I had some kitty helpers when I was cutting the pattern! I have found that giving them the pattern scraps when I am cutting helps to keep them occupied.
First attempt. The darts looked way too far away from CF to me (and confirmed that with my wonderful bustle dress gals). The darts were also super skinny and very low, well below the point of the bust. In this image I had them pinned in the marked locations but raised the tops to the bust.
The back also looked really awful and clearly isn't meant to be worn over a bustle. The bodice looks worn tucked into the skirts in the images, but it's hard to tell. I also have never made a bodice that didn't have side back seams. The wonderful Jennifer from Historical Sewing told me they often had "mock" side back seams in 1860s bodices and side back seams were used for fitting later in the 1870s and 1880s.
Here is round two - much better! I kept one dart where it was and moved the outer one closer to the CF.
For the back, I pinned in some mock side back seams. Jennifer also suggested that I slash up to the waist so the back can spread over the bustle. I will add in fabric to those areas to keep the option open of wearing it on the outside of a skirt over the bustle.
My fabric is due to arrive tomorrow or Wednesday (I am NEVER ordering from Fabric Fashion Club again - they took 9 days just to ship my order then another week of transit time, grrr.....).
I can already tell that bias binding all the scallops is going to be a MAJOR headache, and I think I will have to do it entirely by hand so it will look nice. Sigh. Good thing I have my Lifetime movies for hand sewing! I noticed the pattern instructions say to use contrasting bias, so I think I will use my check fabric for binding on the revers, and black binding on the check skirt scallops.
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