prom dress: toile bodice fitting

Finally getting to the dress.
I am excited to be making some progress! Sometimes just doing something different kind of perks you up.

So I have fit the bodice I drafted, and was very pleased with the fit so far.

I pinned out about .5cm on the double on the side seams, as well as a dart in bodice side front panel as you can see here.





We were also playing around with turning the neckband around to see what a halter strap would look like. 

I might do a little shaping under the bust as well, and make the CF a seam instead of cutting it on the fold, but so far so good.
I used some rigilene boning in this mock-up because I had it on hand, but I do not like it.
The boning I will use is 1/4" German plastic boning that I will get from Farthingales. You do not have to worry about the ends poking through or capping the ends, it can be inserted into channels or stitched through.
The other type of boning that I would typically use is 1/4" wide spiral steels. They have the advantage of flexing around curves much better than anything else, so in this case, I may use one over the front curved seam or see if I can redistribute some of the shaping between the front and side front panels.
I will try to use the seam allowance on the inner layer to create casings for the bones, and may move the side seam forward to give a bit more support to the front of the bodice.


One note that applies to all sewing projects- start as you mean to go on. By that I mean you should include things like shoulder pads when making a jacket, boning if you are making a strapless bodice. I have also noted that people often choose fabric for a toile/mock-up that is totally unlike what they plan to use in the end. Pick something that has teh characteristics of the final garment, otherwise it just won't give you the true story.