fitting the bodice

Fitting the Bodice

The first fitting has gone very well. I have made the under lining out of a twill fabric. I love the way the tutu pattern is fitting it is really a well made pattern.

I have some spiral steel boning placed in it for the fitting but they need to be adjusted on the length before I stitch them in. I have stitched Parisian tape to feed the boning down the outside of this layer. The boning will be between the underling and the dress. There is boning on each seam of the bodice and there will also be boning on each side of the closer in the center back. So 9 strips of boning for the total.



As you can see I have it pinned snugly, the gown will fit as a looser dress but the underling will fit very snug. I have heat set bias tape across the top of the bodice and across the bottom edge.

I will be attaching the underskirt to the bottom of this bodice. The underskirt will have the crinoline ruffles attached to this layer which will be the next blog.

I have also hand stitched the cups into the bodice and have cut the lining fabric. I was planning on a china silk or satin for the lining but the bride requested 100% cotton, so cotton it is. I have it cut so now it is just time to sew it together. :)

First mock up

I'll try and get some photos up soon.

Friday my darling daughter came over for the first of many fittings. I had cut out and sewn the tutu bodice pattern in its original state. LOVE it! Then using the pattern as a guide I cut out the 8 panel pieces to more like the cut of the dress. I lengthened it also.

The bodice in the original state fit lovely it is a really great pattern which I enjoyed using. I then pinned the 2nd panels on her to determine exactly where the seam lines should be. After pinning her into to whole thing and making sure it was good and snug. I marked all the seams. Then we spent the rest of the afternoon talking wedding. I had such a wonderful time with her and my youngest daughter Meagan. It is what I dreamt it would be.

After she left, I cut the pieces out of twill fabric to use as the underlining. I carefully cut all the pieces out and shortened my stitch length to 1.5. I then sewed all the pieces together leaving the seams un-trimmed, which at the current time are anywhere between 1 inch to 3 inches.

I will fit it to her tonight before I trim any seams in case I need to make adjustments before applying the bonning.

She tried on the skirt part of my wedding dress and to our delight it was perfect! I had not remembered I wore high heels (she is several inches taller than I). So we will be using this part of my dress as a base for her dress which will have 10 layers of tulle on top of it.

Then came thrilling yet scary part removing the veil. We had to check the placement of the veil and length to find out if the train on the dress was long enough. I am thinking at this it may be just fine, or I may need to add a 5 inch band to it so that the veil will not drag on the carpet. When we opened the veil it was breathtakingly beautiful! It is so lovely and will look so beautiful! And it is wonderful to think that two other happily married brides have worn it before her.

So all in all Friday was a very good day,and we are feeling very blessed.

makingthe first mock up

I am so thrilled the book I ordered "The classical tutu" came in over the holidays and it is everything I had hoped for!

I have constructed the first bodice out of a batiste fabric. I am using the 8 piece bodice pattern from tutu.com. I will be changing the neck line after the first fitting. I would like to see how the pattern fits first before I start fussing with it.

I am off today to go and get muslin as it is on sale at Joanns this week. I will make the full mock up once I have the bodice is fitted. I am planning on making a corselete with pettycoat attached, it will close with hook and eyes. Then I will make the dress and attach the corselet to the dress at the top. I am planning to close the dress with covered buttons and loops. I think I have my mind wrapped around the top of the dress but not 100% sure about the skirt. I think an aline but wondering just how to do it the way I want the finished skirt to look and I am not sure on the train I guess it will depend on how long the bride would like it to be. When it is time to open the veil I am thinking the train needs to be just a little longer as to not put any stress on the veil.

I look forward to the first fitting. My daughter/bride is coming over tomorrow to be fitted. I will post pictures of the fitting.