Finally, a new fashion!

Finally.  I have completed the dress I wanted to make for Agnes.  I think I'm rusty.  I was never a seamstress, but this seemed to be harder than I imagined.  The difficult part was.... well there were several things.  (You can read about it, if you care to in the postscript)

Here's Agnes in a dress that was based on Eyemeric Francois's dress.  Love this designer.
Front:

Yes, it was windy and my photographic ability is very limited.


Back:

Luckily, this looks better in person.


Here is the original:

How I did it:
I had the benefit of seeing the back of the dress.  There was a lot of detail to that.  Large hook and eye closures closed the back of the corset (I decided to use leather for the corset as there was give) -- I needed give to be able to do the hook and eye closure -- as dolly skin doesn't give.  The fabric (although beautiful -- again not done justice with my pictures) -- didn't drape as I would have liked it to.  But that was a trade off.  I wanted a heavy satin so it wouldn't look cheesy.  This gave me a bit too much bulk.  The leather belt was a nightmare.  I cut it out (several times) -- when I tried to run a top stitch on it, the machine ate the leather as it was so supple and pliable.  Gorgeous leather really -- super soft.  I ended up having to mark it out.  Stitch it on the larger leather, then cut it out.  Worked nicely.  The pleated belting had a laced up back using what looked like rings to hold the ribbon that laced it.  I felt to keep true to the design I had to keep these elements.  The skirt had a few pleats at the top to get the volume.

Back of the original dress:

Ok, how bad is it that I've sought out some gowns for purchase and I'm trying a couple -- if they fit, I'm going to be mostly buying... I can supplement with dresses I know I can't find ready made.  But there's a lot out there.  Perhaps I can find someone who will make custom ones for me.  For now, I'm on to my next prototype.  A copy of a world famous designer... any guesses?