Back to business. I didn't like the puffy ballgown sleeves that were included with the bodice pattern, so I altered it. The sleeves on the original gown were petal sleeves, very delicate, very not... poofy. Nice, flowing, not poofy lace trimmed sleeves. Very elegant. 
So, I changed the pattern. I kept the original pattern piece for the sleeve, but I drew the petal shape that I wanted onto the pattern piece. I then cut it. Yup, I guessed (and I was right!). After all of that telling you to make a mockup and whatnot, I did this on a whim, just to see if it would work. I guessed the shape that I wanted from looking closely at the photo, and I just went with it. And guess what? They came out very nicely!
Here is a view of the first sleeve finished. The original poof sleeve did NOT have a lining included since there was a finished band at the bottom of the sleeve. With this design, however, the inside of the fabric would have been visible. So, I lined the sleeves with the same white satin as the rest of the bodice. Honestly, I am really psyched about this design, I may have to use it again!!! It allows a tight fitting shoulder to the bodice but enough room to move your arms up for turns and that sort of thing. Ingenious! It will be much easier to dance in. It is one thing to look gorgeous, but these gowns are functional as well!!! Here are some additional images of the gown with the sleeves in (no lining quite yet):
Last post was about my little misadventure with the lining. Luckily, I have lots of scraps of different varieties and I had a very nice middle weight white satin leftover from the Sapphire and Snow Antebellum gown. I was a little concerned at first that white might be too obvious, especially around the bones where the fabric tends to pooch a little bit. But, as long as I was precise in my seams, everything would work out. Once I had the lining matched, pinned and sewn to the bodice fashion fabric, I flipped it inside in and got to see the final product. Until you press the newly sewn seams, it always looks a little awkward- the seams need to be pressed or sewn to settle nicely (or at least this is what I do). By the way, when sewing the bodice to the lining, this is done with the two right sides facing, so essentially inside out. You sew all around the outsides, but leave the arm holes not sewn so that you can turn it outside out, or inside in, or the right way (however you want to say it).
I, being a perfectionist, cannot stand seams that don't sit nice and flatly. Hence, a little extra step which, when done correctly, makes a nice finished edge, holds the lining behind the fashion fabric, and keeps everything from shifting around. The key here is to be VERY careful. Since the needle of the machine has to penetrate the fabric, you don't want to have to rip anything out and do it over- the result could be needle holes in your fabric that are visible! After all these hours of work, that is the last thing you want. I start by very carefully pinning around the bodice. I make sure that I tuck the lining slightly behind the fashion fabric so that none of it is visible (especially important here with the white lining!) I then VERY carefully sew around the outside of the entire garment. The result- a nice evenly stitched line that shouldn't be visible except up close. I carefully match my thread colors to my fabric, so it is truly invisible except if you are up close and looking for it. This really stabilizes the lining and the bodice itself.
Voila! This is pretty much the end of the machine process. I will have to sew the arm hole seams by hand. Also, there have been very few trims that I have been able to do by machine, most of the time little invisible hand stitches are best.
So, where are we at time wise?
Cut and attempt to sew evil lining- about 1 hr
Recut and sew good lining- 1.5 hrs
Sleeve reconstruction, cutting and sewing- 2 hrs
Sew lining to bodice- 1 hr (takes forever to pin that sucker!)
Flat sew seams- about 1 hr (again, takes forever to pin that sucker!)
Total time this section- 7.5 hrs or so
Total time for the project: About 20 hours.
The price for the bodice so far is difficult to say because I had a lot of parts and pieces already. But here are some guidelines:
Fashion Fabric- it was 18.75 a yard, and I used roughly 2 yards with carefully placing the pieces on the best of the embroidery and with the grain. So, about $38.
Lining Fabric- I used about 1 yard since I didn't care as much about exactly location of pieces, but still kept with the grain. That most likely cost me about $10 a yard, so about $10 here.
Boning- since I already had this on hand from corset making and I buy spring steel bones by the roll in bulk, I will have to make a rough estimate here. Between dividing the tools needed to cut the boning, the boning itself, and the tipping, I would estimate that this cost me about $20.
Thread- I buy the good stuff, so guess about $7 here.
So, total for the bodice so far: about $75.
The most expensive part of this whole thing is not the fabric; it is the trim!!! And the massive yardage needed for skirts and overskirts is nothing to sniff at either!! So, beware the low sounding budget here, the worst is yet to come!
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