"re-upholstering" a bridesmaid top
Behind the cut are photos of a bustier top from a bridesmaid dress, re-covered in pieces of a pair of gray twill slacks, with shoulder straps added. Well, that's the short version, a lot was done to the bridesmaid top before the end. But I'm pretty happy with the results. The basic idea was to use the fit and (plastic) boning that already existed in the top, rather than trying to build something from scratch.
I took notes as I went, and I've included them. Also behind a cut; they're long and rambling. If anyone actually attempts to follow any of those "instructions", please feel free to ask me for clarification. And if anyone has tried this before and has pointers, I'd love to hear them.
I still intend to take one of the back pockets from the pants and add it as a watch pocket. Not sure if that will get done before Teslacon - still much to prep.
The skirt - which you can barely see in the photos - is based on this 1895 seven-panel walking skirt pattern. The fabric is from an upholstery shop that was having a clearance sale; that pattern hangs really nice (this is the second time I've used it), even if the fabric is fairly stiff.
Photos are of front and back, while being worn and while laid flat, plus a photo of the original bridesmaid top.
Here's the original bridesmaid top:
The pants that I used happened to be 98% cotton, 2% spandex. I chose to use slacks that had no pattern, partly to keep the difficulty level down, but mainly because I’d held these slacks up to most of my skirts and shirts and they were a good multi-outfit match. I made the corset front-closure, so I wouldn’t have to dislocate a shoulder to get into it unassisted.
You’ll want a fairly sturdy sewing machine needle - possibly two. I used one made for jeans material. There are places where I went through many layers of folded fabric, or through the plastic corset boning.
Start with the back of the corset. Try to find a portion of the pant leg that’s slightly wider than the width that you want, then cut at top and bottom (leaving extra fabric for hemming - if there’s too much, you can always trim it off later).
Open one seam (be sure to open the correct one); it should now be the right width for the back, with the remaining seam down the center back. The reason for cutting it slightly wider is so you have some wiggle to adjust the pattern so that seam is right down the center. (If this doesn’t go right, you probably have enough fabric to re-try it with the other pant leg.)
The bridesmaid top had the back done in 3 sections, with some flare in the bottom third. I lost that by cutting this in one piece, but decided that I would try it this way and if I didn’t like the effect then I would add in fabric later. The little bit of stretch in the fabric also gave me some wiggle room here (so to speak).
Cut the bustier down the center front, to one side of the center boning. There will eventually be hooks&eyes under that center bone, with (I’m hoping) some extra buckles across the front as well.
What I did next was remove the fabric on the inside of the corset. This was done to remove bulk, and because it was just a loose piece of fabric that I was sure to bunch up somewhere if I left it in while re-sewing. But that means the corset no longer had an inner lining. So, I let the outer portion of the bustier become the inner lining. To do that, I had to reverse the halves - left half of old bustier is right half of new item. An unforeseen complexity, one that in this case was manageable.
Sew the two halves of the old bustier together at the center back, along the zipper line.
Pin the covering fabric in place for the center back (I use small butterfly clips instead of pins). Take care to leave enough fabric for a hem on both top and bottom, and make sure everything is centered correctly. Iron, to make the boning stand out: you’ll be sewing along each side of it.
Working outwards from the center back, sew along each edge of the boning. The thread will show, so sew carefully and straight, and use thread that complements the fabric. I didn’t sew along the center back (where the zipper was) - I don’t think it’s needed, and it would be hard to keep it straight. If I need to later, I’ll sew it down.
Don’t sew up tight against the boning - instead, let the boning be the guide for the edge of the sewing machine foot. Position the boning - before sewing - so that it runs vertical (rather than angled in, as it will be when worn). I didn’t sew all the way to the edges - there will be another line of sewing around top and bottom - but in retrospect I probably should have gotten as close as possible to the where the top/bottom hems would start.
Keep the fabric smooth - bunching will show.
At this point I removed the “modesty panel” (the sequined pieces) from the original bustier. if I want that extra bit of fabric, I can add it in at the end.
Now it’s time to cut the fabric for the front two pieces. Leave plenty of extra fabric at that center-front edge, so you’ll have plenty to work with when putting in the hooks&eyes.
Again I did the front halves from a single piece (each), instead of the 3 pieces used in the original. I used the upper half of each leg, then re-fold it away from the seam, to get the fabric to angle in such a way as to cover the full panel. It got fiddly here, because there was a seam from the pants that would be part of the finished item, so I needed to make sure the one on the left panel was placed the same as the one on the right panel.
When you open one of the leg seams to flatten the fabric out, be sure it’s the same seam on both sides - I messed that one up.
When cut, sew to the new-fabric back piece, then continue with the sewing-along boning method in front. I did some positioning of the fabric here, to get some of the flared fit that the original top had.
Sew the top and bottom hems, and the center-front, and add hook&eyes (or whatever closure you want). I added just a few hooks&eyes and then checked the fit and re-positioned. Later, I added another whole row of hooks&eyes because I decided I wanted a tighter fit. I couldn’t just add eyes because I wanted to keep things centered front&back, so any width I took in had to be done evenly on left and right.
What was left of one pant leg was about the right length for shoulder straps. I cut equal sections for left and right, folded in half lengthwise and ironed, then opened up and folded each edge into the center and re-folded at the original ironing mark - the result is a strip ¼ the original width, with all the bare edges turned inside where they don’t show. I used butterfly clips to temporarily attach them so I could position them correctly and get the length right.
Because I originally cut the fabric with not enough seam allowance, I should now go over the garment and re-sew any places where it looks like the seam might not hold. If I have time, I might re-sew all the seams, more for looks than anything else.
