I can't even tell you how many days passed and how many curses were uttered in getting this from a mock-up of this overlay (image one) to a mostly functional bodice (image two).
It is just pleated, right? Well, no, it is also gathered and the combination makes things tricky...
Here you can see the pattern on tracing paper pinned to the fabric I'm using as an overlay, I sewed through each line that is marked, removed the paper, and used those lines of stitching as a guide for creasing and pressing the fabric.
The result is...very flat. Even flatter than my chest (impressive) which means it won't sit nicely at all. To form it to the bust the sides have to be gathered, not pleated--but I wanted to keep the definition of the pleats.
So I switched to pleats that were only 1/2" deep, then gathered in-between each one...I also switched fabrics and added some trim to the edge of each box pleat, because without it the detail of the pleats was sort of getting lost in the sheen of the fabric.
Much better! Then the entire edge was gathered down to match the measurement of the lining and the front seam was sewn.
This shows it in this state, on the dress form, resembling that mockup it all started with. But it is shinier (that is the fabric) and has more character (that is the cursing).
Some other stuff happened (lining, straps, etc.) to get it to the stage seen on the right but that is to be explained on another day!












