We have a dress!

. . . Well as much of a dress as I'm going to do for now.

The mock-up skirt and bodice are attached, the zipper installed, and Hannah's tried it on.

The dress hasn't been hemmed, neither is she wearing any shoes, but there's plenty in the length to work with, as you can see.  There are still problems that need to be addressed by altering the bodice patterns again before cutting out the wedding dress:

 - the bodice needs to be shortened, the skirt starts too low.

 - the upper part of the center back needs to be taken in by about 1-inch on either side of the zipper.

On the other hand, the zipper fades into the skirt gathers quite nicely.  I was concerned about that because this skirt does not have a center back seam.  To make room for the zipper, I cut the center back about six inches and zig-zagged the edges.  I inserted the zipper so that it stops about two inches from the  bottom of the slit and stitched up the rest of the opening as if it was a dart, narrowing the seam allowance to nothing below the opening.  It lays well down the back, hidden among the gathers.

Hannah really likes the train in back, so that's good.

Even more is done.  We have ordered the lace for the hem of the dress and cape!

This is where we found it: http://www.britexfabrics.com/lace-trim/alencon/ivory-9-french-chantilly-galloon-lace.html

I can't begin to describe how we'll be using this.  Suffice it to say that we will be separating the motifs and using different parts in various ways.  More pictures later as we're working with the lace.

Now for a good night's sleep.  Ta!

~ Hannah's Mom