The plan

Sew the front bands right side together , iron the band with the seam underneath. Stitch in the ditch and finish your front bands

Stay stitch top and bottom and then sew the bottoms of the bands together

I need a lining so I cut it out to the pattern of my thin fabric – first the armholes -match them exactly with plenty of pins, then flip it over and understitch

Tack rest of lining to the cloth – get the gathering stitches and tack to the lining and prepare to add yoke in

Yoke is in, add some gotapatti lace

Now add lining to back- finish the arms holes and just tack down the others beyond the hemline

Join the 2 together at the shoulders and sides -leave seam allowances at the bottom- the skirt lining will be more of a slip

Now make the collar- first I form the collar, iron the bands underneath

Now pin it up and baste in place

See the collar in and then top stitch the edges

Add a lower frill – use gather stitches and baste – it take a while

Sew the last frill in- join the pieces, add 2 gathering stitches above and below the seam line

Add lower frill, add lace to edges – now figure out how long to keep the skirt lining – 18 inches seems good

Ok this turned out cute

The aim is to modify this to give a saree appearance with pleats on the left shoulder front and back. Also I don’t like the peplum fold.

Step 1- cut out pattern for size 14

Now pin up the corner you don’t want pleats in and cut the muslin you are practicing on

Keep one side of the back the same, add pleats to the other side

Ok that worked some – here is the Muslin mockup

But I’m going to try the full sleeve version. I have a 1 m corduroy fabric – let’s see if I can cut a full sleeve blouse from that

Transfer the markings

Sew the pleats and tack them to the inside – edge finish the tops with a zigzag stitch

Add back facing , understitch the edges and sew the shoulders and sides

Add the peplum – sew it together and then you will need some gathers. I modified the peplum to add 2 inches – half inch to each side. My waist is larger than the 1970s ladies

Add the zipper – make it invisible , tack down the back facings after . Add a label. Also then wish you had a serger for prettier edges

Now the hands- sew the edges together. I do the gathering stitches in a contrasting color. For rhe sleeves, turn in 7/8 inches, press under slightly and sew to form a 3/8 inch so so casing channel for elastic

Making casing , feed elastic in, sew together and close casing- you have an elastic sleeve

This one worked well! It’s a keeper