Shaping a Neckline with Horsehair Braid

Horsehair braid is not just for hems! You can also use it in a neckline to add shape and structure. This works especially well in strapless or strappy dresses, where the bodice is supported by boning. Sometimes interfacing the neckline isn't quite stiff enough to stand up to the structure of the bodice, especially when you want a lot of shape and stiffness around the neckline.

This red halter dress is a great example. As you can see above, it's boned around the bodice, but not over the bust. The horsehair braid keeps the neckline from collapsing above the bustline. It also keeps the neckline nice and crisp. I've seen it used in dresses like this pink chiffon one, where you need extra structure to support the ruching of the lightweight fabric.

To apply the horsehair braid, you'll want to stitch it to the lining neckline so that it's positioned just below the seamline. (Do this step after all lining seams are constructed and boning is sewn in.) Because my seam allowance is 5/8", I stitched my horsehair just a hair below that. 

The braid can go all around the upper edge of the bodice, or stop at the side seams, which ever you prefer. If you have it go around to the zipper opening, make sure that you cut it just short of the opening so it doesn't get caught in any seam allowances. 

Pull up the string in the horsehair braid so that it shapes to the curve of the bodice. It's a nice touch to stitch some scrap fabric around the short ends of the braid so the cut edges don't poke through the dress. 

Stitch the bodice to the bodice lining, right sides together. Understitch the lining, catching the horsehair braid and the seam allowances in your understitching. Turn the lining to the right side and press, and there you have it! A nicely shaped neckline.

P.S. Happy Halloween!

Adding Underwires to a Bustier-Style Bodice

This has got to be one of my most frequently asked questions: how do you put underwires into a dress? (Especially one like my bombshell dress or other bustier-style design.) Is it possible? To be honest, I really didn't know. So I decided to spend some time exploring the possibility while making B6019, my Butterick Shaheen-style dress pattern. You'll need a pattern with a underbust seam and, ideally, some sort of bra cup seaming.

This pattern is ideal because it has a bodice lining. The underwires will get stitched to the lining only, so that the stitching lines don't show on the outside. If you wanted to put underwires into an unlined bodice, it would need to have actual bra cups (that are the shape of an underwire) or you would have to not care about underwire stitching lines.

Here's how I started. Construct the bodice front lining and add boning channels where desired. Practice positioning the underwires and see if you're happy with how they fit by holding the bodice up to your torso. The underwires should not extend past the top of the neckline. (Tip: you can remove underwires from a worn out bra to avoid having to buy them--plus you'll know they're the right size!)

Place the underwires into channeling. (If you don't have channeling, 1/4" wide bias tape could work in a pinch.)

Mark the underwire placement. It's very important to remember that the underwires will expand when worn. See how I'm stretching them slightly open with my hand in the picture above? This is how you want to mark the placement. Add some chalk lines while stretching the underwire open so you know where to stitch the channeling. The bottom of the underwire should match the underbust seam.

Remove the underwires from the channeling and pin the channeling in place along your marked chalk lines. Stitch along each side of the channeling.

Put the underwire back into the channel and secure the open ends of the channel with stitching. Repeat on the other side of the bust.

Prepare the outer bodice front. I put fusible fleece in the cups for support and woven interfacing in the midriff.

Complete the bodice as usual. Here's how the underwired lining looks from the inside.

I ended up adding some thin circular bra pads between the layers for a little extra oomph--the upper cup was collapsing a bit on my smallish bust (sad, I know). 

And here's the outside!

You want support? This thing is super supportive! Plus it has elastic shirring in the back to hold it snug to the body, and a halter strap for a little extra lift.

Hope this is helpful! Do you all have any other tips for sewing underwires into a dress?

P.S. This method would work for a swimsuit too!

P.P.S. I'll be back with the sew-along on Monday! I'm going to do a video to show y'all how to make bra straps.

