Sunday, October 20, 2013

The Wedding Dress -- Bodice Finished - Lessons Learned


The muslin for the bodice is finally finished and I think this final version looks good. I learned a lot working on it and already have a list of things that I need to remember when making the real thing.

For the actual dress, I will get the finest and smoothest thread possible. Yes, I used colored thread on the muslin's seams, but even were I used light colored thread, you can still see the stitches. On fine silk, that will really show.

I need to take the time to measure the stop and start points of the draping on the side. As you can see on the photo to the left, the draping does not match on the side. It is off about 3/4 of an inch. Although some people may not have even noticed it -- having that in the finished product will drive me insane. (When DD's father walks her down the isle, there might as well be a neon sign with an arrow pointing to her side.)

You can really see that all of the untrimmed seams are poofing out the seam a bit. I also did not iron or steam the seams. There is no sense in doing that if I will be undoing them. Rest assured, the final version will be much smoother.

The unfinished side is where the zipper ends up. I am not going to add the zipper to the muslin - if I have to take it in or let it out at all during the fitting (and that is likely) I don't want to have to remove a zipper. I will have to pin it on DD along the seam line and fit it that way.

I like the back although it could have a little bit more ruching on the top side. In order to add more ruching, I will need to make the draping a couple inches taller form top to bottom. But I don't think that would be a problem. I will let DD make the call -- she is the one whose going to wear it after all.

By the way, I have cut out and sewn in all the seam lines on the skirt and will start constructing it this week.

Happy sewing!

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