Just a quick update on these - all the girls have been for their fitting now, no disasters :) They all needed taking in (a little or a lot) but I intentionally ere'd on the larger side as pinning something snug is soooo much easier than having to unpick a seam to let it out!
Now that I've got the fitting correct, I can start adding the chiffon layer, and its all rather exciting! I found the canvas was buckling a little at the center front and back, so I added more boning on the front and back seams then put the dress on the dummy and just started pinning. The bodice overlay uses a large bias cut square, and starting from the top left I've pinned tucks, aiming them all toward the right front seam and spreading them further apart as I worked accross the bodice. A few of the tucks don't reach all the way to the top, and these are used to shape the fabric without the need to cut and sew.
There's lots of pins in still, every pin will be replaced with a single tiny stitch to keep everything in place. The black and silver at the waist is some left over lace I had, just to see what it will look like with a it of sparkle there.
The skirt piece was flat pattern drafted, cutting and slashing the front skirt pattern piece to create 3 diagonal and one vertical pleats.
I'm really please with how this is turning out, can't wait to get it all put together!

I've been very busy working on bridesmaids dresses! I'm making 6, 3 juniors in silver and 4 adults in dark green. Both designs are made from lined chiffon, and the adults are going to have a draped front and skirt, with a diamonte detail which the bride will be providing. There will be matching boleros with 3/4 length sleeves.

Working with chiffon hasn't been as bad as I feared so far. I've hand tacked the chiffon to each of the jacket and bodice pieces BEFORE cutting, to prevent slippage. For the skirt pieces, I've layered the chiffon OVER the lining piece, weighted it down and then cut. I've used a very fine needle in the machine and french hems on the skirts, always stitching top to bottom (I've seen bottom to top recommended, but I'm putting in invisible zips and have waistlines to match, so I need to sew from top down after the zip is inserted. So far, no pulls or puckering so its all good :)
The junior bodices are interlines with a medium weight sew in interfacing for stability as the heaviest fabric in this dress is the lining fabric. The adult bodices are interfaced with collar canvas, and are boned at the side front and side back.

The adults dresses have no chiffon overlay at the front yet, as the plan is to do all the fitting adjustments on the bare shell and then drape the chiffon over each dress individually so it follows each girls curves nicely. So far, I have the 3 adults ready to fit, 1 junior completely done and another well under way :)

Just so you know, I've had to switch the comment function on the blog to approved comments only due to people using comments to link to their own websites. I'll aim to get your comment online within a day or two.
If you're reading my blog because you're actually interested and you have a your own website/blog to do with sewing, costume or fashion or even your other hobbies, please go ahead and post a link - I love reading these sites and they are where I do most of my learning :)
If on the other hand you're a large company selling mass produced goods, or worse a website advertising busty single ladies in my area, please don't bother - its not getting through and I don't want to have to look at it!