Toile Diary: Fishnet Suspender dress

This is a CAD image of one of my final designs for my witchcraft collection.

From this I had to create a toile using material that represented the fishnet so I used a stretchy jersey.
I started with a basic bodice block and a sleeve block in size 12 and traced around these pieces marking all the notches and details.

As I want my top to be cropped I shortened the bodice so it was just under the bust as the suspenders will pull it down a bit more when it is attached to the skirt.
For the sleeves I slashed and spread and then gathered the pieces together because I want the arms to be tight fitted. I then re traced this for my final pattern.

As the crop top will be a stretchy fishnet I didn't put a zip in and then firstly attached the back and front piece by the shoulders by only overlocking because I normal stitch would not work on stretchy material.

I then attached the sleeves pinning where the notches were in the middle and then levelled out the rest of the sleeve so it would match the bodice. I then turned the garment inside out and overlocked from the wrist all the way to the end of the bust of the crop top. I then repeated this on the other side.

As my target market is high street I will leave the hems raw and add a waistband to the skirt.
Sewing fishnet will be difficult so I will try these two methods:

1. Use zig-zag stitch french seams.  Go slow, and make sure the net doesn't get caught in the foot.

2.  Roll the edge and iron it so that you have more 'fabric' to work with, and sew like normal.  A variation on this is to roll the edge, iron it, and paint it with nail polish so that it stays together better and 
doesn't get caught in the foot. 

3.  Interface the fishnet with bias tape or elastic, and sew.

Because fishnet is so pliable, you want to make it one size smaller, and always use a zig zag.

For the seams I will take a strip of black lycra and sandwich it in, placing it behind the two layers of fishnet as I sew, then trim off anything that wasn't 
encased in the thread. For the edges I will fold over elastic.

I found this which inspired me as one of my designs creates a pentagram laced between the fishnet so if I have enough time I shall also sample this and see if the shape works at the back of the crop top.