Thread Tip: Light Grey as a Neutral

Did you know that pale grey thread blends with tons of colors? I first learned this from my mom; I think it's some sort of top secret quilting knowledge. I put it to use recently in my lingerie sewing. With my slip pattern, there's contrast lace trim all over the place. It can be annoying to try to match thread colors, because you have to keep switching from your main to your contrast color depending on if you're sewing the fabric or lace.

Enter grey thread! It seems like magic, but it blends seamlessly with both bright white lace and lavender fabric. Here it is on the lace side--there's a large zigzag on both the top and bottom of the lace, but you can't see it at all.

And here it is from the back.

It's like a chameleon! I'm using Mettler Meterosene color 0854, also called "Saturn."

Grey thread works for all sorts of lighter-colored fabrics. Give it a try!

Tips for Sewing with Velvet

Ah, velvet. So lovely, yet so cruel. This is a fabric that seems to have a mind and body of its own. It moves without warning, shifts inches away from where you want it, and worst of all--gets ruined at the mere suggestion of bring pressed.

Quick note: Silk/rayon velvet (like the blue fabric I made the dress above in) is drapey and soft. Cotton velvet tends to have a thicker feeling to it, with more body. Cotton or synthetic velvets have the same challenges as silk velvet, since they all have a pronounced nap. Silk velvet can be a little trickier to handle and cut because of it's slippery feel.

The trickiness of sewing velvet can all be blamed on its nap. The nap (or "pile") refers to the texture of the velvet--the little hair-like fibers that stand up, creating a luxurious fabric that feels heavenly to the touch. The nap is tricky to sew because:


1. It has a direction, just like a cat's fur grows in a certain direction. If you pet the cat in the opposite direction, the fur stands up and looks messy. And the cat gets kind of pissy, too. Velvet's the same way.

2. The pile shifts easily. Imagine trying to sew two pieces of carpet together, with the furry sides together. They would shift up and down as the pile tried to settle itself in a flattened position. The pile can slide back and forth, causing unpredictable movements in your fabric.

3. The pile can get crushed with improper pressing. Crushed pile creates these weird shiny spots on your garment, and it's impossible to get the pile to stand up again.

Now that you (hopefully) understand velvet a bit better, here are some tips that work well for me:


Cutting and Marking

*Lay the fabric out with the wrong sides together. Any time you put the napped sides of velvet together, it starts to do its shifty dance thing. Keeping the smooth sides together helps keep it in place while cutting.

*Try using a rotary cutter and mat so you don't have to lift the velvet as you cut it.

*Transferring marks: I used waxed tracing paper and marked just inside the marked lines of darts in case the tracing wheel disturbed the nap. The other option is tailor's tacks.

Pressing

*Do not EVER touch the fabric with the iron. Steam, while holding the iron about an inch away from the fabric. Use your fingers to coax seam allowances open after steaming.

Sewing

*Baste! Hand baste your seams before sewing. A double row of basting works best: one row of basting on either side of your seamline.

*Hold the fabric taut as you sew, holding the fabric out in front of and behind the presser foot.

Lining/facings

*Consider using an easy-to-sew fabric for your linings or facings. For my blue velvet dress, I lined the bodice in cotton voile. It feels nice against the skin and reduces the stress level of sewing a bit. When you're lining in slippery silk or rayon, you have two difficult fabrics to deal with instead of just one.

*For facings, don't use velvet. Any time you can avoid sewing velvet right sides together, you should take advantage of it. Find a coordinating, non-napped fabric.

Stabilizing

*Stabilize necklines with staystitching or strips of silk organza hand stitched to the neckline.

*Do not use anything fusible--interfacing should be the sew-in kind. You can use muslin if it matches the weight and drape of your fabric well.

Closures

*I prefer to do a hand-inserted zipper. If you must do a machine-inserted zipper, use two rows of basting before stitching on the machine.

I hope this was helpful! Please let me know if you have any questions about velvet.

