The Olivia Dress Part 2

To continue where I left off, I traced the front, front side, back and back side pieces.  I did half of a muslin to see the fit of the bodice and what alterations needed to be made.  From the first muslin I estimated that I had to cut down the length of the front piece bodice and add 2 inches to the width. 

After that was done I then added 5 inches to the length of all the pieces as this bodice originally had a peplum.  I then made another muslin of the bodice to check for fit and it looked about right.

The original fabric from the picture has the red lace with the nude underlay.  Since I could not find that, I just used a  black scalloped lace with black charmeuse underneath.  I originally wanted to do a sweetheart cut-out on the bodice, but I decided to go with the full coverage under the lace.  I also liked the coverage that it gaves as well.  This is how the bodice finally turned out.

Originally I had the bodice sewn up a little more, but was told by Karen and another co-worker that I needed to undo it a little to get the look of the original inspiration picture.  I'm realizing now that Olivia Thirlby does not have as much cleavage as I do, but I made it work in the end and double-sided body tape was my bestfriend last night. 

It helped keep the girls in and I didn't have any Janet Jackson moments.  Every woman should have some in their private arsenal for those special occasions.   

Next up was the skirt. Originally I was going to do a tea length with a godet in the back.  This next picture was my inspiration.

I got a call during the week thank goodness before I cut the skirt out and was told the event was black tie optional so I was able to turn my tea length idea into a full length skirt.  As I said in my last post I was going to use McCall 3830, but in the end could not figure out where I put the pattern so I used Burda 7576. 

 With a little tweaking, because the skirt is very form fitted and a little help from this book by Colette Wolff, 

I was able to work it out.  If you don't have this book in your sewing library, get it.  It is amazing and full of a wealth of information.  Here's the back of the skirt with my godet. 

This is the final dress in all of her glory and I did get quite a few compliments. 

It was nice to stray from the norm when it comes to traditional gowns.

Enjoy your Sunday, I'm going to get some food shopping done and catch up on my chores from yesterday.  Have a great week!!