Sigh. After spending basically the entire month of March handsewing the bodice with nice invisible stitches, the quality just was not there. Especially around curves, the strips gaped and you could see the stitches underneath. Not pretty.
I had hoped it would go away with excessive steam pressing, but no. It did get better (this is after), but not enough. So, machine top-stitching it was.
Luckily, I really like the way it looks. I debated between subtle top-stitching ("invisible" thread that is basically fishing line) or blatant top-stitching with sparkly metallic thread. I liked the idea of the sparkly - make a bug into a feature and embrace the top-stitching. Unfortunately, the way the tread sewed on my machine wasn't great, and I also think it was just a touch too blatant. I've struggled throughout the process to not just throw more and more design details at this dress. The weaving design is complex enough and can stand on its own, adding more and more will just detract from its elegance. So, invisible thread it is.
I actually really like the way the invisible thread looks with the topstitching - you can tell that it's there, but you don't really see the thread, just its imprint, so it ends up looking like the strips have slightly scalloped edges. By emphasizing the edges of the strips just a little bit, it really makes the design pop.
So all in all, while I'm frustrated to have spend so long on handwork that ended up just functioning as basting, I'm happy with the end product. I think that's a lesson I need to remember - just because you invested a lot of effort into something doesn't mean that's the way it should be.
Now if I can just get it to not look quite so wrinkly after pressing...
