Boning Channels... Done!

Euphoria! It was one of those rare Sundays when - aside from scrubbing the kitchen counter and sink - I had no urgent "life" business to deal with. So I hunkered down in the sewing room and made huge progress today.

First, after hand basting down all the seams like the instructions said, I went down the same lines with the machine. What I really like about my Kenmore Ultra Stitch is that part of the base slides off to make a narrow extension around the pressure foot. The design is for doing sleeve cuffs, etc. This allows me to get my right hand underneath and make a sandwich with my left hand. (For taking the picture, I had to use my left hand.) I can really feel and control how the material feeds into the needle.

Actually, in this picture I am stitching the line across the bottom, but you get the idea.

I stitch the boning channel on the seam lines from the outside, because the seams of the lining don't exactly sync up with the fashion fabric. I had to do a little scooching here and there. Not much. But like I said, 1/8 or 1/4 inch can really make a difference.

It doesn't matter so much if the seam lines don't line up on the inside. Nobody sees the inside.

The instructions tell me to make all the vertical lines for boning channels by neatly stitching in meticulously measured rows. OK, now, this is supposed to be a fun project. Measuring and marking precise lines does not come naturally to me! Instead, I used "hem tape" which has markings on it already at 1/4 inch widths.

I went into a kind of Zen meditation mode to put them on -- one by one by one by one -- stitching slowly and neatly down each line. By the afternoon, I had all the boning channels installed at last!

The last step will be to insert the actual steel "bones" but since I don't have a corset workshop full of buckets of all sizes, I'll need to buy what I need. That involves measuring each bone channel and making a list. 

My sort of goofy way to aspire toward accuracy uses 1/4 inch plastic cable ties from Home Depot. This also checks that the hem tapes are sewn in correctly. You can't see in the picture, but I used a small Sharpie pen to write on the plastic tips:  1, 2, 3, 4, etc. Then I'll make a list on paper and write down exactly what I need. When the order comes in the mail, I won't have to fiddle with a jumble of 2 dozen little sticks to figure out what goes where all over again. 

So, tomorrow is Monday which means back to the office job. Once I acquire the bones, I'll be able to finish it up pretty shortly thereafter. I can't wait to try it on my friend "C" - she's going to look fabulous!