Final Cupped Overbust Pattern?
2014-03-03 (Monday)
Well, y’all, I think I’ve done it! Pics:
So, I built the cups, and built one side three panels, and the other size four panels. I didn’t realize till I put it on that I’d built two left cups (whoopsie!), but oh, well.
Y’all. They were huge. As the Old Man said, my eyes were bigger than my boobs. :( I patterned this cup off of an old bra that was NOT strapless, so the straps kept the top of the cup flush against my chest. Plus, the cups were a bit big for my breasts, so there was already that space. I’d figured that the foam would compensate, but no dice.
That’s without the foam cups underneath. Put in the foam cups, pinned them into place, and there was still too much space. This is where that strap would have come in mighty handy.
Let’s get to pinning!
And I think we have a weeener!
And, for reference, here is the same pattern, just with full panels instead of cups.
I really like the shape!! Very modern, not really “corset-y,” but still very shaped. I continue my concern that it looks lingerie-ish . . . Still hoping that once the embellishments are on, it will look less like underwear. I might alter the bottom line to make it shorter in the hip and allow the line from corset to skirt to flow better. We shall see.
There is still a tiny bit of a gap at the top of the cup, but when I take it in, the top of the cup cuts into my flesh and it looks uncomfortable.
I will have to keep working on my bust fit at bit, but for the most part I’m very pleased with this pattern.
Here it is all laid out.
Oh, and quick trick: when building mockups, one shortcut is to use masking tape to literally tape in your bones. I had made boning channels for all my bones, but I decided to bone the cups. I might even bone them with zip ties for the final build-they won’t be under much pressure at all, I just need them to keep the cup smooth and prevent collapse at the bottom of the cup, which you can kind of see in some of the above photos.
And my sewing mate. I had just cleaned the nose prints off the mirror, too!
And I just realized: it took a hella lot less time to build the pattern for this cupped corset, versus all the many mockups I did of the panels! Who’da thunk that?! I thought the cups would be more fiddly. Again, I went with my intuition on where to move stuff, and it kind of worked out really well! I took in the panels where they met the underwire, so that the corset would lie more flat against my ribs, instead of the more gradual curve of the paneled overbust; I added about two inches of height to the centerfront of the cup to meet where I thought the top centerfront of the corset should be, versus where the bridge of the bra was; and I just eyeballed my balance point for the bottom seams of the cups. The patterning angel must have been with me!
Well, y’all, I think I’ve done it! Pics:
So, I built the cups, and built one side three panels, and the other size four panels. I didn’t realize till I put it on that I’d built two left cups (whoopsie!), but oh, well.
Y’all. They were huge. As the Old Man said, my eyes were bigger than my boobs. :( I patterned this cup off of an old bra that was NOT strapless, so the straps kept the top of the cup flush against my chest. Plus, the cups were a bit big for my breasts, so there was already that space. I’d figured that the foam would compensate, but no dice.
That’s without the foam cups underneath. Put in the foam cups, pinned them into place, and there was still too much space. This is where that strap would have come in mighty handy.
Let’s get to pinning!
And I think we have a weeener!
And, for reference, here is the same pattern, just with full panels instead of cups.
I really like the shape!! Very modern, not really “corset-y,” but still very shaped. I continue my concern that it looks lingerie-ish . . . Still hoping that once the embellishments are on, it will look less like underwear. I might alter the bottom line to make it shorter in the hip and allow the line from corset to skirt to flow better. We shall see.
There is still a tiny bit of a gap at the top of the cup, but when I take it in, the top of the cup cuts into my flesh and it looks uncomfortable.
I will have to keep working on my bust fit at bit, but for the most part I’m very pleased with this pattern.
Here it is all laid out.
Oh, and quick trick: when building mockups, one shortcut is to use masking tape to literally tape in your bones. I had made boning channels for all my bones, but I decided to bone the cups. I might even bone them with zip ties for the final build-they won’t be under much pressure at all, I just need them to keep the cup smooth and prevent collapse at the bottom of the cup, which you can kind of see in some of the above photos.
And my sewing mate. I had just cleaned the nose prints off the mirror, too!
And I just realized: it took a hella lot less time to build the pattern for this cupped corset, versus all the many mockups I did of the panels! Who’da thunk that?! I thought the cups would be more fiddly. Again, I went with my intuition on where to move stuff, and it kind of worked out really well! I took in the panels where they met the underwire, so that the corset would lie more flat against my ribs, instead of the more gradual curve of the paneled overbust; I added about two inches of height to the centerfront of the cup to meet where I thought the top centerfront of the corset should be, versus where the bridge of the bra was; and I just eyeballed my balance point for the bottom seams of the cups. The patterning angel must have been with me!