Lace Bustle: Part 2, Making an Underbust Harness, and Pole Dancing

It's been over a month since I updated, so I know it's about time. I went to 4 cities in 4 days at one point over the holidays and spent NYE in NYC, which was fantastic. Also, I've been taking pole dancing (for fitness) 3x/week, which is ridiculous. Seriously, if you are a female and need something awesome to do, I highly recommend it if it's in your area. I go to Goddess Dance Studio.  It's super hard, but a lot of fun.  I've learned to do things that I would never expect to be able to do.  Also, I totally made my own tutu as I'm taking a ballet/pole crossover workshop.  It was so fun!  And so easy! 

Tutu!

I (99%) finished my bustle skirt after breaking no less than 5 needles on my machine. I definitely need to upgrade machines soon. Six layers of bunched lace plus two layers of interfaced satin make for quite a thick packet for the machine to power through. I'll admit, it's not as pretty on the inside as it could be, but the inside doesn't really matter.  I did decide to edge it with lace trim after all to save on hemming/rough edges, and it turned out quite pretty. The lace they carried at Hancock's wasn't exactly the same color as the main lace of my skirt, but that's unavoidable unless you want to dye all of your fabric (and dying fabric terrifies me).  The only things left to do are to add a hook/button/something so I can hook the train up and off the floor for walking and maybe add a wrist loop. Oh, and make it smaller, because I'm down a few inches in my hips.

(Instructions on finishing the skirt after the break.)

Next I made an underbust harness, but I made it out of the same gold fabric I'm using for the belt so everything would match. I interfaced (I think it's medium weight interfacing) both the gold fabric (I think it's a satin, too) and the lining (I just used a generic brown cotton) so it would have some weight. If I were to do it again, I would use heavier interfacing. It ended up being super easy. I'll do a mini-tutorial on that another day. Also, I finally used hemming tape for the first time on this, so the entire harness is a NO-SEW project (though lots of ironing)!

I still have to finish off the straps.

When I bought the hardware (buckles) from Tandy Leather, I also ordered the contraption the goes on the back of those oversize/interchangeable belt buckles you can get, so I can make my own Ironette buckle.  Any ideas on what to use?  I was thinking Sculpey/Fimo.

Still to come for this costume: Belt buckle/belt, underskirt (basic miniskirt), my experience recovering a bra, glove/armwarmer things, and a mini top hat.


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When last I left, everything was pinned together on a makeshift waistband.  The next step is to add the lace edging, should you choose to.  I recommend it, as it gives it a nice finished look.  I think I bought around 19-20 yards of lace -- I actually had to go to two Hancocks to get as much as I needed.

Note for the next step: Make sure you measure the width of each piece while it's bunched as you're taking it apart.  This keeps you from having to re-do the trial-and-error positioning bit from the last entry.

So, to do the edging first you have to take everything apart.  You'll have to take it completely off the waistband and un-bunch all of the lace.  Next, pin down the edging around both sides and the bottom of each of the pieces.  The lace edging is actually going to be on the top (or right side -- but lace doesn't really have a "right side") of the piece when it's done.  You'll want to have the top of the edging about half an inch or so (doesn't have to be perfect with all of the bunching) from the edge of the main lace.  You can always cut the extra main lace off from underneath it later. Make sure your edging lace is all one continuous piece on each layer.

 

 This is the lace edging pulled back after sewing.  I cut the excess main lace off - just don't get too close.

Once you've got all the edging on, it's time to bunch it back up!  I had to do my basic baste stitch through the top of a couple of the pieces again as the thread came out while I was working, but it wasn't a big deal.  Once it's bunched and layered back exactly as it should be in the final product, I sewed the stack of lace together to make sewing the waistband on easier.  You don't *have* to do this, but I highly recommend it.  I can't even imagine trying to keep 6 layers of lace even inside the band while trying to sew it.  Make sure all of your edging is on the top.

Then it's time to make the waist band.  I wanted a relatively thin one -- only about an inch to an inch and a half wide.  I measured my hips (since that's where I want it to sit) and then added 5-6 inches (I like to be safe), but just make sure you have some extra.  Then, I cut out a strip that long and about 4" wide and ironed interfacing into it to make it strong and stiff enough to support all of the lace.  Next, fold it in half and iron the crease, then fold in a little of the ends so you'll have a nice edge

If you look at it from the side, it's kind of like a mouth.

Now we're in the final stages.  Take the top of your layers and layers of lace (hopefully all sewn together) and line it up with the middle crease of your waistband.  I started from the middle, since that's where most of the lace is and the most difficult part.  Then, just fold the top down and pin it all together.  Note:  The middle will *not* lay flat.  It'll look fine once it's on your body, so don't worry too much, but there's so much fabric in there that it's just not going to happen. Keep pinning until all of the lace is pinned and then sew it all together, close to the edge.  It will take time, patience, and (if it's anything like mine) several broken sewing machine needles and lots of frustration.  I had to undo some stitches a few times and go back over a few places, but it looked fine in the end.  Also, in the middle the fabric of my waistband started sliding so it's uneven there, but with all of the fabric you'd never notice unless you looked inside.

See how it's all not flat in the middle? Also, really hard to pin.

Finally, you're going to size the waistband/cut off all of that extra (if you need to -- you may not need to if you're doing buttons or any sort of overlapping closure).  I had to cut off about an extra inch since my clasp is open/not overlapping.

Not a particularly good picture, but you get the idea.

And you're done!