Lace Bustle Skirt, Part 1: Machine Sewing Lace = Epic Fail

This week I've been working on a lace bustle skirt for a steampunk/Weird West Ironette, the back-up dancers from Iron Man 2 (loosely based). Or, them:


The skirt is the first part I'm tackling, which is turning out to be a real pain. I'm doing it out of lace, which is going to be super pretty. I've been doing the initial stages this week. I'm basing it off of this skirt, by Somnia Romantica:


Lace has turned out to be almost impossible for me. I tried to machine sew a single layer (zig-zag stitch over dental floss so I could pull the floss to bunch the material) which epic failed. The top thread on my machine broke every time after only a couple of stitches. I checked everything and tried all sorts of settings to no avail. I even tried using tissue paper underneath to stabilize the material, but that didn't work either.

Instead, I ended up quickly hand basting through the lace, which worked just as well, and probably took just as much time as machine sewing it would've.

Anyway, onto what I've done so far (skip to the end if you just want to see a progress photo):

This is the lace I bought. It's the bff Lauren Hancock line (bought at Hancock Fabrics) in Regal Red, that I got on sale for just over $6/yard. I bought around 6.75 yards (as much as they had on the spool) and used most of it. I have about a yard left (guesstimating), which is good as I'm going to need it for the top. I was planning on using stretchy lace, but that was significantly more expensive, so I went this route. When I cut out my pieces, I cut off the scalloped edge, as I wanted all the edges to be consistent.

Originally, I created a quick and simple mockup out of cheap muslin so I could get approximate pattern pieces for the different parts of the bustle skirt. I'm not normally a mock-up or pattern person, but since lace tends to be pricey I wanted to make sure I didn't screw up.

The next part was easy, just rolling out the fabric and cutting the 6 pattern
pieces. Here are the approximate dimensions for each piece (I'm 5'5" and am having it sit on my hips):

44" wide x 54" long
44x28
80x20
80x15
44x11
44x6

The reason the first measurement is so much longer than the next-longest one is because I want a train. If you don't want a train, then shorten it as you will. The length measurements are all at the middle, at the longest point. They all have the curved edges at the bottom, like in the picture. When I cut my pieces, I left an extra inch or two all around, so I could make adjustments as needed.

After all the pieces were cut out, I did a basting stitch about 1/2" from the top (the flat side) by hand. IMPORTANT: Do not tie off the ends. You want to have the ends loose so you can pull the fabric to bunch it.

Once that was done, I did the bunching and layered it on my dress form (I wasn't sold on dress forms until I tried making stuff last year without one. A duct tape one works fine, if you don't need height/have someplace to hang it (unlike me).). The longest one goes first (the bottom layer), then the next, and so on. Here's what it looks like so far (don't mind my dirty kitchen, my orange belt I'm using as a temporary waistband, or my "helper"):

That's all I've got so far. Kitten (in the pictures) was sick all weekend and then my computer crashed, so I had to deal with that(/am still dealing with my computer). I've got some adjustments to the train to make (you can kind of see how the sides have folded under in the 3rd picture) and I'm trying to decide if I want to use edging like in the Somnia Romantica bustle. I like how it looks, but I'd need around 17 yards of lace trim, and that's before bunching it all pretty like (I have no idea what the technical term for that is). I'm also trying to decide if I want to layer in some tulle for some extra bustle, and if I want to do a red waistband for a skirt I can use more often (and then make a gold belt) or a gold waistband so there's less pieces to make.

To come: Adjustments, trimming (maybe), waistband (and maybe gold belt), finishing, matching lace skirt for underneath, the top, and arm warmer things (maybe).