ballaro by "hand"

this is a step by step tutorial of my bolero jacket
for our wedding reception

this particular pattern i made with a paper grocery bag 

then proceeded with the following steps:

cut pattern out of muslin 

front view

back view (notice the princess seems)

pressed it

and pinned the under arms down

cut about 1 yard by 5.5" strip of fabric

ironed it - in half - long ways

pleated

and ironed

"measured" by sight to see if the pleat was wide enough

 pinned on the front

 and bottom

ironed the princess seams

then tried on the pattern.
soon as i knew this was going to work i abandoned the pattern all-together and started the "real thing"

 laid out pattern in pistachio dupioni silk

pinned

cut out

pretty

 then cut the pleats - all 3+ yards of it!

 pleated... 

 and pleated....

 and pleated!

picked out some matching thread

and sewed the pleats together

then sewed the pleats to the jacket

ironed

 pinned in antique lace trim to cover the inner seam

gave a finishing seam

which really held the pleats nicely and gave the jacket a professional finishing look.

and this is the completed jacket on wedding day

fit beautiful with my flower and gown! what do you think?