Draping the Bodice

And now for the bodice portion of this project . . .

This was actually much easier than the skirt!

Most of the shaping was accomplished with pleats.

I cannot be sure exactly how the inspiration for this dress was drafted, but I rather like what I came up with.

So the muslin came off the dress form and was marked up.

Then I pulled out Vogue 1043 to see how the gussets on that design work.

Using tracing paper, I transferred those lines onto my bodice piece.

For the back bodice, I traced Vogue 1043 and Vogue 8701 on the same piece of muslin, doing my best to match up important points like waistlines and side seams, etc.

And then I put the whole thing together.

My first attempt was not terrible, but there were a few things that needed to be fixed.

The only major problem was that the back neckline was too wide.  And I also had to straighten out the side seam so it sits straight on the body.  (When I look at the corrections on the flat pattern, the errors are rather obvious, but that did not keep me from missing them the first time around.)

And then, because all of those lines were starting to make my eyes cross, I made a second version.

This actually works quite well, so I am going to rip out the zipper, attach the skirt to the bodice, and hope for the best!