoy!

 It was a little hard to capture the waves with one hand, but they are a lot of fun. Larger ones allow for bigger waves, but I like this size for infants and young toddlers. My next project will be gathering natural materials for dry bottles to observe in the house. The little boy and I have been searching around the neighborhood for different types of tree seeds, talking about how the seeds are eaten by birds and little animals, and are planted when they fall from the tree or are left behind by a bird or animal after they have eaten it (in their poo, you could say). We have been talking about what seeds are used for, and investigating all the shapes they come in. It is pretty interesting!

As usual, Slinky is always checking out what I'm up to. As for sewing projects, I haven't had a lot of time with all the graduate school stuff, work, and some other things. I finally passed a kidney stone that popped up this past week, so today I had a lot of energy and worked on a lot things. One thing I worked on was a dress for our trip to Hawaii in October for our friends' wedding (which we will almost 90% be able to go to...if not, I will have some great summer dresses anyway!). I am patterning this after this dress:

(picture from our last apartment...I was really excited over the big closet!)

I bought this dress a few years ago on clearance from a White House/Black Market outlet store for about $10. It is awesome, easy, breezy and must be belted, otherwise it looks like a mumu. It has an elastic collar (weird! but cute) and little cap sleeve-like straps. I am struggling a little with that part, but I have the basic shape done. Right now it is a maxi dress that will have elastic sewn in in place of a belt (which can be hot and I want this to be cool and breezy). My boyfriend likes the idea of an asymmetric hemline with a big gather on one side...to show a little leg. ;) We will see how it comes together. It is taking me a long time but I am excited to wear it. :)

What are you working on? Happy Father's Day everyone!

Broke Now or Broke Later?

Quick opinions...I got accepted to graduate school, but it is costly. The only financial aid I got was government loans, which can cover the costs and then some (but why borrow when you don't need to?). My question is...should I accept the small subsidized loan and bust my butt to cover the additional costs myself, or borrow it all and worry about paying it back later with interest?

Broke Now or Broke Later? I CAN'T DECIDE!

I wish I had more to share but life keeps throwing me curve balls. Poor Jel still hasn't received her giveaway prize, and she is being VERY PATIENT with me! Thanks Jel! I swear I have not forgotten about you, or my family's gifts that are a month late, or my new outfits I am meaning to work on, or the stuffies I have been meaning to make for months and months and months. So far my sewing room is a "get ready for work" room. Not nearly as fun. Eating cereal, keeping an eye on one cat eating so the other cat doesn't eat her food, and watching Good Morning America.

Must put room to better use. Just another thing I have to do. *sigh*