First thing that needed to go were the bust gathers. The tabard (what I call the portion that hangs from the bustline) has two bust darts that angle into the vertical seams of the inset rectangle. Instead of fiddling with my 4001 muslin to get my pinched in darts right with the rest of the tabard, I eventually switched to the bodice piece of New Look 6860. Since it already has a bust dart in almost the right spot, it was just a matter of changing the angle. To do so, I figured out where I wanted the dart to end, and drew a line from the tip of the existing dart to that point on a tissue paper copy of the original bodice pattern piece. I then folded the existing dart and taped it in place. After cutting along the line I drewn, I flattened everything out again. Voila! The shape of my new dart.

Next thing to be changed were the skirt darts. This was much easier to do since there is a shaped piece in Sheltay's skirt. I pinned my the pieces of my muslin together along the side seams and to the original modified bodice piece (with my pinched in darts) from the side seams to the point where the gathers originally were, right above the skirt darts. Then I pinched the excess fabric out down the center front of the skirt. After figuring out how high to make the side slits, I drew in my diagonal seams, trying to keep them the same angle as the Visual Dictionary image. What was left of the pinched out fabric at the top became a short vertical seam, giving me two smaller, upside-down almost triangles and one larger triangular piece for the skirt bottom. I extended the top edge of the skirt a little higher than the empire waist seam, so no gaping where the tabard joins the dress would occur later .

The tabbard was the hardest part to draft. Getting the shape and length wasn't what was tricky—it was those darn vertical seams. (It was at this pointed that I actually turned to New Look 6860; while my pinched in darts-instead-of-gathers worked fine on their own, they didn't play well with other alterations.) What finally worked for me was placing the center of my bodice piece a few inches from the folded edge of my muslin material and pinching out and/or folding up sections of material until it hung properly on Margaret, my dress form. My next step was to cut out the rectangular insert. It's hard to tell from the Visual Dictionary if it's an actual rectangle or just two vertical darts. I was having a hard time making my darts behave, so I opted for the insert like the concept art shows.

To make a "real" pattern piece out of it, I flattened it out, ignored all pinched in extra bits, made it as symmetrical as possible, added seam allowances, and traced it onto Pellon Tru-Grid. I also did the same thing for the insert, using the piece I chopped out.

Each pattern piece got cut out of fabric at least twice—once from creamy white crepe, once from a sheer fabric with wave-like crinkles. I used approximately 6 yards of crepe, and most of the 3.63 yards of sheer fabric (which happened to be both 54" wide and all Golden D'or had at the time). The tabard got cut out of crepe twice, the second time for a lining but omitting the bodice portion a few inches above where the empire waistline would have been on McCall's 4001. Most of the tabard piece got cut out of still interfacing as well. For a facing, my altered 6860 bodice part (after I changed the dart, but before the rest of the tabard details were added) got duplicated in crepe along with everything else.

Piece assembly was rather straightforward. I treated the crepe and sheer layers as if they were one piece. (Machine basting them together around the edges helped, especially as the sheer liked to stretch and shift.) Back pieces (top & bottom) attached and darts sewn in place. One small skirt triangle sewn to the main skirt piece, then the other one attached. The rectangle inserted into the tabard, then the main piece sandwiched between interfacing and lining and the bottom edge sewn all the way around. Facing attached to the neckline.

Once all of the main sections were assembled, it was time to put them together. First of all, I matched up the tabard side seams with the side seams on the skirt piece. At about the same point as the empire seam on the back sections, I sewed the lining across the skirt piece to help keep the tabard attached to the dress (and again, to prevent gaping). With the side seams of the front pieces still lined up, I added the back sections, making sure everything was carefully lined up since the side seams on my muslin had been adjusted to fit me exactly. And we're back to straightforward assembly, just sewing up the sides from the armholes to the slits.

Now, the fiddly bits that aren't my favorite part of sewing. Invisible zipper (my favorite type) down the back seam. To finish off the armholes, I used my new favorite trick learned from the Smoldering Temptress bodice: bias tape. I also used hem binding to make the hems neat and clean.