Yesterday I reworked and finished the bodice. It looks so much better now.

I also added the final embellishments - bows and flowers - to the back of the skirts. I also made a small choker necklace that ties in back with silk ribbons.  

All the ornaments in her hair are separate so they can be inserted to create whatever look one wants.  I'm very pleased with how this dress turned out.  Of course it helps that red and pink are my favourite colours.  It looks amazing on Asa. Now I have to take all the final photos.....

I was halfway through sewing on the ruched tulle last night, when I decided it just wasn't working.  There was something missing. I had the pale dusty rose tulle, and the dark wine pleated ribbon, but there was no medium pink to tie into the pleating on the skirt. I would have liked to have used the medium pink ribbon with a narrower wine red on the edge, but I only had the medium pink in one very wide width. Maybe I could figure out a way to make the medium pink ribbon narrower.  So, off came the ruching, and off came the pleated wine ribbon.

So, this morning I drew a pen line 7/8" from the edge of the entire wide pink ribbon, cut the ribbon down, Fray Checked the edge. After it had dried I zig-zagged the Fray Checked edge, and sewed a narrow wine red ribbon over it. So now I'm right back where I started yesterday morning, but this time it should work out better. Like I said - this dress has a mind of it's own.

The beading was a big job, although it didn't take quite as long as I thought it might. It looks amazing - much nicer in real than in the photo.  The beading adds a definite element of elegance, as does the sheer netting of the over-skirt.

I've sewn on the pleated wine ribbon around the neckline - it's not as dark in real life, especially not the bodice itself.  Now to finish off the neckline.  I can't use the pink lace at the neckline because it's way too large a scale, so will make a gathered ruche of the old rose tulle, and add decorative beading. Also, maybe a flower in the center front. Then I have to finish the back with ribbons and possibly some larger flowers below the bustle. Unlike the minty-gray gown where I knew what I was doing from the start, this gown has a mind of it's own, and the biggest challenge is trying to figure out what it wants.

I've decided that the overskirt will be just sheer lace with a pleated edge. Problem is it looked too plain for my taste, so I decided to "fancy it up" and bead the lace.

Of course that means I also have to go back and bead all that lace around the under-skirt too. That's going to be a BIG job, and hopefully it doesn't take longer than this weekend.  I wish I'd know I was going to do this before I sewed that lace onto the skirt - it would have been so much easier to bead then.

It's been a rough week on several levels, and this gown isn't co-operating either. The first gown came together right away, but the dusty wine one is proving a struggle. It's not as simple as just remaking the first gown in different colours, as it's impossible to get similar sized trims, so I had to come up with a totally different embellishment plan. After considerable thinking, draping, pinning, looking, changing things around, thinking some more, I finally decided on a direction to go. I had drawn up a pattern for a separate train, and even made one out of test fabric. But the trims are all too wide to embellish the edges of a train, so I've dropped that idea. This gown is going to be "lacier".  Here is where I'm at so far......

I made a wig for my new boy - my Limhwa Mono, Adrian - and took a few quick photos outside - it's way too humid out there for more right now. I couldn't resist taking this photo......

The new Adrian is a pale, normal, French Resin, and he's a lot younger. He looked way too "girlie" with all the straight wigs I have, so I made him a wavy one from the same brown mohair I made Isar's upswept hairdo a few days ago. I think he's rather cute.

I'm having another one of those days where everything is a challenge - for every step forward there was at least one backwards. Every seam has to be picked out and redone a second time - or even a third.  And I already had a headache when I woke up. On days like this it's best not to be working on something that really matters, so I'm tackling Adrian's outfit instead of the dusty wine Victorian gown. The sleeves of Adrian's original outfit were too long so they needed shortening - but where?  I cut a bit off the shoulder area, then had to reduce the middle section by folding and hand-sewing to make it shorter. The original sleeves were sewn right onto the body, but that isn't an option with clothes that need to be removable. So I added facings along the bottom openings of a thin wine red fabric to match the cuffs. Then it dawned on me that the wine red might leave marks on the boy's resin wrists, so off it all had to come, and I redid everything with a light tan fabric. The lower sleeves will need to lace up, but the edges are way too thick to insert eyelets, so I'm sewing the "eyes" from hooks & eyes along the outside edges. All this redoing of handwork goes very slowly. I'm trying to decide whether or not to insert eyelets into the front edges of the hooded cape-let or leave it as is. I also need to make him a wig, but am not sure if it's wise to even try that today.

The main under-skirt and the bodice of the dusty wine Victorian gown have been sewn. This fabric is a lot harder to work with. It slips and slides all over the place, and it frays a lot.

Now it's time to start embellishing. I've pulled out several different laces and ribbons. I don't know at this point which ones will get used and which ones won't - I know which ones I'd like to use, but it all depends on if the colour and motifs work. First I'll make a row of pleated ribbon for the bottom edge, and then I can decide on laces.  

This gown will be very different from the minty-gray one. For this dusty wine one I'm planning a separate train, and a pouffy over-skirt. This gown will have far less flowers - bigger ones. I bought some lovely mulberry paper roses at Michael's that I'm hoping will work.

I finished Isar's upswept Victorian-style wig, and put the gown back on her. Her neckline was too bare, and she couldn't have earrings because I forgot to ask to have her ears pierced, so I made a necklace. It's so interesting how each doll looks so different in the same dress.

I'm "multi-tasking" today, working on several things at once. I've started the dusty wine under-skirt and bodice, and am also working on remaking Prince Adrian's clothes into a costume for my new Limhwa boy. So far, he has socks, pants and boots. I need to make him a shirt onto which to sew the fancy under-sleeves - which are a bit long - and then he's going to need a wig made. All the other parts of his costume can be used the way they are.

I tried the Victorian ball-gown on Isar, and to my surprise the bodice even fit - except the top snap wouldn't do up. So I guess "large" bust isn't all that much bigger than "small" bust after all. But I need to make Isar a wig, because her head is smaller than Asa's so she can't borrow her's,  so took the gown back off so it doesn't get covered with hair - it would be a total pain to pick mohair bits out of all those embellishments. Plus, I certainly wouldn't want any accidents with hot glue, water, or hairspray - not after all that work!

I chose a nice, curly, medium brown mohair, and have sewn the wefting. Next step is to hot-glue it onto the wig cap. Then tame and style it.