I had a good hour of free time this afternoon and lept at the opportunity to start out on the bodice of the dress. I had the typical corseted version in mind, so why not run with it ^^ I know this method is used quite frequently across the Den, but I want to credit MD Lilac whose wonderful tutorial was my first encounter. Many thanks for wonderful advice ^^

So, I started out by creating a mock bodice out of ...dun dun dun... paper towels and tape  [показать]

[показать]
Let the mummification begin!

[показать]
...and might I say, LOTS of tape (I wanted to be terribly sure to that the Sharpie marker didn't bleed through and stain Lark!!)

Doesn't Lark look soooo pleased, she's a little kicky and I had to keep pushing her leg back into place  [показать]

[показать]
I was very very very careful with that Sharpie ^^

[показать]
All numbered and ready to go....

[показать]
I cut up the bodice then picked the four most symmertical pieces of each section (This is super important because I found I was nowhere near symmertrical with my original lines. Well... I guess one can't be perfect all the time  [показать] )

[показать]
Made sure I added some extra for the seam when I traced out the pattern...

[показать]
My fabric frays so easy, I'm really hoping the sewing will go alright, but I have tons and tons of pins at my disposal, so I will cope  [показать]

The tailoring pencil is the best thing ever... though don't believe the claims of eraser... the little brush does nothing NOTHING... it could have been my fabric I suppose, but I plead innocence ^^

[показать]
Wow... it is massively hard to cut out such small pieces while sitting on a hardwood floor... my feet were sooooo asleep when I was done *insert the sleepy-foot-ouch-walk here* I'm sure I looked quite comical ^^ I don't think I'll be continuing today though, but please please stick around if you're interested. I could certainly use the motivation!!

An update guys! I made the bodice (pictures and gripes to follow)... but I was a bit of noob and got so excited I forgot to take pictures of the lining making process - despite promissing I would - so I'm afraid you will need to make do with a little explanation...

I cut the lining out just like I did the bodice and because I chose to make the pieces symmertrical, I didn't end up reversing them like I said I would... sorry SiliEl. I did leave a seam allowance though, I wanted the lining to be as close as possible to the bodice itself for a better fit ^^

Also, I don't have any *cough* focused *cough* pictures of piecing together the first few portions of the bodice... (not my fault I swear XD) But it was done logically, with the desired outside pieces facing each other for each seam...

Now on with the show!!
[показать]
Some of the curves are sharper than other and I needed to use extra pins. I'm not sure if professionals do it this way, but I didn't want to cut into the seam because of the fraying (OH GOODNESS THE FRAYING... should have bough some fray-guard XDD). I just sew right over the pins on my machine, you have to go slowly, but I haven't had a problem ^^ I did, however, need to iron down each seam I did after I did them, to make sure there was no bunching with the next piece... MDS size is small  [показать]

[показать]
I made the mistake of pleating the third piece and had to pick the seam out  [показать] Live and Learn eh?
OH My... just look at all that fraying... I will be using cotton from now on, I swear!!! (probably not, but a girl can dream can't she?!?)

Note: I seem to have missed a few steps in my excitement to see it done, but I just continued to build the bodice out until all the seams were... really, there's only so many photos of seams I'm sure you'd all like to see... lets not get repetitive here...

[показать]
Sewed on some lace here... I was checking to see how much I needed to turn down the outside seams. It seemed a bit of a waste to use an elastic lace on a piece like this, but the colour just matched sooo nicely

[показать]
I turned the seams inward and sewed them together like a sandwich... it was much easier and much less bulky than trying to turn them inside out! I wasn't aiming for perfection here as I am planning something for the embellishment, on the outside. It's massively hard to keep the stitches even when the fabric is 4 layers thick!! I suggest iron on seam tape if you don't want to go through the hassle of doing a lining...

I also sewed the tip seam in the same manner, but left the ends undone so that I could sew the hooks and eyes between the layers...

[показать]
I can't reiterate this enough... use snaps and same yourself the stress  [показать]
I had to hand sew both side seams, but at least I was able to make sure that the bodice fit her ^^

[показать]
And here we are, looking all symmetrical and whatnot! I'm pretty happy with how it's turned out thus far... The embellishment I have planned for the front of the dress should hide that unsightly uneven seam pretty well and after I ironed it, the dress didn't pucker any more either... I'm totally stoked!!!

I'll be making and cutting out the plans for the skirt tonight, so stay tuned and expect updates... probably Friday or Saturday &_&