I finally turned a corner with the pink dress. Thursday night, Friday night and half the day Saturday I spent wrestling with the skirt lining. The pattern doesn’t call for a full lining, but I wanted one because I’m bustling it and the underside will more than likely show. SOMEHOW my front lining panels were two inches too short horizontally. My side back panels were two inches too short VERTICALLY…. I don’t know how that happened because they were both cut out the same direction on the grain.
I was totally out of that particular lining to just recut the whole thing. And I did not want to buy more. So I pieced strips of my leftover scraps to make it all fit. Got the skirt pleated and set into the bodice and THAT’S when I finally had a moment of happiness with this project because I could finally “see” it.
I didn’t take any pics yesterday. Yesterday I got the upper back pleats sewn down onto the lining (they were wanting to pop out which made them look wobbly), and did a lot of fitting. Seriously Chase had to come put me into it 3 times last night.
I realized I made a mistake with the way I attached the hidden front lace-up panels. I had them attached way too close to the front and it was making the front panels bow and look funny. So last night I removed them, and I’m going to cut out longer pieces so they can be attached to the side seams instead of right at the front. That should make life MUCH easier when getting dressed.
Speaking of which, if I have time — much like last year with Anne — I’m going to remake my corset. The tabs on mine turned out terrible, and the shoulder straps have never worked (they stuck out like an inch further than the dress, so first time I wore it I just undid them and tucked them into the back – and that’s how I’ve worn it ever since.
But that’s only if I have time, because for now, it works. It’s not uncomfortable like my old Tudor one was (which is why I remade Anne’s last year.)
Tonight – get the lace-up panels back on, trim them so they don’t look so janky, try fitting again.