Apparently I really like this color.
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| Top skirts and bodice, before hemming. You can see the band that the underskirts will connect to. |
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| Hanging underskirts on the back of a chair to let them stretch before hemming. |
Something I didn't know when I made my first couple dresses was that you need to let skirts that are cut on the bias hang and stretch before you hem them. Parts cut on the bias will stretch out a lot more than portions cut on the straight of grain or cross grain, so to make sure your skirt stays even for years to come, let it hang to let those parts stretch out first. I've heard a week is recommended to hang, but you can speed up the process by adding clothespins along the bottom edge.
Here's the dress after I hemmed the topskirts, attached the crinoline to the underskirts, and sewed them in. I made a couple ruffles which are attached to the neckline and form the sleeves. I didn't get any pictures while I was making them, but they're easy to make using a donut shaped stencil. I'll have to make a post about that later since it's much easier to explain with pictures. I made some more ruffles to put on the skirt then, alternating green and pink on each godet.
I ended up bringing the underskirts up a little bit, shortening them and evening them out a little bit so the green doesn't shown under the pink when standing still. Next stage is making the floats and stoning. The plan is to stone the lace like so:
