The draping on Shell’s bodice may look gorgeous, but it came at a price. Well, at least the blood spot is on the selvedge and will be hidden by the seam binding! Having finished the tricky, glamorous bits I now get to do the fun, easy, just a little-bit quirky and eminently practical bits, namely, pockets! Yes, Shell’s wedding dress is having pockets. I think all wedding dresses should have pockets. Her pockets are made from a layer of the grey silk crepe chiffon over the dotted swiss, so that you only see the silk from the outside of the dress. The silk crepe isn’t strong enough to be pockets on its own, that’s why I’ve flat lined them with the dotted swiss. I finished the raw edges on the pockets with blue binding for extra fun and colour. They are just little pockets, with little hand-sizes slits, but Shell should be able to slip a handkerchief, her vows, and some lip balm in them on the big day – just what every bride needs! …

I’m sure some of you were wondering if I was every going to get to this point on Shell’s dress. Yes!  It’s here!  It’s done!  After an afternoon in Mrs C’s sewing room and another in mine all the ruching on has been draped on Shell’s bodice, and here is how I did it. First I sewed on the blue silk taffeta bindings from the back, but didn’t sew them down in front.  Then I basted on my first draping panel, and stood back to admire how beautifully it draped: Then I told Shell that she wasn’t going to be able to sit down, eat, or use the loo for the next four hours while I did the ruching on her bodice: With the bride under control, I began controlling the fabric, carefully pinning a pleat at the bodice centre, tacking it as it curved across the bust, and then pinning it at the side seam. It’s very time consuming and detailed work: getting all your pins in the right place (as opposed to the …

With the bodice support all done and corded in the bust, and the skirt all done, it’s almost time to drape the bodice. I must say, the skirt looks pretty amazing: To attach the skirt and bodice, I sewed the front skirt to the front bodice, and the back skirt to the back bodice, and then basted the bodice sides together with wrong sides together, to make draping the ruching easier. Once the ruching is done, I’ll unpick the basting and sew the bodice right sides together, and then sew the skirt side seams. The bodice is just pinned up the centre back while I drape the ruching.  I’ll set in a covered zip and buttons after the ruching is done. To make sure that the ruching lies smoothly over the bodice, and that the cording doesn’t show, I’ve covered the bust with very fine flannel.  It makes Shell’s bust look enormous, but it will all be proportional once the ruching goes on.  For now, it just makes be laugh. Before I could begin draping, …