Costuming for Dummies: Trims and Finishing

Never until the end of a costume are you told about the many different finishing and trimming techniques you need to use to get a costume ready before it can be shown to the public or even comfortably worn.

So with this in mind we used many different finishing and trimmings such as:
-Over locking
-Bias binding
-Rolled hem
-Zig Zag stitch
-Hook and eyes (A fastening I know but part of the finishing)
-Hemming
-Box pleated ribbon
-Herringbone stitch

We had Mrs Bennet's costume on her stand and we got to work

Over Locking
Over locking was used mainly on the inside seams. It was used on the inside seam of the bodice

It was also used on the inside seams of the chemise, and the inside seams of the sleeve and sleeves ruffle.

For this type of thick fabric that we used it was best to over lock, as other finishes would not have looked as neat and would not laid as flat as over locking did.

Bias Binding

We also used Bias Binding to finish of edges. This was use on all edges on the chemise, making a drawn string for the top and bottom and finishing of the arm holes.

Bias binding was also used on the collar of the bodice, and bottom of the bodice to neaten off the raw edges.

We also used bias binding on the side of the sleeve to neaten up the raw edge where the cuff and the ruffle joined.

Ribbon and Herringbone Stitch

We originally had a bright orange ribbon, that we would have attached to the collar, however out designer did not like this colour and so settled with a cooler gold colour.

The gold was box pleated and then was sewn together on a sewing machine on a long teaching stitch to hold the pleats together to make attaching it to the collar easier.

The ribbon was then attached to the collar by a herringbone stitch.

We also herringbone stitched down the centre front of the the bodice, to hold back the parts that would have the fastenings attached to them.

Rolled Hem

The rolled hem was only used on the edges of the ruffle on the sleeves. And in this case the rolled hems, although can be done on the machine, had to be done by hand.

Sewing the rolled hem was incredibly therapeutic, but also extremely time consuming. The trick with a rolled hem is that the small it is the better it is.

To help get a good rolled hem, the first fold can be pressed over, but the second cannot, other whys you don't get the rolled hem effect.

The rolled hem is certainly my favorite finish, despite being the most time consuming.

Reinforced Zig Zig

This finished is used when there are lots of layers of fabric. Despite an over locker being great, sometimes it just can't get through lots of layers, and so something simpler need to be done.

This was used on the arm hole, where the sleeves head and arm hole were attached.

There was a second row if stright stitching down around the arm hole, to reinforce first line, then a zig zag stitch was sewn around. Then the fabric was cut down to next to the zig zag stitch. The zig zag stitch whilst strong, also helps to prevent the fabric from fraying too much.

This stitch was also used on the join of the skirt to the bodice.

The Hem

Unfortunately I have no pictures of the work and effort that went in to the sewing of the hem.

This finish was only done on the bottom of the skirt. Here you can see me measuring the bottom of the skirt. It needed to be cut down before the hem could be sewn up.

The hem was cut, and pressed over on the iron, then ladder stitch was used to sewn the hem down, catch only a small amount of the top fabric, to prevent the stitching from being see on the out side.

Hook and Eye (Fastening, but done at the same time as these finishings)

The hook and eyes were only used at the centre front of the costume.

We used three large hook and eyes and two small hook and eyes

The small hook and eyes ended up taking the weight of the costume, rather than the large one, which was unexpected but it still worked and helped hold the front of the garment closed.

And so the costume was finished. The bum pad, the chemise and the dress all made, constructed and finished; with exceptional attention paid to detail

With one final pressing we would take photos and have our dress look presentable and ready for the next day where it would be tried out in the tech rehearsal, on set.