Altering a bodice?

[Charlotte Rowan]

I decided this year that I'm not making any new garb (except maybe a chemise), but instead alter/improve a few pieces I have. I want to lengthen the sleeves in my pirate coat and add a lining, and --this is the big one-- possibly alter one of the bodices that I have.

The thing is, I have a small bust and a little bit of a belly. Since the bodice only has front lacing, if I leave it loose enough that it doesn't dig into my stomach, it is absolutely way too lose around the best. Also, I've been wanting a Khadija bodice from Moresca for some time but just can't afford it right now so I thought... maybe... I can alter this bodice and make it a shorter, cropped bodice reminiscent of the Khadija. That would eliminate the stomach-digging problem and ease my lust for the Kadija bodice all in one, so... is it worth a try, do you think, or is it just a disaster waiting to happen?

[bellevivre]

the pertinent questions are: what type of bodice is it? I mean, did you make it or was it made by another company? is it boned? what are the fabrics (generally, if it's made with chenille or other fray-happy fabric, it's best to leave it alone)

[Taffy Saltwater]

I'm in the process of making a bodice.  It was boned and thisclose to being finished.  It was about 3 inches too long.  Clutching my heart, I tinsnipped the excess, ripped the seam open enough to sew the channels closed, & used some bias tape to finish it off.

[Charlotte Rowan]

That's kind of what I was thinking I'd do, Taffy.

The bodice was made by someone else, and it is boned...

[LadySeasan]

For me personally, I wouldn't know how to alter the bodice if it was boned. the only thing I can suggest, is using:

http://www.elizabethancostume.net/custompat/

You enter the measurments of how you want it to be, and therefore creating a custom bodice for you.  It is simple to cut out the bodice, and then add boning, especially if you do not want it digging in your stomach


I have the reverse issue. I have done the bodice (without boning) sewed the overskirt to the bodice, not I want a little bit of boning to make the bodice stiffer, and I haven't the slightest clue how to do that.

[Taffy Saltwater]

LadySeason, remove the skirt, rip all the seams out.  Using the bodice as a pattern, cut two duck and one lining. Sew the channels, leaving about 1/2 - 3/4 inch on the tops and bottoms.  Stitch it back up, leaving the bottom open to turn it right side out.  Stitch to skirt.

[LadySeasan]

thanks Taffy
that is what i figured i would have to do anyway, but i was trying to avoid that lol

[Taffy Saltwater]

I made a pirate coat a couple of seasons ago, which turned out way too small to wear as a coat.  So I dissasembled the bugger, removed the sleeves, lined the body with a bodice, reassembled it, and grommeted the sleeves.  I even drew a treasure map on the lining of one cuff and a love poem in the other. The way it's constructed doesn't give me much in the way of "girls", but I had people falling out of trees asking me where I'd gotten my suit last year.  Not too shoddy for my very first home made garb.

Anyway, yes, it's a pita to disassemble everything, but the payoff can be HUGE!

[Lady Rebecca]

Charlotte, what is the boning made out of? If it's cable ties or reeds, you should be able to cut them with scissors. If it's steel, it will probably be much more difficult to change the length of the boning.

[Charlotte Rowan]

sadly, I think it's steel. I guess that thought didn't occur to me.

[gem]

But there's no reason you couldn't replace the current boning with cable ties.

It may just be easier to start from scratch and make something new, though.

[Lady Kathleen of Olmsted]

Altering a bodice from another maker can be tricky. Though I do a lot of Alterations on mundane clothing, garb alterations are another beast entirely.

When I dod Lady Renee's redo in 2007, the bodice was a bear. WHile I shortened it at the waist, , as did the plastic boning, it was the shoulders that gzve me the most rouble.

I shortened the shoulders 3 times and they still slumped. The problem was that the bodice was too wide acrossed the bust, which caused the shoulders to slump down. Frustrated, Lady Renee sent me the bodice, tore it apart, and made her a whole new one from the fabric that her husband's so called doublet was made from using a different pattern.

Like gem stated, starting from scratch might be the better solution. Have someone get good measurements of you like.. wearing no bra but a t-shirt

Bust
Midriff
Waist
Back length(from nape of neck to natural waistline, minus 3")
Acrossed the back
Bust height (from neck at shoulder to breast center)
Bust Length(from neck at shoulder to natural waistline)




Good luck!

[gypsylakat]

Someone had suggested at one point for making a khadja type (and I have no idea who asked it) about using a sports bra as a kind of pattern then figure out where to put the boning (all though if I remember correctly from when my friend tried the khadja it wasn't too heavily boned)

Lady Seasan- could you make a corset to wear under it and then take in the bodice to match? the idea kind of worked in my head, the only problem I see is the skirt once again...

[Charlotte Rowan]

Hmmm... after listening to everyone here, I think I might just try to make a new one. But that is a project for next year, as this summer has been a cool one in MN - I doubt I'm going to want to be wearing less clothing this year than I normally do. In fact, the one project I really want to complete before the season begins is to put a liner in my pirate coat for more warmth...

[LadySeasan]

Someone had suggested at one point for making a khadja type (and I have no idea who asked it) about using a sports bra as a kind of pattern then figure out where to put the boning (all though if I remember correctly from when my friend tried the khadja it wasn't too heavily boned)

Lady Seasan- could you make a corset to wear under it and then take in the bodice to match? the idea kind of worked in my head, the only problem I see is the skirt once again...

I ended up making a lightly boned corset, and then ran out of boning, so today i get more and can finish the corset, and i will try it on all together to see how it looks