The Dress - Next Fitting

So I believe that the dress is ready for Gina's next fitting!  Here are a few photos.  The bodice will be covered with lace - I'm not entirely sure about the layers on the front of the dress - I think there might be a bit too much fabric there right now - but I will have to see what Gina thinks.  :-)  So here are the pictures.  The back of the dress is slightly open on the dress form because the dress form is not quite the same size as Gina.  See below! I believe if you click on the pictures in the blog - they open up to a larger picture.

Skirt!

This skirt is actually coming together! I'm so excited about it I needed to post a picture tonight....before its even really attached to the dress!

Pins

So - for those of you who have sewn before - you know that when you pin two pieces of fabric together to create a seam - you are then faced with a decision.  Will you pull out your pins just before the fabric goes under the foot of the sewing machine?  Or will you sew over your pins?  Personally - I sew over my pins - I find that my fabric moves less when I do that.  HOWEVER - this choice does tend to come with some consequences.  Such as - near misses - come often.  You can hear it when the needle nicks one of the pins - and it makes you nervous.  Why you ask does it make you nervous?  Because it breaks your needle when you nail a pin dead on.  And your pin ends up looking like this:

These things happen.....oh well. :-)

Starting the Boning

Hey Everyone, so I've officially been yelled at for not updating.  I haven't updated because my latest experiment hasn't worked out as planned....but here it is.  Mom thought people would be as interested in my mess ups as my successes.

So since my fitting with Gina - I've corrected the bodice pattern - cut it out twice (one for the dress and one for the lining).  I've also cut the underdress.  I've still got to work on the outerskirt and the layers that go with it - but I wanted to put the bodice together first.  I also added a lace up piece to the back of the dress to go underneath the rest of the dress to allow the zipper to not have pull on it.  You can see that here:

SO - boning.  The boning that I have chosen is a clear plastic boning about 1/4" wide and is covered by a white fabric case.  It is much more flexible then metal boning - plus it is much easier to manipulate and cut to size.  I started by simply hand stitching boning pieces to the seam allowance on the inside of the dress part of the bodice.  It does not lay flat in the manner that I wish - so I will be undoing that - and attempting a different technique.  Also - I was attempting to put in a set of bra cups in the bodice for Gina - but they are not fitting in the manner that I liked.  I am considering leaving them out for now - and when I have my next fitting trying it on with Gina in the dress.  Then we can make a decision about whether she needs/wants them or not.  The boning in the seams might be enough.  I was also concerned about the rise of the sweetheart neckline - and having the seam lay flat.  I took a thin piece of the plastic boning - bending it in the center, and hand stitching it into the seam.  However - it didn't turn out as I wanted - as you can see below.  So that will also be coming back out of the dress.  SO - in conclusion - I have a bunch of work to get done in the next two weeks before Gina and I have a fitting!  I've found that scheduling fittings helps keep me on schedule, as to where I would like to be.  So that's all for tonight folks - tomorrow I shall take the boning out - and try another method of attaching it!

3rd Fitting

 Yesterday, Gina and Linda and Lola came to visit me for a fitting!  Here are the pictures of Gina in the dress so far.  I have some changes to make and work on the skirt, but here's what this fitting looked like!

2nd Fitting

So the next step is to take this muslin on Gina, and make sure it fits her body in the way that she would like it to.  It needed some slight adjustments, as you can see the pins.  We also decided on a waistline.  (Shortly after we changed our mind and went to a much lower one...but moving on!).  After marking the adjustments, and removing the pins, I needed to take it apart to fix the pattern.  Samson was staying with us at the time - and he decided to help me out.  He thought I was playing with fabric just for him :-).  Silly Samson.

Once I fixed the pattern, the next step was patterning the skirt.  To start, I decided to work with just the underskirt.  It's the easy part.  I patterned a simple skirt in a similar fashion as I began the bodice.  Cutting it out, and cutting out the new bodice, I sewed them together.  I cut two bodices for this muslin, one as the lining to give Gina a better idea as to what the top would end up looking like.  Gina and I then had a great discussion on the phone about what she wanted.  We decided to go against the higher waist-line, and go with a dropped waist.  The bodice will be covered in lace down to the skirt, with the possibility of a sash under the bust - but that can be decided later.  I also cut large pieces of fabric to be able to pin to the underskirt at the next fitting to get an idea as to how the skirt was going to go together.  Next, another fitting!  Speaking of fittings, I should mention that most people wouldn't do as many fittings as Gina and I are going to.  We are for a couple of reasons.  One of which is we are still learning exactly what Gina wants - which is easier if she can get more looks at what is going on.  Second, I want to check my work as often as I can - it gives me more confidence that I am doing things correctly!  :-)  Thanks for all the support and comments on the blog people!  It's great to know someone out there is reading :-)

The Second Muslin

 Since I now have a corrected pattern, I can create the second muslin.  It's put together exactly the same way that the first, but  with slightly different shapes.  Giving the bodice princess seams eliminates the darts.  Putting two curves together can create the same shape, but without the seemingly out of place darts.  Gina and I have a fitting tomorrow afternoon, and we shall see how it fits!  We are going to look at the fit, and see how the bottom of the piece is.  See if it is now long enough, and if it is - getting the shape correct.  Once the bodice piece is complete, the next step would be to work on the skirt part - much more complicated.