High Waisted Italian-Dress Under $50

So it is time to make another dress! Yay! And of course it has to have seahorses on it. I have decided on a high waisted Italian.

The Inspiration

Here are some portraits and drawings that I've found for inspiration. I would ideally like to make a coat to go over the top like picture 3, but we'll stick with the dress first. Once I found the inspiration, it was time to do some SHOPPING! Yay!

The Fabric
It was time for a trip up to JJ's in Redcliffe, and I found the below fabric. 5m of plain peach natural fabric (don't quite know what it is, but it burns natural) and 2m of Diamond peach natural fabric. The diamond fabric lends itself quite nicely to putting seahorses in the diamonds. There is always time for seahorses! The plain fabric was $2 per meter, and the diamond fabric was $4 per meter. Fabric for $18! I figured I probably won't use all 5m for the skirt, so I will use it for the lining of the bodice and sleeves. I will use the diamond fabric for the bodice and sleeves.

 I also bought the following accessories for the sleeves at JJ's:

The ribbon was 30 cents per meter (I bought 10m) and the braid was 75 cents per meter (I bought 5 meters). All in all the total cost for the pretties were $6.75. Total cost for the dress so far is $24.75. I also had to buy some Gutermann thread which was $4.50. Total cost now: $29.25.

While I was in Sydney, I bought some stiff denim for the interlining. The denim was $8 per meter, but I think I'll probably only need half a meter for the interlining, so that is an extra $4. Total dress cost: $33.25.

That is all the fabric done. Now for the seahorses! (obviously if you're not seahorse inclined, then you may choose some other pretty to put on your dress, or you may choose to go with the plain look)

I apologise for this blurry photo, but this is the best it gets with the iPhone.

Okay, so the seahorses were $15 for 250. I will probably need to count how many I put on the dress and sleeves to be accurate on the cost, so we'll come back to this one later. I've also decided to go with some pearls to break up the incredible seahorseness. I will use fake pearls (cause they're lighter and the seahorses are quite heavy). I bought a pack of pearls from Sunrise Imports (cheap & nasty importer of interesting goods, got the seahorses there as well). The pearls were $18 for 2500 (yes, you read right, 2500!). Really cheap! Once again, I need to check how many I use before I can estimate the cost.
 
The Construction
I have started with the bodice, and made a pattern. Well, it was more like a couple of patterns:

Here is the change from the first pattern to the last one (grey was first, blue was last):

 
I have since transferred the pattern onto the diamond fabric, and I decided on the pattern after playing with seahorses and pearls for 4 hours.
 
 
So, after I played with the pattern for hours, I realised that if I place the seahorses in this pattern, they would be crooked when it comes to the back. The diamonds aren't straight anymore! Nooooo! This means that I have to put seams under the arms to ensure that the back is straight. Not good, but hey, it will just take a little bit longer.
 
I decided to do the beading first, before I cut anything, so this is where I'm up to at the moment. I will write more as this project develops.

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2013 Update

Hi all,

Well, this has been a while in the making, but I have finally finished this project. It has sleeves too, and I have recently finished a blackworked chemise to go with it as the bodice is a bit low...