This is the moment everything for my dress began really coming together and I found myself getting excited for it. Prior to sewing up an entire toile (granted, I didn’t actually sew everything together, more like precariously pinned it to myself), I had only envisioned my dress in my mind. It wasn’t yet a real thing, just a concept that may or may not come to fruition. However, I knew I needed to sew up a toile to make certain this was the direction I wanted to go in.
I wound up using my final corslette toile + skirt toile since both fit me pretty spot on. All I needed to do was create an over bodice for the corslette. I wanted to see if I could squeeze the pieces from the scraps left over from cutting out my skirt
- Because it would then match and feel like a real dress,
- It would be made in nearly the same fabric as my final dress giving me a better idea of what that would look like,
- The fabric weight would inform me if it was going to be too light and show the structured corslette bits through the top, and
- I planned to cut my final bodice layers from the scraps of my final skirt and I needed to know if that would be possible (super important because, if you have been following me on IG, you will know that I ran out of skirt material!)
I am happy to report that I managed to eeek out the bodice from the scrap bits of fabric I had left over from cutting the skirt toile. Yay!
I wound up not sewing the top and bottom bits together for a few reasons. The main reason was because I hadn’t cut the skirt toile along the actual waistline, so it required me being in the skirt to have it placed in the right spot (right under the bust). I just found the entire thing much easier to pin together instead of trying to sew it. Plus, it gave me more freedom to adjust things if I saw anything was off.
Y’all… I nearly had my moment the first time I saw myself in this mock up dress. Even in this super rough state with pins jutting out every which way, fabric folded in on itself, and not a single closure in sight, I could tell that this dress was going to be perfect.
Everything about it flowed and it felt so comfortable on, which were basically the only two criteria I needed to check off for this dress. I loved how the skirt moved with me as I walked, how easy it was to sit down, stand up, attempt a backflip (jk, those are terrifying!)...
and I could fully imagine enjoying all the time I was going to spend in this dress without getting uncomfortable or too overheated.
After spending some time twirling around in my dress, I took one last long look at everything and made notes on my final adjustments, of which there was only one: Add a wide gusset panel to the Center Back skirt for added drama! That’s it - all I wanted to alter was adding a bit more fullness to the back skirt without compromising the shape in the front.
With that, my dress felt like it was actually becoming a reality! Things were moving forward and I was gaining confidence to tackle all the things that had left me scared at the start of this project. So, I hope you are as excited as I am for Part 6: The Real Deal!
4 comments
Hi Giulia!If I could have pockets, I totally would add them! However, since this skirt is so form fitted, pockets would show right right through! So I am opting to not have pockets and to keep my phone tucked away in our house the entire day. I don’t think I will have any need for it!
Hi Franzi!
You are so kind! I did feel rather tall in this dress which is good because I don;t plan on wearing heels! Heels + mud don’t really mix, haha!
Now I really need to make a dress with that paneled combo. It is really something. Do you plan pockets? ;)
Wow, you look so tall in this dress. Like the models who have legs to nowhere.
Great work. Thanks for sharing.