The Making of the Jellyfish {AKA The Graduation Dress} | Part 2 The Bodice

I'm back guys! My new computer is fantastic and makes editing so much easier and faster! As promised, here is part 2 of The Making of the Jellyfish {AKA The Graduation Dress}, which is about the making of the bodice.

This is my bodice mock up with the completed skirt. I drafted the bodice myself without any patterns and was able to get the mock up completed in a few hours.

All my bodice pieces cut out. I cut the pieces out of my satin and then out of a pink broadcloth to flat line the bodice. Flat lining, for anyone who doesn't know, is just cutting the same bodice pieces out of another fabric then basting them onto the fashion fabric pieces. It helps strengthen the fabric and reduces unwanted wrinkles.

Next I zig zagged the edges of my satin and broadcloth pieces. After that I basted the flat ling onto the satin pieces.

I had a bit of a "duh!" moment after I finished this. I realized that I could have just zig zagged the lining and satin pieces together instead of doing them separately and then basting them together.

Next I stitched all of the bodice pieces together.

Then I stay stitched around all of the round corners - which were the arm holes and the neckline. Stay stitching is just basting around curved edges. It keeps the fabric from stretching out of shape while you're still working on it.

One of my favorite tricks, which saves time and money, is to use bias tape for boning channels. I just used 1/2" double fold bias tape and stitched it onto my seam allowance on all the seams of my bodice. It works great and you can get it for cheap at any sewing store!

 The completed boning channels.

At this point I cut out all of my boning. I use thick zip ties for boning. They're cheap and I haven't had any problems with them. The pieces are roughly 1/2"-1" shorter than the boning channels plus seam allowance.

After debating on how to finish the edges I finally decided on this method. I traced the top 2 inches and bottom 2 inches of every pattern piece, cut them, zig zagged the edges, then sewed them together like I did my normal bodice pieces.

I ironed the seams flat then stitched the bottom pieces, right sides together, then folded it over to the inside and hand stitched it down with a whip stitch.

I did the same thing with the top, but first I had to add the elastic straps. I needed flesh colored elastic, but wasn't able to find any in the stores that was the right size (it was either way to wide or way to small). After doing some research I learned that a lot of dancers tea dye their elastic. I did a couple of tests with tea's that I had on hand and some extra elastic.

I tried several different types of tea, but the one that worked the quickest and got the best color was Tazo Organic Chai tea. I think I let the elastic "steep" for a couple of hours before it was a good color.

 After the elastic was done I put the boning into the bodice and then pinned the elastic onto the bodice underneath the finishing strip (I'm not sure what this would be called...) and stitched it just like the bottom. I decided this time that I needed to under stitch the top to keep the edge nice and flat. I ended up doing this by hand because the elastic wouldn't allow my machine to sew along the arm hole. At least not very easily. After that was done I tacked it down like on the bottom. It ended up making a big difference!

The finished under stitching. Not very pretty but it worked!

After that was done I stitched my zipper onto the back. I had to use a separating zipper for the bodice, and it ended up looking pretty good but because they didn't have any in pink and I had to get white it's a little more obvious that I would like. Plus it's a pretty big zipper!

Here's some shots of the nearly completed bodice...

 I  contemplated a lot on what to do for the arms. I wanted some type of sleeve or sleeve type thing. I ended up using the shoulder sleeve thing from Anna's dress from Simplicity 1215. After I made it up I hand stitched it o the inside of the bodice.

The pieces, zig zagged, stitched, and clipped...

Ironing makes a huge difference! Especially in something like this. The bottom piece is ironed while the other one is not.

My hand stitching. I did two rows just to make sure it was secure. Probably overkill but I don't hand sew that often so I wanted to make sure it was secure.

Lastly, I had to sew the skirt to the bodice. I did this by hand, with the tiniest stitches I could manage. I wanted to make sure it was secure since the skirt was fairly heavy. When I was finished it was very secure and I didn't have any problems with it.

And that's about it! I had wanted to embellish the bodice and add jewels or something to the skirt, but I decided not to because I was running out of time and didn't want to stress over it.

I hope you enjoyed seeing how I made this dress and hope you learned something! Please feel free to ask any questions.

A Little Update

Posts here have been few and far between lately. I have been working on projects but just haven't had time to post them here, as that usually requires editing pictures which takes forever on my laptop and I procrastinate a lot.

But, I have good news! I have a new computer that is due to arrive next week, which is going to be way better and faster than my laptop which means I'll be able to edit pictures faster and easier, which means more blog posts.

I've been trying to update my Instagram regularly, and is a good way to follow my current projects. My Instagram is @ThePhantomCostumer

A couple of projects I've started but haven't posted about yet;

• My 1871 day dress. I haven't really posted anything about the actual dress here yet but have shared a little bit on my vlogs (which I also haven't been able to do in a long time). The skirt is mostly done, just needs to be hemmed and embellished and the bodice is mostly stitched together, just missing sleeves.
• I started knitting a sontag, which is type of shawl that was popular in the 1860's. I was inspired by the shawls on When Calls the Heart and decided to make one. I'm about half way done and it's looking quite nice!
• Just the other day I started the mock up for my Halloween costume, which is Alice from Disney's calssic, Alice in Wonderland. The bodice mock up is practically complete and just needs sleeves, and I already have the skirt pattern. My sister is going to throw a Disney party this fall so I'll also be wearing it to that.
• I've been doing some research on Rey's costume from The Force Awakens, which I'll be making for the premier. I've only just started researching, but I hope to get it mostly done before Halloween because I'll be busy in November with NaNoWriMo on top of work and won't have a lot of extra time.

I'll be writing up more detail posts for most of these and will also post Part 2 of making the Jellyfish in the next couple of weeks when I have my new computer set up. Until then, stop by my Instagram for more updates!

Star Wars Costume Exhibit

Okay guys, so as some of you may know the EMP in Seattle has had a Star Wars costume exhibit open most of the year. Last month I finally got to go and see it for myself. I cannot even begin to express how amazing these costumes are! They're absolutely gorgeous! Pictures just don't do them justice. They're a thousand times more beautiful in person.

I took lots of pictures, and I have chosen a few (okay, 20+) of my favorites to share here but if you want to see all of them check out my Google+ album.

The exhibit consisted about three quarters of costumes from the prequel trilogy (and most of that was Padme's lol) and the other quarter from the original trilogy. When I saw the costumes I was surprised at see just how small Natalie Portman was. You really can't tell from the photos, but she was tiny!

Please pardon any blurry photos. The lighting was horrible and they didn't allow any flash photography.

They had the dressing gown, which I made sure to take lots of photo's of! I have a new theory on the skirt and I think I figured out what I've been doing wrong on the shape of the bodice...

My favorite, the meadow picnic dress. It's so pretty in person!

I was glad to see they had costumes from some of the lesser known Jedi like Luminara. Every costume has so much detail even if they were only in the background, like Luminara here.

I've been doing research for making a DL-44 blaster for my Mara Jade costume and it was great to get to see Han's in person!

I always get excited when I see closures on costumes. YAY SNAPS!

 I realized that the jumpsuits for the rebel fighters and TIE pilots are nearly identical except for the rebels have an extra set of pockets on the shin and of course the color. (Left: X-Wing pilot Right: TIE Fighter Pilot)

Feel free to share any of these photo's but please link back to me. Thanks!