Can I Add Tabs?

[Joyce "Delfinia DuSwallow" Howard]

I have a black bodice and i want to add shoulder rolls and tabs,is it possible to add tabs and it look nice? And how do i go about doing this? I have advice on the shoulder rolls, i figured i might as well do it all at the same time. Its a nice plain black outfit from Royal Coffers and i think its time to give it some BLING!Dress it up a little. Thank you for any and all suggestions.

[CapnFayeCutler]

About the tabs: Yes you can! I added tabs to a gown after I had the bodice complete. What I did was sew a folded rectangle of fabric on two sides (leaving the end open), turned it out, and then hand stitched the end shut. I then hand stitched all of the tabs onto the bodice! I did the same for the shoulder tabs too.

You can see some pre & post tab pics here: Burgundy Gown

[Joyce "Delfinia DuSwallow" Howard]

how far apart do i make the tabs?

[Lady Renee Buchanan]

My Royal Coffer bodice with shoulder rolls and tabs.  I had lost weight since it had been originally fitted, so it slipped off my shoulders, but Lady Kathleen of Olmsted did the alterations, and now fits on my shoulders like it is supposed to.

[Baroness Doune]

Any kind of waist treatment and most shoulder treatments can be completely finished and whip stitched to the bodice.  Velvet lends itself well to this because the whip stitching is hidden in the nap of the fabric.

Here is an example of solid (or plain) skirting which was completely finished and whip stitched to the bottom of a doublet.

The shoulder treatment was also done that way but it was less successful because of the bulkiness at the ends of the points of the wings.

Here is an image from Margo's Patterns that shows the variety of shoulder and waist treatments available.

Keep in mind that some of the waist treatments can be used in combination to really expand the possibilities.  For example, the rounded tabs over the top of the solid skirting.  Or two rows of rounded tabs in which the lower layer of tabs is longer than the top layer.  Or two rows of looped tabs and the top layer of tabs is staggered over the lower layer.

It is a design decision as to how close together you want your tabs.  I like them to be either touching or overlapping at the bodice edge. 

If you don't connect your bodice and skirt in some fashion, the waist treatment can sometimes hide gapiosis.  Waist tabs that touch or overlap help hide the gapiosis better.

[Joyce "Delfinia DuSwallow" Howard]

Thank you all so much,I'm going to give this a try.Pictures to follow.