Pages

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Wedding Dress Bodice Muslin

Oh look at the dress I chose! Isn't it lovely?!?
Hahahahahah, no. That skirt is a monster of ugly. I did want a princess seam, sweetheart neckline pattern, so I went to Joann on a sale day and found this one for 99 cents. Perfection. 

Then I spent about a billion hours thinking...and sketching...and looking at endless google searches for "open back lace wedding dress"...and thinking...

and this is what I decided upon. 

The bodice will have princess seams and a sweetheart neckline out of lace, lined of course. The "straps" will just be sheer lace. The lower back part will be lined lace and the upper part will be sheer lace. Mainly like the one on the right, but without cap sleeves. 

 They didn't need me as a substitute yesterday, so I was feeling peppier than usual tonight. I thought I should just bust out a muslin and see how that pattern fits. I cut out a six and with about 1/8th of an inch taken off the cups, it fits like a glove. If you went by measurements I should be an 8 or 10, but the geniuses at McCalls decided a strapless wedding dress should have four inches of ease in the bust. Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen!

Note: this one is unlined, so you need to mentally subtract seam allowances from the neckline, armholes, my fake straps and upper back!
 You need to use your imagination, but picture it in white lace, with more of a dip in the center, with sheer straps...
 and a sheer upper back, perhaps in a different shape. That all depends on the contours of whatever lace I end up buying.
 The armholes will be looser too when it is lined.

So, I am making progress finally. I am going to make a version up in black lace to wear to a friend from college's wedding (evening, fancy, cocktail attire) to perfect the fit and see how it looks.

I know it looks lumpy and weird on Dolly, but she is not the exact same proportions as I am. It fits me nicely.

And on a parting note, my drying tomato plants that are "ripening on the vine" in the dining room. The landlord makes us remove all plants by Oct 20th, so this was my solution. It still had so many green tomatoes on it, I couldn't throw it away. This is only 2/3s too, I gave a bunch to the neighbors!
For scale, it's about 6 feet long.
Anyways, tell me your thoughts on the dress and if you have any suggestions for nice lace!


12 comments:

  1. I think the dress sounds fantastic! I can't wait to see the black prototype!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I finally am getting excited and making progress!

      Delete
  2. Exciting! Great progress - I love the shape of the back and I hope you find some gorgeous lace!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Um, WOW!!!!!! I am so impressed by handmade wedding dresses!!! Go you!
    Muslin looking great!

    ReplyDelete
  4. GRRRR and it is absolutely ridiculous when they build ease into a strapless dress, FFS!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm really glad I read the envelope, that would just fall off!

      Delete
    2. I totally agree. M5850, I've made up several times, and I'm baffled by all that easy. THERE ARE NO STRAPS TO HOLD IT UP. Come ON McCalls. That should be a no brainer!!!

      Delete
  5. Your muslin is looking great! I can't wait to see real thing. Good call on making a cocktail version to test it out for a night.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Good going... sketches look great. Your landlord sounds ridiculous... is there something I am missing.. why do you have to take your plants away?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Due to some drama before we moved in, we are only allowed to have potted plants in the "garden"

      Delete
  7. Molly you have done a beautiful job with the pattern selection and the sketches and the muslin...I am so excited for you!!! I can't wait to see the black evening dress version too!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love the backless detail, it's going to look great. What about doing a twist in the back, something similar to this? http://figgyspatterns.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/IMG_0155.jpg

    Although with lace maybe that would look so great... but just a unique idea/option! This is going to look wonderful!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your thoughts and feedback!