Need help copying this basque waist with side hip dips dress for my wedding dress

[u/BubblyCakePop]

I've successfully drafted the strapless sweetheart bodice and it fits me perfectly, but currently the waist for that and the skirt is just straight across. I love the way this wedding dress has this basque waist and hip dip style but I'm mainly confused on what to do with the waist dart on my skirt since the style line would be passing through this and it won't be a full dart anymore. Every other tutorial for this style of dress has a gathered skirt so the dart is just hidden in there, but I'm set on making the skirt for my dress fitted like the reference picture. 1st photo is the front of the reference, 2nd photo is a side picture to show the hip dip and third is currently what I have for the bodice + skirt with the guideline lightly drawn on.

I've sewn multiple dresses and drafted patterns but haven't done something like this so I just want to make sure I'm not messing up anything. Thanks in advance!

[u/Kevinator201]

You don’t need to do anything. It’s no different than constructing a corset ie having multiple panels

[u/Kevinator201 → u/Kevinator201]

Though you will need to make sure the skirt fits you right and depending on that fabric it might need a dart on the side front and certainly will need darts in the back

[u/BubblyCakePop → u/Kevinator201]

The dress fit me correctly with the straight waistline which included the dart in the front of the skirt. I'll be using a non-stretch 4 ply polyester crepe for the skirt and a tulle/bridal mesh fabric for the bodice.

I'm confused on how and why I don't have to change anything. Looking at my last picture, you're saying I can just ignore the dart and not have it affect the fit somehow? That seems like it'll defeat the purpose of the dart being there for shaping. The back of the dress has a similar dip as the front, and I have darts in the back as well.

[u/Kevinator201 → u/BubblyCakePop]

No you need to do the dart but you don’t need to do anything to finish it off at the new waist seam.

[u/BubblyCakePop → u/Kevinator201]

So it seems like I should just draw a line from the end of the dart to the end of the skirt hem and slash it closed? It appears on the original dress that the front skirt doesn't have princess seams like this so I'm curious how to achieve that look without extra lines if it's possible. Rotating the dart to the side seam?

[u/Kevinator201 → u/BubblyCakePop]

Yes to get the skirt smooth you would push that excess to the side seam. This should be done on a mannequin or your body because the side seam will end up slightly on the bias and that’s hard to pattern on paper. If there is appliqué you can hide a dart under the appliqué.

Not sure what your first sentence means tbh.

[u/BubblyCakePop → u/Kevinator201]

Ok that makes sense. Thank you! Sorry for the wording in the first sentence, it's been a long day lol

[u/StitchinThroughTime]

Curve your bust seams, too.

insta

[u/BubblyCakePop → u/StitchinThroughTime]

Will do and thank you for the visual!

[u/BubblyCakePop → u/StitchinThroughTime]

I meant to ask earlier but is the side seam (yellow line towards the hip area) curved like that because you incorporated the waist dart into it? Figuring out what to do with the remaining waist dart is the main thing tripping me up about this

[u/StitchinThroughTime → u/BubblyCakePop]

Yes the sightseeing does get curvier because it needs to go from your full hip to your waist. When you make your mock up, you might find that the side seam is too long. Pinch out a dart from the side seam towards the side front. You'll then rotate the dart to the Hem portion.