Semester Projects, Part Two~

Ah I'm afraid I lied a bit when I said Part Two was going to be made the day after I made Part One, but alas...

Time for Part Two of the Semester end projects post~

This is for my Body Contour class, which was all about utilizing knits and woven fabrics to create body conscious fashion pieces bridging between Athletic Wear, Evening Wear, and Lingerie. We as a class designed and constructed Bodysuits, Leggings, and Corset pieces.

First off, my theme~

There were 3 garments in my final collection, but I'll only show good photos of the one I liked best. I made a purple halter neck bodysuit with black lace, as well as a pair of vinyl spandex leggings with black lace cutouts as the first two pieces.

I'll definitely be wearing the leggings~

Now for my favorite piece. Probably the one piece I'm most happy with out of the stuff I made in school over the years (I can say that for more or less everything I made this semester, I'm very happy with how most of the pieces came out!)

Underbust Boned Bodice with Centerfront Shirring and Corset Lacing

The fabric is a silk floral brocade which is simply gorgeous but cost me more money than I had hoped for ($35 per yard, but I only needed 1 1/2 yards for this)

It also features this asymmetrical peplum trimmed with a looped crochet lace. At the side there is a separating invisible zipper that allows for getting out and into it, but I don't recommend them. I have a lot of trouble trying to get the zipper to line up when I'm putting it on the mannequin or trying to get it on myself. I think If I made another one of these (which I certainly do want to), I will use a more industrial separating zipper and sew the opening to have a flap to cover it.

I used Flat Felled Seams to make the casings for the Boning. I used both Rigeline Boning and Plastic Flexible Boning (see examples of what those are here). I think next time around I'll use Spiral Metal Boning instead. They all work the same though in this case, but at certain times with different garment applications, one type can work better than the others.

Closeup of the Flat Felled seams

The front also features 5 Princess line Panels, which gives it that very authentic Victorian aesthetic look, the center panel being the shirred one. 

The back, which only has 3 panels.

Lace Detail around the armhole, same as on the peplum...

...seen here.

This is a hugely versatile piece to my current wardrobe! Not only can I wear this over blouses with skirts with Lolita, but also for Kodona/Dandy/Boystyle, and Aristocrat. I also feel that I would like to make more of these for sale in the coming future.

It would be interesting to do this with a longer peplum don't you think? Maybe a flared one instead of a gathered? I can also adapt this into a jumperskirt quite easily by adding a full skirt to the bodice. I'm going to make sure I keep this pattern for a long time, I'll get lots of use out of it!

Thank you for reading, and for your comments everyone!

Oh and one last little thing, my favorite fabric site, Shabby Fabrics, is having a end of the year clearance! Lots of loliable fabrics are on sale! I advise all my fellow seamstresses to check it out ASAP! (I have too much fabrics unused so I can't allow myself to buy anything more until I make use of what I already have hoarded!)