Dress Mock-Up Stage 1

Yes, Sak and I are attempting to make my wedding dress. Yes, we know they possibility of it looking like a bad cosplay outfit is high. But I'll tell you why we're going to try it:

1. We're cheap. Wedding dresses are expensive, and I'm not paying exorbitant amounts for a dress I'll only wear for a few hours. We're using muslin for the trial run, and if all goes well, we'll invest in some cheap white muslin. Why didn't I get white muslin to begin with? Well, I didn't know they made it, otherwise I totally would have. But never fear, I have big plans for the trial dress. It can be used at renaissance fairs, maker faire, and of course, some kind of cosplay I'm sure.
   
2. I don't want to be shiny. Since I'm already going to be shiny from sweating in the hot Hawaii sun, I don't need any help from the dress.
   
3. We're DIY-fiends. When we see something cool looking, our first thought is always, "how can we make that?" We love a good puzzle.

So, before I reveal the pictures - here's the pattern we're using for the skirt. We are going to redesign the top, since I'm not 100% comfortable with a completely sleeveless look.

(source)

Like any pattern, we began by reading the directions. We cut out the pattern pieces, lined them up with the fabric, and used the guides to help us cut the correct pieces.
Finding a place to put the easily-ripped pattern paper was tough though. I don't think Sak hanging up our highly flammable pattern paper to our incandescent chandelier was such a good idea...
Half the skirt laid out.. Funny thing, this pattern. It had an error! One of the pattern pieces was several inches too wide, and several inches too short. Luckily, we could put our engineering degrees to the test, using the curvature of the correct parts of the skirt to figure out which piece had the error, and what it was supposed to look like. But, before I claim victory on this one, I should point out we bought the wrong sized (and recalled) pattern in the first place. I didn't bother to check the measurement sizes when I picked up the envelope. I simply saw the 6-8-10-12 on the package, and assumed it would fit me, since I'm in that range. Unfortunately, patterns are printed in something like 1920's measurements, so a 2009 size 8 is really like a 1920 size 18. But once again, we modified the pattern by adding extra paper, and it worked out just fine! And as a note to future pattern-users, please check online first to make sure there are no existing problems with your chosen design. It will save many headaches!

Tah-dah!

This is the outer-most layer of the dress, there are two other layers that haven't been tacked together yet. Then, once all three layers are in, we can do the pick-ups that give the skirt its "posh-flair", haha.

Anyone else use a pattern for their dress or other wedding day gear?