Time-Saving Trick for a Boned Bodice Muslin

When I went through my corset-making obsession, I learned a lot of cool tricks that can be transferred to dressmaking. And this particular trick is my absolute favorite.

When making a muslin for a dress with a boned bodice, it's imperative to actually put boning into your muslin. A boned bodice generally has little to no ease. But without the boning for stability, it just looks like a too tight, wrinkly muslin--which makes it impossible to evaluate the fit. Obviously, however, sewing boning into a garment is time-consuming and often makes it difficult to alter the seams of a garment--exactly what you need to be doing in the muslin stage!

So, meet your new best friend, masking tape. Yep, you can tape lengths of spiral steel boning into your muslin for fitting purposes. (Does masking tape have different names in different countries? It's that parchment-colored tape typically used to cover molding or door frames when painting walls.)

Center the steel boning over the seam allowance (or wherever you want to place it) and secure it with a length of masking tape.

The only rule is that you don't want the boning to extend into the waistline seam allowance. The boning must end right at your waistline seam allowance.

It's perfectly fine for it to extend over the top of the bodice, though, as long as it doesn't poke into your armpit or anything awkward like that. Here I let the back boning extend past the upper edge of the bodice, just for the purposes of fitting. This way you don't have to cut the boning to length until you've figured out the fitting issues. 

Another time-saving trick is to fit only the bodice (this works if the skirt is full and only needs to fit at the waist). If you're fitting yourself, it's really important to put a dress-length zipper into the muslin--just let the extra zipper length hang below the bodice.

I'm currently working on my design, Butterick 5882, to wear to a wedding next weekend! Sorry for the mirror photo, but it's about all I could handle this weekend. The only fitting change I needed to make was removing some ease from the waistline. The taped-in boning made this super easy: I just removed the boning to take in the seams, and then stuck it back in place to re-fit. You don't even need new masking tape since it stays sticky!

I'm making it from this amazing brocade with flocked velvet polka dots. The bustline and straps will be in coordinating black shantung.

More to come on this design, including the long-promised FBA post.

Hope this sticky trick helps you out on your next party dress muslin!