After DragonCon last year, my shindig dress needed major repair work on the top. The organza at one of the seams finally shredded after taking it in three times over the years. The skirt is fine, since I had just repaired it and reinforced the hems. Instead of fixing the bodice and trying to salvage what I could of that organza, I decided to just remake the entire thing.

After looking at reference images more closely, I realized that mine wasn’t that accurate on the top with the seams anyway, nor was my choice in all white organza. Mine had princess seams in the back, Kaylee’s does not. The front seams on mine were a bit weird, while Kaylee’s dress has true princess seams going into the arm holes. Anyone who knows me knows how obsessed I am with details, so with all of that I just decided to remake the entire bodice with more accurate fabrics.

I acquired a lovely off white silk organza, embroidered with a gold flower motif. Not bad! Thank you again Laura for sourcing the fabric! I’m currently waiting on a pink dupatta to come in for the sleeves. I’m on my third…if this one is too dark then it’s back to the drawing board. The other two are way too dark for what I need, even with backing it with white fabric.

Construction:

The bodice pattern is fairly simple. I usedSimplicity 1606 as a base (Amazing Fit Dress). It has a seam at the waist, which is perfect for making just a top. I changed the neckline to a V-neck. The peplum I’ll draft by hand.

I made the pieces out of white cotton sateen and the organza fabric. For the front, I pleated the organza onto the top and then sewed the edges down. After that I actually cut the shape from the fabric. I serged all of the edges and then sewed them together with a straight seam. For the ruffled trim in the princess seams, I sewed the trim to the bodice front FIRST, then sewed the bodice front to the sides. Next I’ll sew the trim to the neckline.

I’m waiting on the organza ribbon trim to come in before I can finish the main part of the bodice, and the dupatta to come in before I can make the sleeves, belt, and hair bow. I’ll post more when I can, but for now here are some construction shots.