The lacing!

I’d hit a wall on my Venetian mourning gown when I realized that, due to using a smaller and more squishy cording for lacing than on my previous gowns, my results weren’t what I’d experienced previously with this technique. Part of what I’m working on is documenting this different way that I create the ladder lacing using offset lacing rings, but this time, they weren’t successfully creating the parallel ladder lacing, which is the *entire* goal.

But, unexpected results just mean a learning opportunity, right? So I pivoted and figured out a good alternate way of determining placement, rather than basic math that wasn’t taking the cord’s *squish* factor into account.

First, I put the bodice with my first attempt at the lacing still in place around a pillow inside out. After I pinned it in place to keep things from shifting, I put a lined notepad between the pillow and the lacing so I could see where the lacing rungs were landing compared to the goal. I then removed the stitching from a ring I felt needed relocating, shifted it until the lacing was level, and then stitched it down before moving on to the next one that needed adjusting.

This was added steps, but might be the makings of a better starting point for this method in the future!

The first two pictures are showing the inside of the bodice. The last pic is the current state of it while quickly trying it on tonight and I think I’m finally ready to move on to the skirt!