I used large swathes of fabric that I couldn't see myself using any time soon (strangely enough, since using these fabrics for pattern pieces I've become more attached to them)! I pinned to both the mannequin and the floor to get the skirt shape and to help with straight seams.
The back centre will be laced up and the lacing will start within the skirt panels
These pattern pieces are cut flush against each other so I had to use more fabric to create a version I could use as a toile.
The good thing about using curtain weight fabric is its a similar weight to the final dress materials.
There is no way I could have resisted the urge to get out the 'proper' fabrics to have a look! This is where I started to change my mind about the all over lace and start to seriously think about hand appliquéing lace motifs!
I recommend pinning ribbon to the carpet to get the best shape. The train should be a circle or oval arc.
This is roughly how I intend to bustle the dress for the evening. Bustling like this on a standard dress is considered 'couture' and its quite expensive to have a tailor do it this way. Free if you're doing it yourself though...! I plan to have colour coded ribbons on the inside so that my hard done by bridesmaids will find it all a little easier.
After 'patching' the train to make a better circle shape.
Once I was truly happy I cut the seams away to have 0 seam allowance - ready for thread tracing later.
Remember to keep the darts though - these can be cut whilst the seams are still sewn for the best accuracy.
My practice dress is a much shorter version, but still from the same pattern. I didn't use thread tracing on this as its so time consuming, I just used 1cm seam allowance.
The underlining all sewn up.
