How to Make a Bustier Dress

Re-fashion a worn dress into a sleek, bustier dress.

Re-fashion a worn dress into a sleek and sexy bustier dress. Sewing enthusiasts can borrow pattern-making skills to transform a basic silhouette, referred to as the base dress, into a stylish garment. By removing the upper yoke and adding fit-darts, which are stitched inserts used to shape and contour specific areas, the base dress begins to transform into the bustier silhouette. Since bustiers usually do not have straps to secure the upper body, referred to as a bodice, inserting flexible boning, generally used for corsets, prevents the bustier from collapsing during natural movement.

Things You'll Need

• Dress form
• Tailor's chalk
• Straight pins
• Fabric scissors
• Flexible spiral-steel boning (1/2 inch width)
• Straight pins
• Iron
• Non-stick protective sheet
• Sewing machine
• Serger machine (optional)

Instructions

Adjusting the Base Dress

1. Turn the base dress inside-out and close any trims, such as zippers or buttons. Fit the base dress on your dress form, raw seams facing you.

2. Draw a contoured horizontal line with tailor's chalk across the front, just above the bust line from side seam to side seam. Continue to draw the horizontal to the back of the dress form, from side seam to seam.

3. Place your ruler along the marked horizontal line. Add a ½-inch seam allowance around the front and back, creating the bustier hemline for finishing. Use this marked line as the cutting line to remove the yoke, which refers to the upper area of the bodice, generally positioned above the chest.

4. Pin the side seams with straight pins by contouring your desired shaped bustier silhouette. For example, if you want a form-fitting style, pin along the side seam by starting at the underarm seam and continuing to the waist, hips and thigh area.

5. Take in the excess fabric below the bust-line and into the waistline, by pinching in the material and pinning, forming two shaped vertical front darts, referred to as fit-darts. These pinned sections add shape and contour to the bustier dress. When you are pinning the darts, make sure you do not tug the side seams forwards, which will distort the bustier dress during construction.

6. Repeat Step 5 by taking in the excess fabric along the back, forming two vertical back darts. Turn the dress form around to ensure the front and back darts are aligned.

7. Cut away the excess fabric along the front and back darts with fabric scissors, leaving a ½-inch seam allowance. Cut away the excess fabric along the side seams, but leave a 1-inch width seam allowance. You need the extra ½-inch to wrap the flexible spiral-steel boning in a later step.

8. Cut away the fabric along the upper yoke cutting line made in Step 3. The bustier will slightly droop around the chest area. Remove the re-fashioned dress from the dress form.

Constructing the Bustier Dress

1. Turn in the side seam edges approximately ½ inch towards the back of the dress, creating a fold line along the side seam. Turn the folded side seam again, forming a casing along the side seams to insert the ½ width flexible boning.

2. Press the side seam casings toward the center back with an iron. Check the care labels on the base dress for the correct heat setting. If the casing does not lay flat after pressing, pin it down with straight pins and cover the side seams with a non-stick protective sheet. Carefully press the pinned darts toward the side seams as well.

3. Change the sewing machine's stitch selector to a long basting stitch. Although this is an extra step, basting the re-fashion dress allows you to fit the garment and make necessary adjustments. These stitches generally pull apart with ease, avoiding time-consuming seam ripping.

4. Top-stitch the front and back fit-darts as well as along the length of the side seam. Top-stitch a second row ½ inch from the side seam, forming the casing. Top-stitch the bottom of the casing as well to prevent the boning from slipping down during movement. Do not top-stitch the top of the casing.

5. Insert the boning on each side seam by sliding it through the top opening of the casing. The bodice naturally stiffens at the side seams and the bust-line appears shaped above the fit-darts. Close the top of the casing by top-stitching, securing the flexible boning in place.

6. Turn down the bustier hemline along the top of the bustier, made in Section 1, Step 8. Press the hemline and top-stitch. If the hemline's raw edges appear frayed around the bustier, overlock the edges with a serger machine as another option. Cut away all loose threads before wearing the re-fashioned bustier dress.

References

• Costuming: Corset Sewing Instructions
• Threads Magazine: Boning Not Just for Corsets
• "The Sewing Book"; Alison Smith; 2009

Resources

• Cut Out and Keep: Sexy Bustier Dress