Ladies...I need your help again :) Bodice, Boning, and Bias Tape???

[LadySeasan]

Huzzah!

I have a new sewing machine

And I have fabric/lining to make my bodice and my gown!

So everything is neatly folded and ready to get worked on. I have muslin to create a mock up and such.

The only question is boning and bias tape?

I know before many of you ladies suggested I go to Home Depot to get the boning. What exactly am I looking for or getting?

And what do I do with the Bias tape? lol. I know it may sound stupid, but I honestly have no idea of what to do with it, and I need your help!

Pictures and such to come

[shaunalee]

Ok...some out there may disagree with me, but if you are going to go thru all the work to make a dress...do it right.  There are places on the net where you can order REAL steel stays for corsets.  I work with Marie from the Fitting Room - search corset making supplies.  Marie makes costom corsets as well as selling supplies.  I call her up and tell her which pattern Im using (I like the one she recommends on her site) and any modification Im making to the pattern (I usually make my corsets 2in longer than the pattern as I'm almost 6ft tall)  She then cuts the stays to the required lenth, rounds off the ends and capps then with the same type of rubber you find on the ends of the wires in your bra.  She offers a 'corset kit' which comes with tips for first time corset makers - very helpful - and 'The indespensable corset fitting back' which I learned very quickly really is indespensable.  The binding tape is used to make the stay pockets - I use single fold wide tape.  I saw your picture and would suggest you use 3/8 in flat steel stays - this is what I use - it will give you the support you need to define bust vs waist...also flat steel won't bend and pucker like plastic or the stuff at the fabric stores for hoops...no more poking in the sides or bend up at the hips.  If you need more help you can email me direct at queen.mcclanless@gmail.com.

[Cilean]

May I ask? What you use the bias tape for? I have only seen this used once and that was online from someone from Australia, so I am thinking you bind the edges which I do for my PoB but not typically for my bodices so are you mixing the terms up and you are looking for help with your PoB/Corset?  If not?   Do you have currently a PoB/Corset?

Because if you do not? I would suggest before you begin on your bodice odyssey? You first journey into PoB creation, you will notice a diffenate difference in how your gowns wear and look when using such underneath.  There are many on the market and of course there is the Pattern Generator on Drea Leed's Site and Lynn McMasters also has one that she will custom for you and it is only $10.00 for that precious help.  Kass McGann, Margo Anderson and Tudor Tailor and Mantua Makers all make patterns for a good supportive PoB for Elizabethan Garb. 




Well I am of 2 minds on this.

You don't need real steel boning for your Pair of Bodyes, there is www.grannd.comif you want to get them they have a pretty good supply and are fairly inexpensive. I used to push only steel until I began working with the Cable ties, and really? They are excellent!  However if you already have steel? It is a great product to use, but you must have every piece and I always tell people to order more just in case!

So in Home Depot you are looking for very long cable ties that are white at least that is what I have at my local store, they are $7.50 for I think 12 and they are over 36" long, they can be cut with some good crimping sheers (Also at Home Depot) and if you don't have a rotary file? You can use the heat from your stove to melt the ends.  The one thing that makes the Cable ties in my opinion better is that you don't have to worry about having a specific size. You simply cut them to what you need.  This removes the OH crap I don't have another 16" bone!


So they both are grand but I would suggest for economy and for ease of use? Cable ties ROCK!!!

Cilean

[sealion]

I also am confused as to whether you want to create a bodice (upper part of gown, outerwear) or a pair of bodies (commonly called a corset, underwear worn under the bodice of the gown). You will get different advice depending on which it is you are trying to make. Being a very curvy girl myself I highly recommend making a corset first then making your bodice to fit over it. While you can get away with a heavily boned bodice and no pair of bodies for a middle class look, there is really no way to get your curves into that flat cone shape of nobility without one.

[LadySeasan]

I already have a corset that I will be wearing as an undergarment

When I say bodice-I mean the outer part bodice of the gown itself

[sealion]

Okay, then with the corset doing the job of supporting and shaping your body, the bodice ony needs minimal boning to help it stay smooth. Plastic duct/cable ties will be fine for the job. No need to order metal boning. And the bias tape would be used to finish the edges of the bodice if you are doing flate rather than turned construction.  Some like the look of a contrasting binding showing on the outside while I prefer the binding not to show. On my most recent bodice I machine stitched the bias binding around the edged then turn it completely to the inside and handstitched it down.

You can see the lighter blue binding as well as the stitching for the boning channels.

[LadySeasan]

Ahh ok, Sealion that is very helpful

I think I caused some confusion earlier with the bodice question. But the bodice is for the outside part of the garment since I already have a corset to wear as an undergarment to shape me down

[sealion]

That's the inside of the bodice of the blue Elizabethan I've posted in the finished projects thread. Note that the long diagonal bone is showing through on the outside. Since my outer fabric is thinner than I've used before I should have put another layer of interlining in there.

[LadySeasan]

New Question! and I didnt want to start a new thread

So I am going to work on my bodice today!
I already have my undergarments and such, but what I need to know for the measurements for the bodice (the outerwear) do I measure it with my corset on slimming me down, or do I measure just my regular body?

Im going to be using the corset generator to create the outer bodice

once again. thanks!

[Trillium]

I don't wear a corset, but I would think you would want the measurement with the corset on if you plan to wear it under the bodice.  Otherwise, I think it would end up being too big.

[LadySeasan]

that is what I was thinking, but I had wanted to make sure.  Didn't want to spend the time making it, and then having it sized wrong

[gypsylakat]

Definitely with your undertrimmings on. It's just like when you're shopping and you find a shirt that doesn't fit right one day but if you put a good bra on it looks amazing. Having the girls supported makes all the difference!

[LadySeasan]

Huzzah! I finished my bodice
thanks for all the help ladies, pictures will come soon