Bombshell Dress - Pattern Alterations When Your Cup Runneth Over...

I signed up for Gertie's Bombshell Dress course last year. And all I did was watch the lessons on my phone. One of Steve's friends is getting married in September and the bf likes the lines of bombshell dress. Seems like a good time to work on the bombshell dress.

I have what could be considered, ahem, a very full bust. Even though there is a lesson for adjusting the Burda pattern bust cups for a full bust - it seemed inadequate for a very full bust.  doing some internet research on this dress pattern, I found Mezzo Couture's posts on her experience.  Her finished dress looked fantastic, but she had the darndest time with construction. 

So, in order to avoid some of this angst, I got the bright idea to draft my own bra cups. Foundations Revealed is a fantastic site and has 2 free bra-making lessons. Using the free lessons, I drafted the white bra cup. Then I graded it to the brown..

I've never used printable patterns before: the Burda pattern included with the Craftsy course is printable (30 pages!). I cut out the bra cup pieces and then taped them together to gauge how much grading I needed to do.

I made a second draft bra cup, cut it into 3 corresponding pieces and went about grading... I used the slide technique outlined in the Foundations Revealed lesson to do the piece grading. And here is the end result.

I spent a lot of time laughing during this process. Steve asked if I was making a hat pattern at one point! It could double as a hat pattern... yeah.  As for the rest of the bodice pieces, I graded them up based on my 1 dress muslin. I've got to test this out in fabric next.

9.30.12 ETA:  Make sure to add the corresponding length to pattern piece 4.  In my case, I need to add 3 3/8 inches.
 

What Else I've Been Doing on Craftsy

I'm signed up for 5 Craftsy courses:  3 sewing and 2 others.  I'm pleased to say I don't just watch the lessons on my smartphone :).

One of the others is jewelry making and the second is Tunisian crochet.  I really only signed up for the jewelry course so the Little Miss can use it, but I felt compelled to try the headpin work myself.

My necklace:

Source: Upcyled Wire Wrapped Beads Necklace via JuliN on Craftsy

Other than the headpins from Walmart, all the necklace components are from old, thrifted necklaces.  I put the necklace together during a Sunday when I couldn't gather the energy to do much more than sit in a chair and watch tv (and make a necklace).  I'm pleased with it and have worn it twice already.

My Tunisian Crochet spa cloth

Source: Tunisian Crochet Spa Cloth via JuliN on Craftsy

I used some Sugar'N'Cream cotton yarn I had at home - and a size J Tunisian crochet hook my mom had - to practice the Tunisian crochet stitches I'd been watching on Craftsy.  I made a few errors, but it was fun to practice.  And while knitting confuses me (corralling 2 needles and the yarn and working a pattern, oh my!), but I really enjoyed the Tunisian crochet.  The reverse stitch is a little tricky, but I just kept replaying the stitch movements to get it right.  I finished this in a few hours.

On the sewing front, I am working on the sizing the bustier cups for the bombshell dress.  The September wedding will be here before I know it!  I hope to have at least the paper pattern adjustments finished this week.