So, SO close

Does it make me sound like a horribly lazy person that I’m glad I got an unexpected day off of work? I didn’t have to go to the shop because the weather is gross and the manager predicted sales would be extremely slow. They’re selling Christmas trees now, and who wants to look for those outside when it’s rainy and cold? Not me. So I got to work on the dress this morning instead.

It took a little longer than expected, because I had to tweak some seam placements in the skirt again. But I think I am basically there, as far as the muslin goes. Except for one issue. (Pardon the iphone photos–the lighting around here is pretty terrible today due to the rain, and I figured I’d have more luck with mirror shots using the phone than I would my camera. Also, my tripod broke.)

This is the front of the dress–now with spiral-steel boning! The stitching on that is completely wonky because I was having to stitch the channels on with the boning in it in order to actually get the boning inside. (I had to make these channels myself. I may have done it too tightly. I’m debating whether I’d be better off making new ones out of, say, grosgrain ribbon for the real thing.) For the most part, I think the boning helped, at least on the side and back.What I’m not sure about is all of those diagonal wrinkles right in the center front. I think it’s time to post in the Craftsy class again and see what Susan has to say.

One more note about those skirt seams–the black lines are not the seams. Those were the original thread tracings, and those seams were moved to line up with the princess seams.

One change to the front that I do like is that I retraced the curve of the sweetheart neckline (the white that’s slightly showing above the original stitching.) I like this one much better.

And here’s the back. Not entirely accurate, since the very top will be tacked closed with a button. But I did add a zipper–partially to check the fit, and partially to play around with a lapped zipper. (It’s on my Check The Technique list anyway! Still needs work.) This is obviously not the zipper I’ll be using, since it’s grey–I didn’t have a white one on hand. And I think I’ll have to extend the zipped part an inch or so, because it’s just a liiiiiiiittle bit hard to pull on over certain curvy bits. (Ahem.) But with the zipper, the fit is actually quite comfortable. Even with all of those extra layers that the seam allowances made around the waist, so I think it’ll be just fine with the underlinings and such. Again, I added some boning to this, right over the darts, and I think it does do a nice job of smoothing it out. I will have to shorten the actual bones on both the side and back pieces just a little bit, though. Maybe about 1/4″.

Speaking of the side–I do think I am going to have to alter the curve of those pieces some. It does still pull towards the front slightly, though the boning did help that out quite a bit. I think that shaving 1/4″ out of the middle of the front and adding it to the back should do it. Again, the thread traced black lines are not the actual current seam lines. But it does look like things are laying pretty smoothly in the front, so I’m pleased with that.

And although it’s not the most flattering view of my middle, here’s a view of the whole skirt. I tried it on with the shoes this morning to check the hem length, and I’m going to have to add at least 2″ plus the hem allowance. I might do 2 1/2″ just to be on the safe side, since it’s easier to make a wider hem than to skimp on the fabric there. The circumference of the skirt is plenty wide enough, though, and even with my long stride, I can walk comfortably in it. I guess I’ll just need to figure out if I need to add something to the hem to poof it out some, whether it’s horsehair or some tulle underlayers.

Speaking of shoes–if you were curious, here they are! Since I rather dislike shoe shopping (mostly due to that lovely widening bony bulge you can see riiiiight under my big toes), I decided to be cheap and lazy and wear the same shoes I wore as a bridesmaid in a friend’s wedding several years ago. (Incidentally, this is the same friend whom I just made the Star Wars bibs for, and she’s going to be a bridesmaid in my wedding as well, so the circle is complete.)

Since I don’t have too many occasions in which to wear strappy silver sandals–and when I do, I usually wear my gladiator flats instead–they’re in good shape. All of the little rhinestones are still there, and I just have a little bit of scuffing on the heels and the very edge of the toes. Nothing a little nail polish can’t fix, once I find the right extra-shiny shade.