Pattern Making and Uncovering...

Well, the original patterns for the dress have varying degrees of success. Some pieces I had to completely re-imagine, others work by just blowing up the pattern pieces. For example, a sleeve that is originally portrayed like this...

Had to actually be cut like this...

...And it was figured out by blowing up the pattern, cutting it out in two pieces, and shuffling it around on a newspaper till everything lined up, tracing the arrangement, cutting it out and taping it to my arm, figuring out where the pattern was still wrong, then finally retracing it with further corrections. In this case at least you can see what they were getting at with the drawing but, definitely, it took a few tries before I figured out the real shape.

Other parts were more straightforward. All I had to do for the outer dress was figure out the waist size and blow up the pattern accordingly. It needed only one small adjustment from the paper test version (about a 1/2 more fabric over the top chest closure, and I did want to ensure a tight fit in the waist so I gave an extra wrap of masking tape round there.)

I wasn't sure about that weird turtle looking back piece, if it was meant to cover the whole back or not... I decided not, based on the picture of the finished dress. Its reason for being seems to relate to the principals of Rational Dress, where they want the "weight" of the fabric to be held in places where it's perceived the lady will have an easier time bearing a load (like on her back) instead of everything hanging from the hips, shoulders or chest.

Now it's just to decide if how fancy a fabric I want to make this gown from. I think I'll go with a black knit and some black and white cotton.