Sew-along: bodice mock-up 2

[chebe]

Okay, this is more promising. I decided that there was so much extra fabric in the first mock-up that I would try something radical; cutting out one size without any adjustments. I used some black poly-cotton, and only afterwards did I realise how badly it would photograph. On the plus side, the yellow tracing paper and white chalk came up beautifully. I took great pains to make sure I did everything as well as I possibly could. Pressed my darts and seams, thread-traced, used different coloured threads for each step, and drew the seamlines in chalk before thread-tracing them. I'm glad I did, I got to know the pattern a bit better. Mostly that the little circles (centre-point) sit exactly 5/8" in from the edges. Helpful to know next time I'm grading through sizes. Also, after making it up, yeah Julie, I see what you mean, the notches on my front and back pieces don't line up at all! Must be a mistake in printing.

I found a couple of strips of fabric I'd cut out ages ago for a wrap skirt that I didn't use. So I used them as stand in for real wrap-ties. Here's the result. (It looks better in reality, honest, and please excuse the bulging over my trousers, everything else is in the laundry and they're a bit tight.)

Front

Side, bust

Back

I'm quite surprised. I think it fits well (allowing that I seem to have wrapped the ties a bit too tight). There is a bit of bagginess under the bust that needs to be taken out with fatter front waist darts, but otherwise I think the fit is good. I've posted it in the Flickr group and waiting to see if they pick up on something I didn't. Most people were complaining about the positioning of the front darts, and while I think the front waist darts are a little high, the illustrations imply this to be intentional. I'm normally the one that doesn't fit, not the only one that does. It's a strange feeling.

Now, I'll probably do a small, short, mock-up of the waist-skirt piece to check the sizing too. Then, hopefully, just one more mock-up post, then on to the real thing!