In the past several months I've been learning how to make my own patterns. In particular, I've been trying to create a pattern for a bodice such that I can just take and modify for any design I want. I think I have one that I'm happy with and I can change it relatively easily.
What I want to have in a ballroom bodice is the bra cups that are sewn in kind of like in a corset. I found this style of bodice in 2 dresses that I bought from the same designer and I absolutely love this concept. I did this in my first black dress. Of course, it's possible just to attach plain cups to a bodice like most ballroom dresses on the market have. My current dress has it this way, but it's also made such that the bodice below the cup is a separate piece and it's done without darts. Then the cup part has the dart and the plain cups are just sewn in. I guess this is the same concept without enclosing the cups into the fabrics. But I find it much more comfortable and secure to have the cups sewn in.
I've started a new bodice and I started with the covers for the bra cups. I might still tweak the pattern, but this is the result:
One thing I don't quite understand is how to keep the middle seam open. You can see that I'm keeping it by making a big zig-zag stitch on the top, but the original cup from the designer does not have it. The seam seems to open without anything holding it. If the fabric is cotton, then it's possible to just press it with iron. But this is lycra and it's almost impossible to iron it enough to hold any shape. In addition, I sew the pieces together with a zig-zag stitch and it is pretty hard to open it even though the zig-zag I use has very narrow width. The wide zig-zag works fine, but I wonder how it can be done without.
In the process, Marbles was trying to help (very helpful indeed :)
Next, I'm going to cut the rest of the bodice and sew in the cups.
EL
