A bit of motherly advice

Before I allowed mother in the room, I told her she had to walk in and tell me her first impressions.

She stood in the doorway, did a quick intake of breath and said 'that's beautiful'!

Then I made her tell me what it needed.  Very quickly she that it needed lightening (not the weather type I hasten to add).

The result was a peplum with a row of gold ribbon and braid to match the bertha and bows to give that well known 'Belle' look without the ruffles all the way up the skirt.

She also decided I needed the beads on the bodice front.  So being the dutiful daughter that I am, I added the peplum and have started on more beads which are, so far, at the top of the bodice front if you look carefully.

The peplum was made using the fabric cut from the edge of the fabric to make the underskirt the right length and pleated to the match the size of the waistband.  I haven't yet sewed it to the waistband and if you look carefully you can see where it is pinned on at the side.  The braid and ribbon was put round and I beaded the braid to match the top.  As the skirt is still on a still too small dummy, I havent attached the bows yet, I need to measure it all out properly so they are in the right place when the dress is worn, but you get the idea!

Step two was to send a pic of this to younger daughter who is the Belle obsessive.  Her reaction?  

"Is this for the panto :( "

Note the unhappy not smiley face!  This means she likes it and is disappointed it is not for her.

I put her mind at rest by telling her I had left out many of the 'real' Belle features and of course the fabric is horrible and her wedding dress would be pure silk.  This placated her and left me happy that the biggest critic of a Belle dress had approved it!

I now have many more hours of beading before the dress is finished but I am on the home straight.  

This has truly been a labour of love and has taken far longer than any other costume I have made...but it had to be done!