Third Dress for Vacation...and Creating A Bodice Block!

I am sooooooo proud of my final dress for vacation! Before I start my non-vacation projects, I wanted to finish this series of dresses, because otherwise I may never finish them. Well, once I finished this one, I caught the dress bug! Why so much excitement??? Well, Heather from Feather's Flights (fabulous blog, I learn so much every time I read it!) suggested I check out Burdastyle.com for dress patterns. I found this one by elegant-impressions and decided to download the pattern and try it out...until I realized that the pattern was for a size 2, and there was no way it would come out just right. But, luckily, burdastyle posted an article with links about creating the perfect fit, and I found a tutorial on how to create a bodice block. A bodice block is basically the basic pattern for a top based on your personal measurements. On Tuesday, I ended up in the emergency room with the abdominal pain...after chugging barium and getting my 8th CT in 7 years, I found out I have (again!) multiple kidney stones on both sides, the largest of which is almost 4mm. That is the largest one I've ever had...mostly mine have been under 2mm. They break them up at 5mm, so this is a doozey, but I'll have to pass it on my own, as well as the others. Needless to say, I stayed home from work and needed some distractions. Thank GOODNESS the ER doctor found a pain medication I'm not allergic to...not nearly as strong as my last one, but it won't cause heart problems....she did suggest the drug that killed Michael Jackson, but we went with something else. :) In any case, I spent the day creating my bodice block...it took a couple of hours but I am thrilled with it! You can use it to create personalized patterns in a snap, which I love to do. Yay!!

Here's the bodice (front and back) that I created using my modified block and the back of the Katjusha pattern. I made my block on plain white paper but plan to transfer it to a more permanent form soon. The back was easy to create...just a basic rectangle twice the width of your back, with quick elastic casings. I used a straightened wire hanger to thread the elastic through easily.

The elastic back makes the dress easy to slip on and off (my usual necessity in a garment) and I used the white lining to accent the hem and create the straps. I plan on making a fabric headband to go with it.

I was so pleased with how this dress came out that I went to Joann's and bought four more pieces of fabric to create some more dresses, perhaps for work with a longer skirt and pockets too. I've been really nervous to use non-knit fabric because of my large chest, but the bodice block has made this easy as pie! Tomorrow I am finishing the giveaway project (very overdue!) and I am excited for you to see how that comes out too. Then I am making a peach colored dress with white eyelet trim and pockets. :) What are you working on? Would you sew more dresses if you had a bodice block?