Next I needed to secure the insertions for the gores.  To do this, I pinned the two core layers together with the gore opening edges matched up.  This is a perfect application for those bent pins I end up with by my normal habit of running over pins with the machine.  They will hold thick fabric without distorting it, just like a quilters basting pin.

My gores were cut with a 3/8″ seam allowance, which I planed to trim to 1/4″ after quilting.  Thus, I sewed the layers together 3/8″ from the fabric edge.  This was close enough to the edge to catch my seam allowance (which is 1/2″), but far enough that I would be able to snug the gores in between the two layers later.  I left the bottoms of the bust gores open because I was not completely sure what boning pattern I would be using, and I might have needed to insert a bone or two through that space before finishing the outline of the gore.

I removed all the basting, including the ugly-ass waist tape basting.  The waist tape was now held firmly in place by the gore stitching, so I could get rid of that eye sore.  The basting tape at the fold lines for the gores was easy to remove because I used contrast thread in the largest stitch my machine has.

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