Time-Saving Trick for a Boned Bodice Muslin

When I went through my corset-making obsession, I learned a lot of cool tricks that can be transferred to dressmaking. And this particular trick is my absolute favorite.

When making a muslin for a dress with a boned bodice, it's imperative to actually put boning into your muslin. A boned bodice generally has little to no ease. But without the boning for stability, it just looks like a too tight, wrinkly muslin--which makes it impossible to evaluate the fit. Obviously, however, sewing boning into a garment is time-consuming and often makes it difficult to alter the seams of a garment--exactly what you need to be doing in the muslin stage!

So, meet your new best friend, masking tape. Yep, you can tape lengths of spiral steel boning into your muslin for fitting purposes. (Does masking tape have different names in different countries? It's that parchment-colored tape typically used to cover molding or door frames when painting walls.)

Center the steel boning over the seam allowance (or wherever you want to place it) and secure it with a length of masking tape.

The only rule is that you don't want the boning to extend into the waistline seam allowance. The boning must end right at your waistline seam allowance.

It's perfectly fine for it to extend over the top of the bodice, though, as long as it doesn't poke into your armpit or anything awkward like that. Here I let the back boning extend past the upper edge of the bodice, just for the purposes of fitting. This way you don't have to cut the boning to length until you've figured out the fitting issues. 

Another time-saving trick is to fit only the bodice (this works if the skirt is full and only needs to fit at the waist). If you're fitting yourself, it's really important to put a dress-length zipper into the muslin--just let the extra zipper length hang below the bodice.

I'm currently working on my design, Butterick 5882, to wear to a wedding next weekend! Sorry for the mirror photo, but it's about all I could handle this weekend. The only fitting change I needed to make was removing some ease from the waistline. The taped-in boning made this super easy: I just removed the boning to take in the seams, and then stuck it back in place to re-fit. You don't even need new masking tape since it stays sticky!

I'm making it from this amazing brocade with flocked velvet polka dots. The bustline and straps will be in coordinating black shantung.

More to come on this design, including the long-promised FBA post.

Hope this sticky trick helps you out on your next party dress muslin!

Cutting Slippery Fabrics with Tissue Paper

This is one of those tips I’ve heard a million times but never actually tried: sandwiching slippery silks between two layers of tissue paper to make cutting easier and more accurate. Well, I finally tried it and it’s basically a MIRACLE.

I recently lined a garment with habotai, aka China Silk. Habotai feels lovely: light as a feather and silky soft. However, it is a veritable nightmare to work with (in my humble opinion). It is so weightless that it practically floats away when you try to cut it, plus the layers slip around on top of each other. Argh! You’re lucky if your cut piece of habotai even vaguely resembles your actual pattern piece.

So, obviously, I was dreading cutting and working with the habotai lining. (Why do I buy it? Usually to save money. It’s under $10 a yard, usually less than half the price of crepe de chine, which would be my first choice.) The college where I teach stocks rolls of tissue paper for the very purpose of cutting and sewing tricky fabrics, so I decided I needed to finally put this method to the test.

Here’s how it works. It’s best if you can get a roll of tissue paper, which is usually around 36” wide. Roll out a single layer on your cutting surface. Lay out your fabric on the fold, right sides together. Arrange the fabric so the selvages line up with one side of the tissue paper and pin them in place. Then fold the tissue paper in half lengthwise so that it’s sandwiching the fabric. Pin all the layers in place together.  You’ll have a tissue layer on the bottom, the two layers of silk, and the second layer of tissue on the top.

 

Next, place your pattern pieces on top of the tissue/fabric sandwich, using the selvage or fabric fold to align your pattern grainlines as usual.

Then just cut around your pieces! There’s no need for special scissors or anything. The tissue paper keeps the layers in place, making cutting a breeze.

Look at those neat edges of the cut pieces.

Now that your fabric is cut, you can also use the tissue pieces as a stabilizer while stitching seams. Leave the tissue piece on your bottom piece as you’re sewing, and it will feed through your machine as easily as quilting cotton.

