Now that I’m moving on to cutting/stitching the camisole, I feel as if I am now more than half way done with my mom’s silk pajama set. Wooot!
Before cutting out the pieces for the Cinnamon camisole, I sat and pondered what to do about adding in some structure/stabilization of the cami for my mom’s full bosom.
The pattern pieces of Cinnamon are cut on the bias… which means lots of stretch and not a lot of structure. The silk charmeuse I’m using is also shifty in nature. Seems like an uphill battle to balance the soft silk with a supporting mechanism.
What I decided is as follows:
Bodice Front:
Pattern Piece A (bodice cups): I cut out 4 fabric pieces in order to have a double layer of fabric for each bodice cup.
Pattern Piece B (upper waist): I cut out 2 fabric pieces, again to have a double layer of fabric. Additionally, I cut 1 piece of silk organza of pattern piece B, in order to provide a bit more crisp structure, even though I also cut it on the bias.
Pattern piece G (lower bodice): Cut 1 fabric piece as pattern instructed.
Bodice Back:
Pattern piece D (upper back bodice): I cut 2 fabric pieces out as well as a a piece of silk organza for more structure.
Pattern piece H (lower back bodice): Cut 1 fabric piece as instructed.
The pattern pieces B & D are going to take the most stress and as such, they needed a bit more structure to them than 1 layer of silk charmeuse. I’m just hoping that there’s a perfect mix between comfort and support for my mom when she wears this to bed.
Construction:
In order to begin construction, I had to hand-baste all of the double layers of fabric together to act as one as well as sandwiching the silk organza between the inner and outer silk charmeuse bodice pieces.
Despite spraying the fabric with spray stabilizer, the fabric being cut on the bias, was still very stretchy. I had to pin the corners of the fabric together first, then the notches, and then everywhere else before basting anything. I can’t even imagine trying to baste these pieces with the machine. In this one instance, I think it was quicker to do by hand vs. by machine.
Charmeuse on the bottom, organza 2nd, and I then basted the second piece of charmeuse on top of the organza.
This is the back bodice band, all sandwiched together.
With my muslin, I used some fabric selvage in the bodice with good effect and knew I wanted to use something with a similar *staying* power. Stay tape seemed a natural selection since it’s both thin yet strong.
Upper side of this seam section:
Zooming out:
I have the upper waistband all pinned and ready to stitch to the bodice cups.
Sorry guys… I didn’t have the heart to fully remove the waistband piece to get the best photo for you. I hope the above sufficed for showing you the stay tape to the underside of the seam allowance. I just get excited when I’m sewing and forget to keep taking pictures of each and every step.
I have to say… holding the completed upper bodice waistband piece together (pattern piece B) felt really thick. I’m a bit hesitant about the comfortability of this now since it feels rather thick. I’m hoping it’s just because the fabric pieces still have their spray stabilizer in them and will soften up when wash it. But I’m feelin’ pretty good about the stabilization of the silk charmeuse. :)
I’m following along with the pattern directions for the most part. But one addition to make this cami extra special for my mom is my treatment of the inside seam allowances.
For silk, I generally like to use a french seam. But when the seams are curved this is not an option. In these areas I’m cutting one seam allowance in half (lengthwise) and I’m stitching the second seam allowance over the first to enclose it. Being such delicate fabric on a narrow seam, I’m having to do all of this work by hand.
The one pattern piece I’m not sure will work is the lower bodice back. I added a generous amount of fabric here and am now thinking it’s too much. I’m debating remaking the bodice muslin- swapping out the original lower back bodice piece for my new one to see how that would work. Seems like the best solution before I stitch the bodice together and since I still have extra silk charmeuse fabric on hand to re-cut it, if needed.
*It’s really not orange… my night photos are lacking.
At this point in time, I’m actually stuck. Until I see my mom again and have her try on my second camisole muslin to ensure I have the proper fit for the bodice back I have nothing else to stitch up. I’m in a holding pattern on this project.
What I could do next…
Beyond the construction of the camisole, I’m debating whether or not to add some more lace accents. I don’t have enough lace to put in a whole panel but I can add some floral motifs on the bodice.
*Sharpie for scale.
Since some of the flowers have holes in them, I have 3 or 4 larger flowers and some of the smaller ones also.
Do you guys think I should add lace to the bodice? And if so, where???
In: Sewing
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