Changing the location of lacing: UPDATE/need help

[gem]

I am making a kirtle using the corset from Simplicity 2621 as a bodice. I've made this twice before, so it's a pattern I'm comfortable with, but this time I want to make a couple of changes.

It currently laces up the back, but it has side-back seams, which is where I want to move the lacing to. It seems like a pretty straightforward change, but is there anything I should be aware of, in terms of seam allowances (adding/removing them), etc? There's a gap in the back of course, and I'm comfortable transferring that gap to the side-backs, but I did want to make sure I wasn't missing anything obvious.

Here's the back of my pink version (on the teeny-tiny size 2 dress form). The back lacing is quite obvious  , but if you look closely above the second tab on the left, you can barely make out the side-back seam there (where the floral pattern gets cut off)



Thanks!!

[operafantomet]

I'm planning to do the same with my pink Bronzino dress, which has a quite unflattering hook-and-eye closing in the back. So I'm curious on what advices and tips might show up in this topic!

[gem]

And here I thought you were going to weigh in with advice, Anea! 

But now I think I should point out that I'm making these changes TO THE PATTERN, *not* to my existing corset!!

[CenturiesSewing]

Really you just have a few things to keep in mind, if you are going to keep the center back seam, add seam allowances to it. It's a given but the number of times I've forgotten to write a note to myself to do it are more then I like. 

I usually finish the front and back of the bodice separately and then put the eyelets in, sewing them through the seam allowances.

[operafantomet]

And here I thought you were going to weigh in with advice, Anea! 

But now I think I should point out that I'm making these changes TO THE PATTERN, *not* to my existing corset!!

My mistake, I understood this was your plan, I just phrased my reply badly... And me giving advice on the technical side of sewing? Ain't gonna happen! The sewing part is not my forte, I start on a project and have a plan of how I want it to look, and use every trick in the book to get there. But I suspect I often do things a lot more complicated than necessary...

[Butch]

When I changed the rear closing pattern to a front closing one, I had to adjust the pattern to close the gap with fabric.  That is, the 2" gap on the rear was bridged with pattern paper before I cut out the fabric.  I then moved the 2" gap to the front.

That's probably what CenturiesSewing is saying, so I second that!  Don't leave out the obvious!

[gem]

UPDATE/Help

Ok, so I've made a mockup (from canvas) for a side-back-lacing version of the exact same size as my pink corset. I changed nothing--added no extra seam allowances; just cut the back on a fold and attached my temp lacing strips where the eyelets will be on the side-back "seams."  I was actually worried that it would be too small, as I've put on a little weight over the fall/winter.

Instead, it's WAY too big. The side-back openings TOUCH, and the front has tons of ease. I tried on my pink corset as comparison, and it still fits beautifully--bit of a gap in back and all. They were cut from the same pattern.

What in the heck happened?!

And, I guess... how do I fix it?

Gramercy!

[Butch]

Do you think putting the boning in took up some of the extra?

[peacewing]

Did you take the seam allowance out of the center back before you cut it on the fold? (If there was any!) 

[GirlChris]

Does the canvas stretch more than the fabric you used in the corset? I've had this happen before. I made a corset in canvas, then made it up in "shoe canvas" (it has stiffening at it). The first version laced shut both at the front and the back, where as the shoe canvas has a nearly two inch gap across the front I used the exact same pattern, but two inches is a BIG difference.

[Anna Iram]

Perhaps you can lay the pattern or the pink corset that fits properly over the canvas mock up. You might be able to see by comparison where it is that the mock up goes wonky.