12 in 12: August - Cosmos Gown Pt 3

[need_pins_les]

Now that my knuckles have healed a bit, time for an update! The full post is here. Also, I apparently forgot to post Part 2 to LJ. Oops, it's here.

Still having no bodice pattern, I kept moving forward on the skirt.




I still hadn't hemmed it at this point, determined not to make the same mistakes I had before and have it turn out too short. Pinned on the dress form over my hoop and one petticoat at approximately the right height, it just barely brushed the floor. Not wanting to take any chances, I decided not to do any cutting and to hem it by 2" (two 1" folds). I figured if it was too long after that, I could still fold it up again.




Putting it back on the dress form, it seems the 2" hem is just enough and hides both hoop and petticoat. I'm a little worried it might be another inch too long, but I'll need to try it on with the hoop, all 3 of my petticoats, and my shoes to be certain; all of which can wait until Saturday.

At this point, I still had no bodice pattern. My options were to simply resign myself to needing a full day to remake one from scratch (which meant not having a new dress for Saturday), or I could take a chance, grab an existing bodice and remake it using that as a base.

Guess which one I did.




As weird as it looks, the "wings" at the top are where the shoulder straps will extend across my arms. It took me a minute of scratching my head before I remembered that they won't actually go over my shoulders (which is part of how I'm able to reach my arms entirely over my head). We decided that even though the top didn't have any seam allowance, it would be best not to add any and have the finished front be 1/2" lower.




The side is a good picture of how the area under the arms is scrunched too low.




We found that if I held the back shoulder straps up, everything fit perfectly. It's not entirely laced closed because we didn't want to rip the holes open, but it definitely can close.




We took another photo in better light to make sure you couldn't see the corset in the back. From here on out, all pictures clearly need to be taken in the bathroom. Or we need to fill the apartment with white lightbulbs.

Note to self: Don't throw this one away...

1. Skirt
   1. Pleat
   2. Sew pleats down
   3. Cut waistband, sew up sides, turn
   4. Sew pleats to waistband
   5. Sew up back seam
   6. Hem
   7. Modesty panel
   8. Skirt hooks
   
   
2. Bodice
   1. Cut canvas from pattern, fit
   2. Cut silk from canvas
   3. Attach boning channels to canvas
   4. Sew silk/canvas pieces together, leaving side seams open.  Understitch.
   5. Sew side seams. Overlock, pink, or seam bind inside.
   6. Grommet
   7. Shoulder straps and elastic


3. Bertha
   1. Gold with snaps
   2. Silver with snaps