I have finished (mostly) the strapless bodice of my dearest friend, Lady Taylor. This is the bodice of her Celtic Ensemble. To refresh your memory, below is the previous construction notes, which I will then add my final comments.

"Lady Taylor's CE strappless bodice is in the midst of construction. I used the same pattern as for my corset (McCall's #4861), but view A. Again there were some modifications. I eliminated the princess seams as before, but left the side lacing for reasons of adjustability (she lives an hour away so I didn't feel I could accuralty gage how much to alter it). As this is a bodice and not a corset, I have opted to leave the fashion fabric exterior off until the "corsety insides" are finished, then apply the pretty sueded material neatly to it at the end. What you see below is the remaining 3 layers. Like my corset, the innermost layers are trigger poplin. The lining is a tan twill, which is actually the side shown in the picture. The plan is to bone it lightly with duct ties and finish the edges with brown bias tape, just like I did above, then fit the exterior fabric and secure by stitching in the ditch at the seams and folding a seam allowance in flush with the bias tape edge and sewing around the edge.
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So now that your memory is refreshed, here is how the final product was accomplished. I boned it with duct ties, as originally intended, and finished off the edges with bias tape exactly as I had with my corset. Fortunately, I was able to machine sew the tape this time, for the most part... I did hand stitch the corners, as it just seemed simpler that way. I used the finished 'corsety' pieces to cut the pretty sueded fashion fabric with a generous seam allowance, and then proceeded to iron and pin the fashion fabric into the correct shape to fit the exterior of the 'corsety' pieces. I took the pinned fashion fabric and edge stitched all the way around, then lined it up with the 'corsety' piece and pinned it just enough to hold it still. I sewed the two pieces together running the machine down alongside the slanted bones to the right and left of center and down alongside the bones where the grommets go. I followed the same type of idea with the other two pieces that make up the back. I discovered that this held the fabric well enough I didn't need to sew all the way around all the edges like I had initially thought. It appears as though once it is laced on, the fashion fabric will stretch just the slightest bit and lay very smoothly without having to edge stitch the entire project. Instead, I opted to hand sew the edges along the curved places, hiding the stitches in the line of the edge stitching from earlier so it is not readily visible (and looks oh so fabulous!) so that they will not gap in any way and I am assured they will look the way I want.

Now I will explain why I say 'mostly' in my descriptions of its completeness. See, I want this grommet press thing that I found on ebay, but I can't afford to purchase it at the moment, so this bodice is as complete as I am able to do without giving myself the multiple migraines I got while I was pounding grommets on my corset. All there is left to do is punch and set the grommets once I am able to get my tool to do so. For the purposes of moving on to the next item of garb on my list, I am calling it finished (mostly) for the time being...

Next on the To Do List is the green overdress and underskirt with plaid forepart for my own Celtic Ensemble. After that I plan to begin on the Italian style gown of our beloved sister, Lady Stephanie.