First off, let me say I chickened out. Originally, I had set out to make the bodice of Taylor's costume in black pleather, but when I found out that I was in a time crunch (i.e. make a costume in under a week) I decided that I wasn't prepared to work with such a temperamental fabric in a short amount of time. Instead, I opted for a black 'snakeskin' print faux suede - it was softer, more friendly to work with, and would still work work great with the costume.

Before cutting into the fabric, I checked the pattern envelope to see the finished size. According to Taylor's measurements she falls into a size 14, the finished bodice was going to be huge so I decided on going down one to a 12. After two days of sewing, I had this (photo on the left):

A huge bodice! Even though we went down one size, I easily could have gotten away with making a 10 and have this fit. I had no idea that the finished garment would be so large! Taylor was extremely unhappy with the look as well, so I altered it - taking off 1 1/2 inches (at least) on both sides to get the photo on the right. We also decided to omit the ragged look to the bottom edge so I also cut off much of the excess in this area.

I'll have to leave you in suspense as to the rest of the costume.... we're headed out to a wedding on Saturday so there won't be a post over the weekend. I promise when I get back, I'll have lots of goodies to share - the rest of the costume, a tutorial, wedding pictures, new fabric, and a package or two! In the mean time, have a great weekend and see you all on Monday!