Then just rip away the tissue paper from the seam. Sew with a short stitch length (like 2.0 mm) to make tearing the paper more perforated and easier to tear away. Keep some tweezers handy to pick out any stubborn bits of tissue.

That’s it! This method is fabulous for all sorts of slippery silks, like charmeuse, chiffon, georgette, etc.

Are you a fan of this method? Have any good sources for tissue paper by the roll?

More on the Illusion Neckline

I'm back, readers! And I have a great post for you today: some insights into the sewing of a Peggy Hunt-style illusion neckline. As you may recall, I asked for your advice about how to sew this sort of neckline in this post, back in October. You all had so many great ideas! I also got an e-mail from the incredibly generous Sarai of Colette Patterns, who has a Peggy Hunt and offered to send me pictures! Jeez, how sweet is that?

This is Sarai's beautiful dress you see here, a perfect example of Peggy Hunt's work.

Sarai confirmed that the neckline is a very narrow hem, as many of you guessed.

Some super-duper close-ups. It looks machine stitched to me. You?

The wrong side:

 The right side:

I played around with lots of different methods to acheive this type of neckline, and I landed on the cheater's method: the rolled hem on my serger. Here's a snippet of my results:

I love how neat it looks.

My second-favorite method I tried was a machine-stitched baby hem, which I think is what the vintage dress above has. To make a baby hem, (sew one line of machine stitching around the neckline, and turned the seam in on the stitching. Then stitch to the left of your first line of stitching. Trim down your seam allowance very closely and very carefully with tiny scissors. Turn the hem in one last time and stitch.) This is a bit time consuming because you have to be certain to keep everything exactly uniform, as it can start looking sloppy with anything less than perfect, even stitching. It does make a lovely neckline, though.

So there you have it. A big thanks to Sarai for the pictures!

Cupcake Wiggle Dress

This is a project that has been hanging around my sewing room for MONTHS. But it's finally done! It's a simple black wiggle dress with pink soutache trim (more on that in later in this post). The pink swirls remind me of a Hostess cupcake. Yum. The black fabric is a tropical wool of excellent quality and drape that I scored in the Paron's 50% Annex years ago.

 

 

I made the pattern by attaching the bodice of this dress that I draped last year:

 To this vintage skirt pattern, purchased on etsy.

I really love how the pockets stand slightly away from the body--perfect for embellishing!

So let's talk soutache. I read an article on soutache in Sew Beautiful magazine (issue 139) a couple months ago, and got really obsessed with the idea of using it on a dress. Sew Beautiful is an heirloom sewing magazine, but I've found that it has lots of great techniques for retro garment sewists too. Here's a little snapshot of the dress they featured:

I ran out to Mokuba (OMG, have you guys ever been to that store? It's a Japanese trim place and it sells the most amazing stuff. Worth a blog post on its own) and they had soutache in dozens of colors and varieties.

Soutache is a fascinating trim. Here's how it works. It's a rayon braid with two cords inside it.

You have to fray the ends slightly to get to the cords.

Pull one cord and the soutache will curl up. If you pull the other cord, it will curl in the opposite direction.

I made my embellishments by arranging the soutache how I wanted it, pinning it to the dress, and then attaching it by hand with a small back stitch. Any ends have to be covered up and sealed with a product like Fray Check.

Kinda cool, right? It's kind of painstaking work, so I think it's best for small areas. I had a fantasy of embellishing the hem of a circle skirt this way, but I'm thinking better of it now.

The inside of the dress is both faced and lined with bemberg.

I learned this technique from an article in Threads. You cut out both facings and linings, turn the facing edges under 1/4" (I staystitched at 1/4" first to make this easier), and lay the facings on top of the linings. Baste together, and then edgestitch the facing so it's attached at the bottom to the lining.

Also: pink lace!

All in all, a fun project. I love this pattern and can imagine making it in other colors and varieties. Sans soutache--I only have so much patience!