My main goal with this dress right now is to combine the top and bottom pieces into one solid pattern. I pinned the top front and bottom front pieces together then removed all of the baste stitching. After ironing out the pinned pattern pieces, I pinned them to muslin. I cut out two panels from the muslin for the front and back panels. The solid pattern looks very obvious and I’m assuming that there is an easier way to do this eliminating a few steps for future reference.

After cutting out the pieces, I strategically pinned them together on the dress form. It worked! The two solid panels work just as well as when it was four pieces (top, bottom, front and back). I started to baste stitch the top and shoulder seams and will finish the rest tomorrow for a final fitting. Then it’s on to fabric shopping!