The Bombshell Dress: Construction Details

I'm headed to Costa Rica for a tropical vacation with my family! Always looking for an excuse to sew something fancy, this seemed like the perfect time to finally tackle the Bombshell Dress. I have been sewing the dress through the Craftsy class (now retired), but the pattern is a BurdaStyle and still available. I actually took the muslin for the Bombshell with me to Gertie's Sewing retreat last year.

I had originally planned to sew a bustier out of an eyeglasses print, but my plans were thwarted when I discovered the print was off grain. There are so many seam lines on the bodice of this pattern, I just couldn't bring myself to use it! I let the project sit on the shelf for awhile, and am now sewing it using a lovely cotton fabric I got in Hawaii a few years ago (aren't I exotic?). Here's the shell of the Bombshell on my dressform, Dolly, before any of the guts or zipper were put in. 

All Those Little Details

It's been a real joy and challenge working on it so far, and I'm eager to see the finished result. There are so many interesting construction details for this pattern when making it through the Craftsy class. For starters, each bodice piece is underlined, and handbasted to the fashion fabric. This is great, because it allows you to mark up your pattern pieces with no fear of ruining your fashion fabric, and you've got something to anchor hand stitches to. 

All that marking up is very necessary on this pattern. It's hard to tell up from down! I accidentally marked the arrows wrong on my bottom bust pieces, and ended up spending a whole day just trying to figure out why I couldn't get my bust cups to fit! Here we are, half way through with one cup properly installed. 

Once I assembled the bodice with the fashion fabric, I sewed a set of cups out of cotton batting to act as a layer of support. Those are then handstitched into the cup. I also added a 1/4" piece of twill tape at the top of the cup, which when eased, gets it to curve more to your body. 

Next, I handstitched a piece of selvedge into the sweatheart neckline for stability, and then catchstitched down the facing of the bodice. I'll be doing the same to the lining when it's all done, and then hand stitching it into the dress. 

To provide extra support, I'm also using boning in the lining. The class walks you through the placement of all the channels, which you can see in progress here. 

That boning was serious business. I first tried using a pair of regular wire cutters, and those literally broke in half after a few attempts. I ended up using bolt cutters, and that worked like a charm to cut the boning to the right length. Then I took a pair of pliers and squeezed on these little caps to keep it from poking you, before inserting the boning into channels I'd stitched into place. It looks absolutely lovely. I almost wish it was showing on the outside! 

The skirt is fairly straightforward. The sarong part is gathered up before you attach it to the bodice. I finished the seams by turning under and stitching, which was the recommended method in the class. I don't think I've ever made a dress with so many finishing touches!

Whew! This is some dress, huh? Looking at it laid out like this, I can hardly believe all I've done! I can't wait romp about the beaches of Costa Rica in it!