#sewing stuff

4. Dots. Not the worst especially when I can vary the sizes and just put them on randomly.

3 Stripes. Not hard, just super tedious and it feels like not much is getting done while I sew it on. Dots at least go faster.

2. Checker board. Actually have to cut all the squares the same size and plan out everything so it all lines up right. Super tedious in both cutting and sewing.

Took a break from the robe a la francaise in order to make a tiered ruffle skirt. Fun little easy project.

I had a busy weekend so I didn't really get much done, all things considered. I did manage to shorten the waistline by 5/8th of an inch, not a full inch. I just inserted a small strip of fabric to the skirt to make up for what I was taking away from the bodice, and I'm choosing to pretend it looks a little like the bodice has piping and call it a day.

Mind you it's not the best fix but given this is polyester I actually don't mind encountering the error part of trial and error. I ran into an issue because I didn't do my due diligence when patterning the alterations, but I fixed it and can now move on and know how to avoid it next time.

I finally started whip stitching the side bodice lining piece in, and also decided I needed to add some more structure to the back lining piece. I've made some casing out of thrifted bias binding for some cheap rigilene I've had for years, and now I'm planning on whip stitching the rigilene to back lining, right next to the grommets.

When I last left you I'd finished the back piece. Since then I've attached the side pieces with a French seam. Obviously I then promptly forgot about the 10 inches of the side skirt that was meant to be left open and hemmed so I could reach my pockets, so I unpicked the sides and fixed my little mistake. Then I pleated them down.

I attached the side bodice pieces to the skirt using a back stitch, and then I folded in my seam allowance on the side bodice. I attached it to the back piece using a prick stitch.

Using a one and a half inch wide strip of tafetta as binding, I finished the raw edges of the watteau pleats. I then attached the straps by again folding in the seam allowance prick stitching them down.

I'm now officially far enough to be able to test the fit!

I'm actually quite impressed with myself right now that I actually don't even care I'm going to need to alter it a little. I'm well aware I have a short torso, and originally I had shortened the waistline by about an inch. Over the course of my sewing I decided to add it back, but now it's official! I'm shortening the bodice by an inch.

There's also some slight wrinkling in general that I think would be an easier fix if I had a dress form I could mount and shape the gown around. As it is, it doesn't really bother me all that much right now. Maybe I'm just riding the high of a project starting to come together.

I wasn't in the mood to do another mock up so I just bit the bullet and cut out my fashion and lining pattern pieces. I started with the back lining piece, opting to change the back from ribbons to eyelets. Here's the finished back lining:

I also stay stitched my pattern pieces for a little pizzazz, and then started sewing the back panels together. I just went for it and tried my best with the watteau pleats. They came out great, in my humble opinion.

I did eventually come to the conclusion I had to undo the pleats in order to finish adding the eyelets to the back lining (which wasn't fully done at the time), and deal with the raw seams I left in my haste to try pleating. While I was at I fiddled slightly with the pleats to get them to look how I'd envisioned.

My new pleats:

When I last left off I was going to put together my second mock up, with all my alterations. Here's that one put together:

It was alright, but I still wanted to correct a few things:

It was still too tight in the armsyce in a certain spot;

the whole bodice wanted to shift forward when I tried to lower the back neckline, so I'm getting rid of that alteration; and

the sleeves were all kinds of fucked up. They fit around the armscye, with just enough excess to gather nicely at the top, but then got extremely loose as it went down my arm, and then got a hair too tight in the crook of the elbow, which proved to be its own issue, because I was also struggling a lot with getting the curve on the bottom of the sleeve to fit properly at the crook of my elbow.

But the next mock up went great!

I used some random polyester charmeuse from Wholesale Fabric Direct I've had for years as my third mock up, which I'm hoping is not a mistake since the fabric is more slippery. It seemed to work well enough though. I did take in the side seam by about 3/4th of an inch, and the inside of the shoulder seam by half an inch, but otherwise I think the alterations are done and my next attempt is going to be my actual lining!

Also someone got a bath today. 🙈