Alright, so yesterday we prepped our bodice and some other bits of our dress with interfacing and we sewed up all of our darts- yay! For today, we are going to focus on finishing our Main Bodice + Bodice Lining and then combining the two.
Have you got your cup of coffee or tea? I've got some nice ginger & green tea next to me, plus a baguette proofing in the oven, so I am ready to dive in!
Grab your Back Bodice (either dress view) and, with Right Sides Together (RST), attach your Front Bodice to your Back Bodice at the shoulder seams.
Press your seams open, then repeat with the Bodice Lining pieces.
With RST, pin your Bodice Lining to your Bodice Main.
Sew along the neck and back openings, starting on one side of your bodice and ending on the other.
I like to reinforce any corners where I know I will be trimming by adding a few backstitches before and after pivoting. I find that this extra step really increases the longevity of my garments where they tend to wear out the fastest.
Now it is time to clip, clip, clip! Clip little triangles out around any curves, and your open neckline points. Be careful not to clip through your stitching line!
Understitch your necklines and back openings as far as you can.
Press your Bodice along the necklines and back openings.
Next, baste your Main Bodice to the Bodice Lining along the armhole openings. Make sure the shoulder seams are matching.
Wonderful! We are now ready to start prepping our Sleeves to attach to the Bodice. Next up is Part 3 - Attaching the Gussets (Optional). This is an optional step, but one I highly recommend if you like to have as much arm mobility as possible. If not, feel free to skip ahead to Part 4 - Attaching the Sleeves.