Washing: the original was dry-clean only. But none of that shows anymore, so it’s just a matter of it being clean and not shrinking. Guess I’d recommend hand-wash or delicate wash, cold, and lay flat to dry.
I took notes as I went, and I've included them. Also behind a cut; they're long and rambling. If anyone actually attempts to follow any of those "instructions", please feel free to ask me for clarification. And if anyone has tried this before and has pointers, I'd love to hear them.
I still intend to take one of the back pockets from the pants and add it as a watch pocket. Not sure if that will get done before Teslacon - still much to prep.
The skirt - which you can barely see in the photos - is based on this 1895 seven-panel walking skirt pattern. The fabric is from an upholstery shop that was having a clearance sale; that pattern hangs really nice (this is the second time I've used it), even if the fabric is fairly stiff.
Photos are of front and back, while being worn and while laid flat, plus a photo of the original bridesmaid top.
Here's the original bridesmaid top:
The pants that I used happened to be 98% cotton, 2% spandex. I chose to use slacks that had no pattern, partly to keep the difficulty level down, but mainly because I’d held these slacks up to most of my skirts and shirts and they were a good multi-outfit match. I made the corset front-closure, so I wouldn’t have to dislocate a shoulder to get into it unassisted.
You’ll want a fairly sturdy sewing machine needle - possibly two. I used one made for jeans material. There are places where I went through many layers of folded fabric, or through the plastic corset boning.
Start with the back of the corset. Try to find a portion of the pant leg that’s slightly wider than the width that you want, then cut at top and bottom (leaving extra fabric for hemming - if there’s too much, you can always trim it off later).
Open one seam (be sure to open the correct one); it should now be the right width for the back, with the remaining seam down the center back. The reason for cutting it slightly wider is so you have some wiggle to adjust the pattern so that seam is right down the center. (If this doesn’t go right, you probably have enough fabric to re-try it with the other pant leg.)
The bridesmaid top had the back done in 3 sections, with some flare in the bottom third. I lost that by cutting this in one piece, but decided that I would try it this way and if I didn’t like the effect then I would add in fabric later. The little bit of stretch in the fabric also gave me some wiggle room here (so to speak).
Cut the bustier down the center front, to one side of the center boning. There will eventually be hooks&eyes under that center bone, with (I’m hoping) some extra buckles across the front as well.
What I did next was remove the fabric on the inside of the corset. This was done to remove bulk, and because it was just a loose piece of fabric that I was sure to bunch up somewhere if I left it in while re-sewing. But that means the corset no longer had an inner lining. So, I let the outer portion of the bustier become the inner lining. To do that, I had to reverse the halves - left half of old bustier is right half of new item. An unforeseen complexity, one that in this case was manageable.
Sew the two halves of the old bustier together at the center back, along the zipper line.
Pin the covering fabric in place for the center back (I use small butterfly clips instead of pins). Take care to leave enough fabric for a hem on both top and bottom, and make sure everything is centered correctly. Iron, to make the boning stand out: you’ll be sewing along each side of it.
Working outwards from the center back, sew along each edge of the boning. The thread will show, so sew carefully and straight, and use thread that complements the fabric. I didn’t sew along the center back (where the zipper was) - I don’t think it’s needed, and it would be hard to keep it straight. If I need to later, I’ll sew it down.
Don’t sew up tight against the boning - instead, let the boning be the guide for the edge of the sewing machine foot. Position the boning - before sewing - so that it runs vertical (rather than angled in, as it will be when worn). I didn’t sew all the way to the edges - there will be another line of sewing around top and bottom - but in retrospect I probably should have gotten as close as possible to the where the top/bottom hems would start.
Keep the fabric smooth - bunching will show.
At this point I removed the “modesty panel” (the sequined pieces) from the original bustier. if I want that extra bit of fabric, I can add it in at the end.
Now it’s time to cut the fabric for the front two pieces. Leave plenty of extra fabric at that center-front edge, so you’ll have plenty to work with when putting in the hooks&eyes.
Again I did the front halves from a single piece (each), instead of the 3 pieces used in the original. I used the upper half of each leg, then re-fold it away from the seam, to get the fabric to angle in such a way as to cover the full panel. It got fiddly here, because there was a seam from the pants that would be part of the finished item, so I needed to make sure the one on the left panel was placed the same as the one on the right panel.
When you open one of the leg seams to flatten the fabric out, be sure it’s the same seam on both sides - I messed that one up.
When cut, sew to the new-fabric back piece, then continue with the sewing-along boning method in front. I did some positioning of the fabric here, to get some of the flared fit that the original top had.
Sew the top and bottom hems, and the center-front, and add hook&eyes (or whatever closure you want). I added just a few hooks&eyes and then checked the fit and re-positioned. Later, I added another whole row of hooks&eyes because I decided I wanted a tighter fit. I couldn’t just add eyes because I wanted to keep things centered front&back, so any width I took in had to be done evenly on left and right.
What was left of one pant leg was about the right length for shoulder straps. I cut equal sections for left and right, folded in half lengthwise and ironed, then opened up and folded each edge into the center and re-folded at the original ironing mark - the result is a strip ¼ the original width, with all the bare edges turned inside where they don’t show. I used butterfly clips to temporarily attach them so I could position them correctly and get the length right.
Because I originally cut the fabric with not enough seam allowance, I should now go over the garment and re-sew any places where it looks like the seam might not hold. If I have time, I might re-sew all the seams, more for looks than anything else.
Washing: the original was dry-clean only. But none of that shows anymore, so it’s just a matter of it being clean and not shrinking. Guess I’d recommend hand-wash or delicate wash, cold, and lay flat to dry.