Final finishings

Very nearly finished now just the petals to go!

Here are a few pictures of the fastenings on the bodice and the waistband of the skirt. 

The Bodice had 5 hook and bars on it with the hooks on the top sided lined up with the stitching on the bone line.  Important to have one on the waist point as this area takes the most strain.

Sewing these of with button hole stitch is always quite difficult to start with as the hooks like to move, once one sides done is easier to do the other.

On the skirt is a bigger trouser fastening at the top as it is stronger and will hole the waistband in place better.  I opted to put 2 more smaller ones underneath to keep the whole of the back together. 

These took a lot longer than expected and did put me behind in my schedule but i should be back on track soon.

Skirt to Bodice.

This was a rather exciting bit as its starting to look complete.

Firstly you pin through the bottom of the waistband to the waistline on the bodice then place on the mannequin and pin through the piping to the basque.  Then back stitch it on .This was tricky as there is a lot of quite thick areas of fabric to go through, and having a brief 20 mins of brain fog about how to do a back stitch made it seem harder than it was.

Remembering to stop at the elasticated bits and a bit from the c/b so that it can stretch with the elastic otherwise it may distort the bodice or net.

The to finish i place swing catches on all the seams bar the side seams to stop it moving around and squishing down when the ballet dancer dances.

These end few bits just showed me how much thought goes into a ballet costume that you don't think about when you are just looking at it.  Also how everything has a purpose it may feel like its a never ending cycle of hand stitching but it needs to all be there.