mandie_rw | dinner dress: visible progress

Because nobody cares about progress that's invisible, right? ;)

Yesterday I actually managed to motivate myself to put everything on and get those darts in the dinner bodice fitted. Which is really not such a hard thing but oh god I had to put on the corset! AND the underskirt! AND the train/drapery! AND the bodice! Life is hard, yo.

Anyway, picture proof. Excuse crappy mirror pics.

(yes, I do wear a t-shirt for all my bodice fittings...)

Notes: - I honestly wasn't sure if I'd managed a good stripe placement til I tried the thing on, but I'm relieved I did! Stripes of this width can be super funky to work with. There ended up being a wee bit of woobliness in that CF stripe, which is also a titch wider than intended, but it's fine.
- The darts are just pinned here; I did even them out. I fitted them while the bodice was inside out, as you do, and got them even enough that they would have been totally fine if this was a solid fabric (I was pretty impressed I got them that close by eyeballing)...but of course everything's really obvious in a stripe!
- I also cut down the neckline by about an inch-plus in the front. I have learned that a low-ish neckline on a small bust just looks dumpy. Commit to low or go home! (Inappropriate cleavage: not an issue here.)
- I'm going to reserve judgement on the final shape of the tail until I do another try-on, which is going to happen after I bone and bind the seams on the bodice but before I trim and bone the darts. Just in case something went entirely wonkus...once those darts are trimmed that's it!
- Wrinkly wrinkles will mostly go away with boning. Probably. Hopefully.
- OH MY GOD STOP FRAYING

Somehow a picture can't really capture the incendiary value of being covered in a million billion tiny black satin threads every time you pick this thing up, but O.M.G. RAGE.

My package of twill tape arrived in the mail today though - I bought a roll of 1" so I didn't have to buy asspensive boning casing (it's plastic whalebone, it doesn't need real casing, those edges won't poke through), and a roll of 1/4", partly because that's a good width for all the Random Ties A Costumer Always Needs, and partly to cover all the effing seam allowances in this bodice!

I've so far covered one seam in the bodice tail and already hate myself. UGH.

(I mean...I don't actually mind fussy hand sewing of this type. Just put some music on, or a good old costume movie, and I'm happy as a clam. But still, UGH.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

mala_14

It looks GREAT! I love what you have going on with the pleats/darts in the back. So clever! But yeah, that fabric looks like it has fraying from hell.

I hear ya on the low necklines. On my 1780s bodice, I thought I cut it super low and that my boobs were all out there. And then I looked at pictures and was like, "Hm, looks all covered up!" I don't know if it's just my point of view looking down, or what, but yeah, can definitely cut things pretty low in the neckline without any problems. I'm not sure I even know how to get cleavage. ;p

mandie_rw

Thank you! Argh, yes, evil evil satin stripes!

I KNOW RIGHT?? With 18thc especially, if I don't cut my necklines "too low", they end up looking too high in pics. And there's nothing so sad and dumpy as a too-high 18thc neckline, lol. Yeah, cleavage is a mythical thing I hear lots about but have never yet encountered in my own case, heh.

blackcat452

I love it! The back is awesome, and the front almost looks like one of those faux vests.

Thank you! And that was totally a happy accident; I was just really focused on getting the CF black stripe and didn't really consider the "vest" effect, but I like it!