Daenerys Season 3 Blue Dress Part 2

Once the mockup was done, I cut out the lining pieces from a linen-type of material, then pinned them over a dress form to see what they looked like. I borrowed this form from my mum, and it was vital for this project. I then cut out the pieces from the shiny blue material (some polyester material, as I found it in the furnishing section). 

I overlocked all the pieces together, except for the back. This was because I wanted to make the back circle very smooth so there would be no raw edges. I used Addie Marie's tutorial and it worked brilliantly.

The next step was adding the decorative stitches on the dress skirt. In the photos they look like running stitches, but it was hard to be certain. I used a longer stitch on my sewing machine and sewed many straight lines in a darker blue thread. This technique also had the benefit of firmly attaching the lining and outer layer together, and creating a nice texture. Pippa cat helped by looking pretty.

 I then covered the hem with bias tape, and also turned over the top edge of the skirt pieces and sewed it down. One skirt piece is attached to the bodice, and the other is completely separate, and is held round my waist with snaps. 

 The next step was sewing the darts. The darts I initially drafted were not accurate, so instead I pinched the darts and pinned them until they looked right, then basted and sewed them. There are no darts in the back, only in the front.

 Once the main dress was finished, I had to make the cross over straps in the front. This meant a lot of smocking. It took about 2 or 3 days to finish all the smocking just for these pieces. I followed Michelle Carragher's tutorial, and it worked beautifully
http://www.michelecarragherembroidery.com/How-to-create-dragonscale(2880143).htm

I cut out 4 cross over pieces. I added interfacing to 2 of them, but I didn't need to, as the smocking makes the fabric stiffer. I hand-sewed the smocking to the non interfaced pieces, then faced them right sides together with the interfaced pieces, sewed, and turned them right sides out. I actually advise not adding smocking near the seam allowance, as this is bulky and it will be difficult to close if you use an invisible zip.

My cats "helped".

I then added the sleeves. They stick out  bit too much and are a little too stuff, but look quite nice.

I made two versions of Daenerys' dragon claw necklace. One was made from a random pendant I had. I painted the top with gold acrylic, then blended the gold into the black.

 The other was made from a shell. I painted it, and filled the middle hollow with hot glue and pushed a loop of cord into the glue. This is quite fragile and a bit too small, but still looks good.