Now that you have a proto pattern civilized from the duct tape, and starched fabric, it’s time to quilt the fabric layers together by machine. This is a machine approximation of hand pad stitching.
Before you can quilt you need to take a look at the fabric you have on hand, versus the support you personally will need.
In general, most women need the most support in front along the bosom, less on the back panel, and even less along the strap. People who have thinner bodies often need less support overall, but that can sometimes actually call for more support to mold a firmer body to a certain shape. Bear in mind that the quilted fabric does not need to do the heavy lifting alone. Boning of several types can be added to the bodice after the fact, but it is absolutely best practice to start with just quilted fabric and add in more support if you need it.
How many layers you quilt together will depend on the thickness of your fabric, and the type of body you have. As an illustration, my apprentice and I have very different body structures and we use different fabrics to build our bodices. I use sheets and have a soft and squishy torso which compresses easily to a desired shape. I usually use 4 layers of fabric in the front, 3 in back, two for the straps. My apprentice has a much firmer torso than I do. She uses cotton duck for hers. For her, two layers of cotton duck quilted together, with a third layer of duck over as a blurring layer, work for her bosom. The guiding principle is to start softer and build up if you need it. An overly stiff bodice will be very uncomfortable and gives the wrong line.
This quilting process will use an excessively large amount of thread. You will want to use a thread color that will not show through your fashion fabric but other than that, use up your spool and bobbin ends!
Once you’ve decided on where to start in terms of layers, cut out blocks of your already starched fabric at least 4 inches wider than your pattern pieces in all directions. Take one layer and fold it precisely in half down the center. This gives you a starting point in the middle without adding more markings. Using that line as a center guide, draw out your pattern pieces.
Stack your layers, aligning your edges. Tacking your layers together along the edge with clips rather than pins is ideal.
Starting from the center, use a short stitch length and sew down along the folded line. Sew past the drawn edge. Turn the work, and use the margin to reorient your presser foot edge up to the line of stitching you just did. Continue like this, presser foot edge to stitching, reversing directions every row, out from the center of the pattern piece towards the arm holes.
In almost every case, the side of the bodice will be at an angle compared to the center front.
You want the quilting to follow the pattern lines, so an area of V-shaped diagonal lines needs to be added around the strap area to reconcile the up and down of the center front, and the up and down of the bodice side.
There is no exact formula for this, as every pattern is unique.
I try to run a line of stitching directly through the points on the pattern that mark the edges of the strap base. This keeps the corners crisp and sturdy when cut free from the margins.
I work from center out to one side using the presser foot as a spacer. Then I turn back around and go back towards the center, splitting the difference between the lines of quilting (also using the presser foot as a guide). Once I hit center , I work towards the other arm, complete it, turn around and come back to center.
For straps I do the exact same. Stitch down the long axis , do one side, come back and hit the other.
This, along with reversing stitching directions, keeps the fabric layers laying flat and smooth. This is also why I starch the living daylights out of it to begin with. It makes the quilting much more precise.
Once I have all the quilting done, both passes on both sides, I stitch all the way around the pattern piece just inside the drawn line. The quilting ensures that this pass of the machine will not distort the bias curves in the fabric. There’s nowhere for them to go.
- If this is the first time you’ve made this style of bodice, next you do a fitting.
- If you’ve already established that this pattern works well, then you move directly to lining.