Making the Bodice

Making the Bodice

To help the bodice to be even more skin tight the panels where on the bias a part from the CF and CB however for the Side Front seams the grain lines direction was towards the CF and on the Side Back the grain line was towards the CB. Therefore it was very important that when I was drawing out my pattern on the top fabric that I made sure each of the bias lines where in the right direction. I found this fine on the cotton drill however; it was very difficult to work with the slipper satin because it was like water the slightest adjustment and the grain line became off centre. So that the fabric did not move too much and all the air bubbles would come out I had press it over. To prevent any more air bubbles getting into the fabric I cut it on the ironing board using the cotton drill as my pattern pieces. Using this type of fabric has expanded my knowledge for third year so that I will know how to handle slippery fabrics. I found that using a smaller iron boarding made it very difficult to keep the slipper satin straight so I had to pin and weigh the fabric down. I discovered the importance of using a clean iron as well because I found that when the steam wasn’t hot enough lime scale came out on the fabric thus causing wastage.

I also found that when I was pinning the cotton drill and slipper satin together that when I pinned in the middle it would leave pin marks in the fabric even when I tried to iron them out. So the left side panels I made sure that I just pinned in the seams. This will help me in the future when using similar fabrics to remember to always put pins in the seams.

Pinning the panel pieces was also a difficult task because each piece was so curved the SB was particularly difficult because it was so curved and I found that it was a little short to match up the design lines so I had to redraw the design line at the top.

Once the bodice was sewn and over locked I could start boning the bodice. I was important to remember that a ballet costume should look as good on the inside as on the outside. Therefore everything needs to be neat.

I developed my knowledge of different ways to bone bodices for in the corsets I used fell seams but here we are putting the bones in channels made from ribbon and then herringboning them to the seams of the bodice. When measuring the length of the seam line for the bones I had to pull it slightly so that when the bones are put in the bodice there is a little tension. I then had to cut the bones 2cms shorter than the actual length of the seams. I found when sewing on the piping that I should have cut the bones just that little bit smaller this would have made the piping easier to sew on. However, I will know this for the future.

I am pleased with my herringbone stitch it is very even so the inside of the bodice does look neat.

Something I have certainly developed is my time keeping as I planned to have one day to do my piping I however, found that it took me three days and this was not because I was time wasting. But simply because it took longer than I expected therefore I am going to take this into consideration when writing up the rest of my time table.

I have learnt how to sew in piping cord so that it can be adjusted easily if the artist changes size. I am not completely pleased with my piping because you can see some of the stitch lines when I sewed it into the bias strips. I did not notice how bad it was until I cut down the excess I then tried to adjust it but there was too little fabric left for me to adjust it. This is certainly a skill I need to learn if I want to produce beautiful pieces of work I need to check everything twice before I get to a point in which I cannot change it. My slipstitching of the bias tape is much neater and I have managed to keep it at a fairly equal size across the bodice.

This has certainly developed my understanding of how to sew something far more neatly and I how to take your time over something so that it looks as it should. Although I have made mistake I know where they have been therefore it has enabled me to develop my learning.

I then sewed on the hooks and bars.

Once this was done I could pin it to the manikin however, I found that it was about 2cms to small even though before I had sewn on the piping I had checked the bodice to see if it would fit and it did although it was a little tight. So at this late stage I realised that I would have to take the costume out otherwise it wouldn’t fit on the manikin and the romantic tutu was too big.

So after measuring it I found it was 4cms too small so I had to unpick the piping at the S/S and the S/S panel. I then measured 1cm in on each side of the panel and pinned together before sewing it I checked that it fitted on the manikin and it was fine so I sewed it together. I found where I had unpicked that the stitching left holes in the bodice which I’m annoyed about because my bodice now doesn’t look as neat as it should. I then had to re-sew the piping.

Having to do all this re-sewing set back my time plan because I had wanted to attach my bodice and tutu by now which is frustrating because I now have less time to sew on my decoration. However, I have learnt from my mistake and I should have checked earlier on whether it fitted my manikin so that I would not have to correct my mistake as such a later date.

Now that it fits my manikin I was able to sew on my straps these where placed on the highest point of the bodice and then backstitched and herringboned in place.