Hello @hive-naija community, I'm very excited about this week's prompt because it's right up my alley! It's a DIY invasion and I literally have DIY in my bio. My name's Precious, I currently live in Delta, Nigeria and I'm a part time tailor/writer/human. I'm about the budget life so I love thrifting and making my own clothes.
Today I want to show you all how I DIYed this African print corset top. Corset tops are very trendy right now, they come in several colors and prints and are an instant upgrade to outfits. They're however quite expensive around here so I gave a shot at making one myself.
Here's a reference photo of the corset top
Source
The items needed for the top are;
- A yard of fabric
- A yard of lining fabric
- Zipper
- Bias (Optional)
- Bra underwire (Optional)
- Boning (Optional)
- Breast pad or wadding (Optional)
PROCESS
First, I drew my front bodice pattern on brown paper using my body measurements, breast cup size and cut out the pattern on fabric
I joined the two parts of the breast cup together
I cut out the same pieces on the lining fabric and then joined both fabric and lining together
Next, I top stitched the bias vertically from under the cup to the hem of the top. The boning is then fixed inside the bias to keep the corset sturdy. But you can do without the boning.
It was time to fix in the padded breast cups and sew it to the rest of my front piece. I got my padded cup from an old bra, simply tore the bra open.
After attaching the cup, I top stitched bias all round where the cup sits and fixed in the bra underwire for extra firmness
Next, I cut my back piece with same measurement but without the breast cups and then attached to lining fabric
I joined my back pieces to my front piece
I also top stitched bias and inserted the boning to the dart lines on my back pieces
The hem of the corset top was folded in by ½ inch twice and then top stitched
Lastly, I sewed in a zipper
The result...
Here, I paired with a DIY waterfall jacket
Layered over a white tee
It was fun doing this DIY (money, saved and body snatched😄) and I'd love to perfect it by making another one. I already gave this one out to a friend right after making it.
Thanks for reading
You're really good with the sewing machine. That is an excellent piece, congratulations!
Thank you @erikah
!ENGAGE 25
Many thanks Galen! Have a nice weekend 😊
You're welcome and you too. :)
ENGAGEtokens.It must be rewarding to create something functional from scratch...Do you think about it later, whilst wearing the item, and get a buzz out of knowing you made it or do you just accept it as an item of clothing and not give it another thought. I guess also there's some satisfaction in giving things away to people who need them too right?
I do get a buzz when I wear whatever I make especially when I get complimented on them. It's always satisfying to gift out my handiwork to others.
That's good and is a nice addition to the money savings you make through creating your own clothing.
Yes it is
This is great - Well done. Will you make more of them to sell ;D
Thank you!
Eventually I will. I haven't perfected it yet. I have other clothes I made up for sale though.
You've got skills there. This is beautiful and most especially with the DIY waterfall jacket.
Thanks @evegrace
Been checking numerous videos on how to get this done. It looks so nice
Thank you 😊
This was really refreshing to read. I always wanted to be able to make my own clothes, yet here you are, killing it
Thank you
Ah, talent wants to finish you.
😄😄
Link to tweet
The corset thing ehn, I keep feeling that its a little complicated to draft its pattern, I haven't given it a trial.
Job well done, its a whole lot of work I assume
Its actually not that complicated 😁 Once you can get the cup right you're good to go
Thanks for that, I shall try