eclair pt. 3: finished!

here, finally, is my finished eclair! i wore this for easter and i am very pleased with how it turned out. the bodice fitting threw me for a loop initially. i had to muslin it about three times before getting a good fit! it’s all due to the position of the princess seams and how they narrow to the center at the waist. while i love this feature, i certainly scratched my head a bit as i tried to work the bodice down to my bust size.

all in all, i got a fit that i am very happy with. i can stand, sit and breathe without being uncomfortable. always a good thing. to achieve this, i had to lengthen the bodice by about 1 1/2″. part of this is due to me hiking the bodice up because i have a fairly high bust (and needed a church appropriate neckline). but also i’m on the tall side (5′ 8″) and needed the bodice to hit below the ribcage. you know, for breathing purposes. i also added 1″ to the length of the skirt, plus did a tiny rolled hem. and truth be told, it wouldn’t hurt to have added another inch in length.

this skirt is huge, by the way. i have to confess i didn’t realize it was a full circle skirt until i had it on and immediately saw it’s twirling possibilities. so that’s why it took so long to hem this thing…

so here’s the rundown—


my shell fabric is a cotton lawn, bordering on voile, and the contrast ties are a poly chiffon. i underlined the bodice with muslin that i added fusible to. i didn’t want any fusible attached to the shell fabric and found this a really great compromise. i achieved the structure needed without the downsides of fusible possibly bubbling or causing weird creases or wrinkles on the bodice later down the road.

sorry, weird smirk on my face here… it just happened to be the picture that best showed off how the skirt hangs.

i fully lined the dress with a lightweight poly lining to which i added boning and a waist stay. it is amazing how much the waist stay does! it’s such a simple addition and really anchors the bodice in place without being uncomfortable. seriously, it only took about fifteen minutes to do this. and darn it all, i forgot to take pics as i put it in. next time!

i also added some tiny spaghetti straps, crossed in the back. these don’t add anything structural, i just feel more comfortable with them there. also folks, this dress needs some hanging loops. if i hung it by the straps, they would stretch completely out of shape. and if you don’t add straps… well you’re probably gonna want to hang it up somehow!

as a side note, i just wanted to say thanks to all the lovely comments on my daughter’s pajama pants. who knew all us fancy dressmaking gals would get so inspired by pj’s?


eclair pt. 1: a quick overview
eclair pt. 2: pockets!


—lisa g