Toile Diary: Pentagram Dress

• I did not start with a pattern for this garment.
• I started with 4 scraps of rectangular pieces of fabric 
• I sewed them into a large rectangular shape (see diagram) 
• I measured the waistline of a mannequin and cut out a circle of fabric of that size
• I placed this skirt onto the mannequin and decided the position of the zip (I inserted the zip down one of the seams so that I was not cutting into a piece of fabric)
• I hemmed the waistline then inserted the zip. NB: I REALISED I should have inserted the zip before hemming the waistline to achieve a neater finish to the zip.
• On the stand I then ruched areas of the skirt and pinned in place. When I was happy with the result I hand-stitched in place. I left the skirt hemline raw.
• For the bodice of the garment I traced around a front bodice block, marking notches and darts
• I placed the paper pattern on the stand and made adjustments to the neckline and armholes. (insert image)
• I also wanted an opening at CF so I marked the cut on the fold line of the bodice pattern piece.
• I cut out the bodice and overlocked all edges to neaten.
• I sewed the darts then hemmed the bodice edges (by turning the overlocked edge over once and machine stitched)
• At the centre opening I added loops for the lace up effect. NB: I REALISED I could have done this when hemming the edges to allow for one line of stitching instead of two or three.
• I laced up the opening.
• To create the pentagram on the back of the bodice I added loops at centre back, underarms and shoulder straps. For the shoulder strap attachment I folded the fabric under to create a loop and stitched to hold in place and threaded the black elastic through in a pentagram pattern. (see image)