Saris into Ball Gowns

I feel like I haven't done hardly anything so far this year.  Well, I did make Winston in January, and the Native regalia in March, but not much else. All the health issues have been ganging up on me, so I've not felt especially creative.  But then it dawned on me that 'today' could very well be the best it's ever going to get, so I better just try move on and start to do something again.

So, to start with something 'simple' I want to tackle some fancy ball gowns that I've been wanting to make for years now.  I have several boxes full of secondhand scarves and saris, and if I make the gowns to fit an Iplehouse EID, then I'm guaranteed to use up a lot of fabric and maybe make a dent in my collection.

I've gone through one box and pulled out the fabrics that currently 'speak' to me. Some would make a spectacular Rococo-style gown, but that's too much work right now, so I won't use those.

I think I'll start with the red and black sari with floral print edges (upper center)

My EID Carina will be my model, so I stripped her down, and used the
"paper towels and tape" method of designing a bodice pattern for her.

After drawing on the seam lines with a Sharpie - being careful not to get any on the doll -
the tape and paper bodice was carefully cut from the doll, and cut into pieces

The pieces were numbered to help keep them straight, and then I traced one side away from centre front - from 1 to 4 - onto paper to make the test pattern. Then traced those patterns onto iron-on interfacing, which was ironed onto white cotton, then cut and sewn to make the test bodice...

Looking good so far.  Now to make the bodice out of the sari fabric...