By: Duy Truong
Hi everyone, Duy here, aka CafeDeDuy!
Today we’ll be focusing on making a cummerbund inspired by Hermes (yes the Greek god!) from the video game, Hades.
Most of my sewing projects are more costume based than actual garments, so our cummerbund today is more of a costume piece than your traditional cummerbund for formal wear. My cummerbund will have grommets in the back and lace up like a corset.
In the game artwork (by Jen Zee), Hermes’ cummerbund has lines going in all directions, from diagonal one way, mirrored another, horizontal, and vertical. I’m going to translate those lines into pleats, but feel free to do it anyway you want it to (embroidery or any other embellishment), as long as the base structure is the same.
You can sew with of your standard Janome sewing machines, but because I’m using thick fabrics and the pleats will be multiple layers, I will be using my JANOME HD9BE as the heavy duty can handle the work.
WHAT YOU NEED:
Janome HD9BE (or any Janome Heavy Duty machine)
LOTS of fabric
Pins
Grommets
Sewing needle & thread
STEP ONE:
Make your base; a rectangle. Cut out a rectangle on your base fabric that you will be sewing your pleats on. The length should be your waist – you can make it smaller if you want as it’ll be laced up, just don’t go too big or else it won’t fit you when it’s closed up. Your width is up to you. Don’t forget to account for seam allowance.
My waist is 28, and my chosen width is 5 inches. I cut my fabric at 30”x7”.
STEP TWO:
Now it’s time to add your pleats. Think of the pleats as decorative rather than functional. There’s no right or wrong way to do it.If you never pleated before, you’re simply folding the fabric over each other to create folds (the lines). Aim to be as even as possible, but don’t stress about it.
I used about 4 large pieces of fabric to pin on my pleats, then sew the pleats on the edge of the base fabric.If you have to sew in a pleat that’s not on the edge, I suggest hand stitching it so you can hide the sewing lines.
Once the edges are sewn, iron down your pleats so they can flatten and look clean.
Line your cummerbund properly, and then re-iron it. You can topstitch the hem, but I suggest not to do that to keep the pleating visual clean.
It helps if you pin on your pleats so it would hold them in place and be ironed consistently.
STEP THREE:
Treat your cummerbund as if it’s like a corset and apply your grommets. I recommend reinforcing your grommets by covering it in thread via hand sewing after installing them. Not only will this secure your grommets, as they can fall out due to worn out fabric, this will also protect your ribbons from shredding every time it passes through metal.
HOORAY! YOU FINISHED YOUR CUMMERBUND.
Cummerbunds (this version at least) are fairly simple to make. The difficulty comes in with how you want to embellish yours, either with pleats or any other way. It is also very useful for a Janome Heavy Duty machine as it will run through the needle like silk versus a standard machine where you risk breaking your needles.
