Doublet bodice questions

[Lady Rebecca]

I'm making a doublet bodice right now, and the fit of my mockup seems almost perfect. Except the back appears to be curving outward from my waist, and then back in to my neck. I don't get what's going on. I probably will have to have a back seam in my doublet, because I wound up taking in the back from a couple inches above the waist all the way to the neck. I've already taken the shoulder blade area in more than the rest of the back, but that is where it is the most poufy. Do I need that poof in order to be able to move my arms, or am I right in thinking it's fitting me strangely?

[CenturiesSewing]

Can you take a few pictures with it on you front and back? I am not quite following on what you mean by poof in the back/shoulder blade area.

[Lady Rebecca]

I attempted to take pictures of the back, but as it's black canvas, and I was turned around taking pictures using my bathroom mirror, you can't really see anything at all.

This is the best I can give you:

[CenturiesSewing]

I would pin out the excess or baste it and then try it on again.

It could be doing a few things, this is just my guess.

If it is fitting everywhere else, at the neck and waist, the center back to shoulder width might be too wide which could be causing the poofing. If the doublet is settling to where the back of the arm scye hits the excess fabric has to go somewhere.

If you reach behind you how does it feel, and does the fabric crease at the back arm scye more then just the width of the seam allowances?

And I hear ya on taking photos of the back of mock ups, I've resorted to balancing my camera on some books, hitting the self time button and then running to where I need to stand before the evil red light stops flashing.

[Lady Rebecca]

I don't really think it has to do with the armseye, because the back fabric, on the outside of my shoulder blades fits perfectly. Could this problem be at all caused by too much length? I was thinking maybe if the collar is joined to the back farther down on the back, it would pull the doublet up and make that pouf go away. Do you know if that would work?

[Kate XXXXXX]

I don't think so...  I think that would just drag the collar back and down.  Pin out the excess where it occurs.  Lay the piece out flat and see just how much excess there is.  You may need to cut another back.

[CenturiesSewing]

I don't think it would be length, if it was the back would be riding up and the excess fabric would making more horizontal wrinkles/stress lines.

I don't think it is the collar either, usually the back of the neck without the collar should hit just below your C7 vertebrae.(I think that is the right one, the one you can feel when you bend your head down.  )  If it is attached any lower it can also cause the doublet to pull up and forward and then you get excess fabric around the front upper chest.

I'd go with what Kate mentioned, as it sounds like your back is narrower then the piece you cut.

[Lady Rebecca]

I took up the back at the collar a little under an inch, plus took in the majority of the back about 1/2 a cm more, and now it seems to be fitting really well. What you wrote about the C7 vertebrae wasn't happening before - the collar was starting just an inch or so below my hairline, so I think it was all scrunching up there, and because it fit width-wise at the neck and waist, all the excess length was going into my shoulderblade area.

I do have one more question, though - I'm putting hook and eye closures up the front of the doublet. Does that mean my corset always has to be laced exactly the same when I wear it?

[CenturiesSewing]

Fitting is always a bit of an adventure.    Glad that you got it looking how you want.

Yes, your corset is going to need to be laced the same each time to keep everything fitting smoothly.

[Lady Rebecca]

Okay, next problem - how do I cut it out? This is what the back looks like - the pins show where I took the mockup in, but the ruler shows that I did not take in a straight line, since it goes back out at the collar. Do I need to cut this out in two pieces, and do a slight princess seam on it?

[Kate XXXXXX]

Nope, just a center back seam where those pins are.   

[gem]

Center back seam is your friend. 

[CenturiesSewing]

The center back seam should be fine, after all the spine is not a straight line it has dips and curves. 

[Lady Rebecca]

New question - if I'm wearing this doublet bodice over a corset, do I need to put boning in the doublet? It's velvet lined with canvas, and will have a hook and eye or button front closure.

[Kate XXXXXX]

Probably not.

[gem]

Meh. Depends on how much you care about things being TOTALLY FLAT. 

For an example, I have an 18th century jacket that only has boning at the lacing edges (which are a little rough looking due to problems I had with the hooks & eyes; ignore that bit):



This is light/medium weight wool flannel, lined with muslin. So it has hardly any shaping of its own. It stays relatively smooth from just the corset alone.

[operafantomet]

New question - if I'm wearing this doublet bodice over a corset, do I need to put boning in the doublet? It's velvet lined with canvas, and will have a hook and eye or button front closure.

What about adding some semi stiff in between the velvet and canvas? The period approach... Not boning it, but stiffening it none-the-less. Quilted wool felt, light buckram, stiff netting, solid linen, whatever will add some "ooomph". You probably don't have to if wearing it over the corset, but it means you CAN use it on its own if wanted.