A million pattern pieces

Today was the big day--the official first cutting of fabric with scissors. Whenever I cut out a pattern, I notice that I am super meticulous with the first few pieces. And then I get more comfortable with clipping out curves and tabs and start to relax a bit. Either way, this stage in the process can be most tedious and always seems like it takes forever. Since this pattern includes lots of gathered skirts, I spent a better part of the day cutting out big rectangles of tulle the size of twin bedsheets.


These pieces are for the bodice of the dress--the top part which requires a close fit. Because there is a 5/8" seam allowance along the edges of most pattern pieces, it's often hard to imagine how a fitted garment will emerge from rather blocky shapes. But somehow all those seams add up and something resembling a dress will emerge. Everything must be done twice for the bodice of the dress--once for the exterior and once for the lin


Since the bodice is plain white satin, I wanted to add something to it to make it more exciting. I decided to get fancy and see if I could use remnants from the lace skirt fabric to overlay on top of the satin. Two of the smaller embroidered patterns worked perfectly, allowing enough room for seam allowance while also adding a nice accent to the two front panels. I love asymmetrical patterns since there are sometimes unexpected, so I cut two different panels out of the lace to overlay on top of the satin. These photos do a better job illustrating:

My favorite part of this pattern is preparing the boning inserts. Mostly because the mystery of dress boning is solved by sewing strips of grosgrain ribbon over the seams. The ribbon becomes a channel into which strips of plastic boning can be inserted to give the dress its shape. This all happens on the inside of the lining, so it won't be visible when the dress is finished. Kind of a shame, so much handiwork must remain a secret.

Here's one half of the completed bodice (the lining). The exterior is done in the same way (minus the boning) and the right sides of both pieces are stitched together. After lots of careful pressing with a hot iron, it is at this point that a dress starts to emerge.