Alice Dress Update #1

I've been out of touch with blogging over the last month, but my card guard skirt has kept me endlessly ruffling (more on that in another post) and I'm also in the process of moving. My free days have been consumed with packing, organizing, and the annual closet purge to get rid of things I just don't need anymore.

In the midst of it all though, I've been working on the dresses for this October's Wonderland Wedding for my best friend. Now by dresses, I mean not only my own, but the bride's as well. It was only briefly mentioned last time, but I'll also be making Jenna's bridal dress as well for the special occasion! I met with her a couple weeks ago and while I don't have sketches, here is her shopping list:

Because the theme is Alice in Wonderland, she is looking to go as Alice. Rather than wear a dress that looks like Alice's, she is going to use it as inspiration for the color scheme in her own dress.

In case the notes are incoherent, she is looking at doing an underbust corset/bodice. My pattern drafting skills still aren't up to par so I trotted off to the fabric store in search of patterns that I might be able to adapt. I found a couple patterns that followed the shape of what I was looking for.

Butterick 3906

Simplicity 1819

Using the pieces for the bodice on the Butterick pattern and the underbust corset on the Simplicity, I started Frankenpatterning (to quote Kat at Madame Modiste) the bejeezus out of the pieces.

The initial steps were to trace over the original pieces with wax paper (my favorite for tracing) and make initial adjustments such as letting seams out and adjusting the neckline.

 The next bit of fun was taking some of the existing pieces and making additional adjustments to make the pieces I needed to form the actual finished garment. There were some instances where I had three pattern pieces stacked, trying to figure where lines would go for these new pieces.

And this where we stand. I have to get some corset hardware first, but then I should be able to but everything together toward the end of the week. In the meantime, I will be working on the blouse to go underneath.