A few weeks ago, I posted about how I was starting to work on my Marvelous Mrs. Maisel costume recreation. The dress in question was seen in the Miami After Dark episode, and it worn when Lenny Bruce takes Midge to the show and then they go dancing.

I fell hard for this dress the second it hit the screen, and immediately had to think about how I was going to recreate it. The original idea had been to make it for my birthday celebration in MARCH, but with Frozen and all, I never really had time.

Well, it’s now nearly October and I still haven’t finished it. However, yesterday I realized I had nothing scheduled for the blog today, and so I thought a progress post was in order!

Over the summer, I was able to get my fabric dyed and ready to go. To read more about that adventure, click here. I took a navy and white fabric and turned it into a pretty close match.

Then it was time to trace out the pattern pieces for the bodice. I used the above Simplicity pattern but knew I was going to modify the straps quite a bit. You can see my proposed plan on the line drawing in the upper left. It was also at this point that I decided to trace two sizes so I could figure out which one worked better for me.

I put together a Muslim using some leftover stretch cotton I had, as it was a similar weight to the main project fabric. I manipulated the strap pieces (no pictures of that process) and got a decent mock up make. At this point I decided I wanted the straps to be a little narrower at the shoulder, so I went back in and modified the piece a little more.

At this point I felt confident to cut into the good stuff and put the bodice together. It went together very easily, with simple seams. I fussed over the chiffon straps for a while, as they needed to be French seamed and lined. It was tedious work but they came out decent in the end. I did run into a problem when I attached the lining.

I thought I had marked the center point of this really and lined up the straps but it came out really wonky and off. That meant going back and unpicking and trying again but it was still difficult to center it just right.

I also decided that I didn’t love the size of the straps again, and that I also wanted them to be slightly lighter in color, so I ordered new chiffon.

In the meantime, I got to work on the skirt. I used Sew Over It’s Full Circle Skirt as I didn’t feel there was enough fullness to the skirt on the original pattern.

The skirt itself was easy-peasy, and went together very quickly. I double checked it to make sure it fit into the bodice, but I have yet to attach it at the time of this writing.

Currently this project is stalled in “I don’t want to deal with the chiffon” mode! However I also really, really want to finish it so I may have to hunker down and get it done next week after work. I know that all it needs is a few days of me focusing on it, but you would not believe how much focus work needs right now, and it drains me by the time I get home!

Still, it would be fun to finally finish this dress and have a fabulous photo shoot! Hopefully the next time I post about it, it will be just that!