Costume Party: The Musketeers, Part 5

Hey there! 

Sorry it's been a while. . .

But here you have it!  Another piece of the Musketeer Costume. 

Before I start, a couple of quick notes: 

***First, the sizing on all the pieces is for a size 5, approximately.  To make smaller or larger sizes, you will have to adjust the measurements.*** 

***Also, while I enjoy making semi-elaborate costumes, they are just costumes and often I simplify or cut corners to make the process faster or easier.  My justification being that they will really only being wearing the thing once, maybe twice. . . why make it harder than it has to be?  So, if you are a perfectionist-- I apologize in advance!  ;0)***

The Corset:

Materials:

1/4 yard of pink satin

scraps of interfacing

10 large eyelets (1/4")

26 inches of gold braid trim (found in the by-the-yard trim section at Jo-Anns)

1 yard gold shoelace-style trim (found in the by-the-yard trim section at Jo-Anns)

elastic thread for shirring

Cutting:

Using a rotary cutter, cut a strip measuring 7 inches by width of fabric.  Cut your 7 inch strip into the following pieces:

1 piece- 7 inches by 15 inches

4 pieces- 7 inches by 6 inches

Cut 2 pieces of interfacing to measure 7 inches by 2 inches.

Sewing:

The corset is made with three pieces:  there will be two front panels that are lined and one back piece that will be shirred. 

The front panels are made with your 4, 7 inch by 6 inch pieces.  Take two of the pieces and place them wrong sides together with the interfacing piece in between the two pieces, along one of the 7 inch sides. 

Pin together carefully.  Using a rolled hem edge, finish the edges around the 6 inch sides and the 7 inch side with the interfacing.

 (Ironing optional!  ;0)

Okay, for those of you that do not have a rolled hem edge on your serger, no problem!  Just sew togther with right sides together on your sewing machine and turn right side out and topstitch around the same three edges as listed above.  And there you are-- right back on track!

To attach the gold braid, pin in place, approximately 1.5 inches from the top and interfaced edge.  Pin into place and sew, turning under right at the bottom edge to give it a finished look.

 Make sure that as you add the trim to the second front panel, you place it in mirror image to the first.

And now we come to my least favorite part-- the eyelets.  I have made this costume 10 times over the past year and I still don't feel like I have mastered the eyelet.  I am starting to wonder if I have wrong tool for the brand of eyelets or something like that. . .  Anyway, I prefer the larger eyelets to the tiny ones.  The larger style eyelets have a piece that fits on the front and one on the back, making a very smooth edge all the way through.  The tiny eyelets leave a rough edge on the back that seems to snag on everything.  But really it is your choice. 

Mark the spots where you want your eyelets.  I place 5 on each panel, with the first eyelet about 1/2 inch from the top and the bottom eyelet about 1/2 inch from the bottom.  Use a little sewing gauge thinger-ma-bobber to find the points where you want your eyelets to sit.  And whatever you do, DON'T use a dark blue pen to mark your fabric!  (Been there, done that!) 

Now use your eyelet tool to make holes where you have marked.

Mine does not work very good on the satin fabric, so I usually punch the fabric and then use my tiny scissors to make the hole bigger.  USE EXTREME CAUTION when doing this!  You cut too far and you will be making a whole new panel.  Not fun.

Insert the eyelets into the holes you have made and use your tool to set into place.  If you are using the bigger eyelets, you will notice that some of the eyelets have shorter prongs than some of the others.  The shorter pronged piece goes in the back of the panel and the longer pronged piece goes on the front. 

Place the eyelets in all 10 of your marks.  (5 on each front panel.)

On to the back portion. 

Finish the two long edges in the same way that you finished your front panel edges.  For example, if you used a rolled hem edge on the front panels, use a rolled hem edge on the two long sides of the back portion.

Then shir it.  You will want to shir about every 1/2 inch along the piece.  (I only did a couple of lines to give you the basic idea.  Pretty much I am just sick to death of making the dang thing. . . Your piece will have many more shirred lines.)

If you do not know how to shir, Ruffles and Stuff has a great tutorial that will give you the basics.  If you have never tried-- DO IT!!!  You won't regret it!

Now, sew your pieces together on the unfinished edges.

Finish the edge with your serger or a zigzag stitch and there you are!

Thread the gold lacing through your eyelets, the same way you would lace a tennis shoe (from the bottom up), tie it at the top.

Okay, I just thought of a third note: 

 *** I have had several people leave me comments lately, asking a question.  I am more than happy to answer, but many people still do not have their email address linked to their comments.  IF I DO NOT HAVE YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS LINKED TO YOUR COMMENT OR IN THE COMMENT, I CAN'T REACH YOU!!!  So please don't hate me if I didn't/don't respond to you.  I really do want to . . .***

Okay, that's all!  See you soon!