Transatlantic dressmaking

I need to make a dress for my bridesmaid, and as she lives the other side of the 'pond' this makes fittings awkward.. Therefore it was deemed necessary to make a mock-up that could be sent to the states and back (and back again if necessary) to get the fit right. Here is the progress i've made so far in making the mock-up, which i'm currently awaiting verdict on before starting the real thing.

The pattern is this one, but with several tweaks. We decided we didn't like the gathers at the waist, as they added too much bulk, and the gathering point is not hidden by the waistband. Our approach was to follow the pattern of pleats in the bodice but continue across the dress.

Please ignore all the basting on the bodice.. I didn't want to remove it yet, until I know if I need to adjust the bodice.

We also didn't much like the idea of the zip being in the back of the dress (given the back of bridesmaids is what people see most of the time) and Amy had the wonderful idea of moving the zip to the side. Hurrah for mock-ups as this allowed us to experiment quite a lot with the dress, in ways we never would have been able to leaping straight into the final product.. Plus I get to turn the mock-up into a party dress for myself! Win win ^_^

Much smarter back don't you think?

Once i've had instructions back on where the fit needs to be adjusted it will be full steam ahead on the real thing!