help with work dress

[mlsdesigns]

okey dokey, i need some advice from my costuming peeps, the only people who understand me :)
i'm working on the dress for 'gwendolen', my concept is she's the sophisticated rich girl, and her dress is a peachy coloured satin (an old '80s ball gown, ick!) with lace and frills all over!
i did a design, which i meant to scan and totally forgot, useless me :) anyway, my problem is deciding what to do with the sleeves and bodice.
i have 2 little girl's dresses, bridesmaids i think, in a PERFECTLY matching peach and cream striped satin, but there's not quite as much fabric as i was hoping, so i can't make the sleeves AND bodice from it, so i have another plan :) (cunning or not, we've yet to decide, any black adder fans out there?!?) anyway, there are pictures this way,

okay, so bear in mind this is all pinned on! just to give an idea of finished shape etc! the sleeve will be a big puff of the satin, with long under sleeves in the lace. the yoke will have a lace frill where it meets the bodice, and a high collar. the bodice will be pouched over the waistband, which will have a shaped belt in the darker peach velvet. the skirt will have a frill at the hem, probably topped with a small frill made of the lace. now, does it look okay if the only stripe is the sleeve puffs?
here's a closeup with my hand behind the lace, not that the mannequin cover is much paler, but it made me feel useful :)

i might have just enough stripe to do a frill round the yoke, instead of the lace? i don't think i'll have enough plain peach to do the puffed sleeves, so it has to be the striped, but i think the match is so good, and it's a stage play, that it'll work as it is? what do you guys think? help me :D
do you want to know what it was like when i started?!

i forgot to take a pic of the child's dresses, but i'll get one tomorrow, the stripe is the top layer of the frilly frilly skirts!

so, pleasetell me what i'm doing is ok! i was hoping i'd get this dress done, or at least, very nearly, this week, we're going to scotland next week, and i don't want my boss to worry, if she sees how fast i do this dress, she won't worry about the others, i hope!
in my sewing, i did cut out mummy's bodice today, and it's pinned ready to sew, so some progress at least has been made! i think i might work on my regency drop front though next week, i can do it all by hand, whereas mummy's ballgown will need more machine sewing. or i might make her red flannel petticoat, i can do that by hand without going mad :)

Comments

[girliegirl32786.livejournal.com]

Now that is a revamp! Do you have enough of the stripe to use it maybe on the center piece of the bodice? I think it needs something to tie the stripe in with the rest of the dress. Maybe trimmings?

[mlsdesigns.livejournal.com]

i managed to sqeeze the sleevs out, and have enough left to make the bodice from the stripe too, the front will be chevronned down the centre, emphasising the pouch nicely. now i think it's going to look more logical! thank you :)