A curvy figure is needed, why how voluptuous!

The past two days have been dedicated to experimentation and perfecting the silhouette of my actress. The designer has stated she would like the Wife of Bath to have a robust bottom, stomach and bust. In order to achieve this I have decided to try making stomach pads and bottom pads as well as pad out a bikini in a size 32G to see if i can create the appropriate silhouette.

Stomach pad:

Firstly using myself as an example I tried experimenting with a bread plate, dessert plate, saucer and a dinner plate over my own stomach to see which dimensions would work most effectively as a stomach pad. I discovered that the dinner plate is approximately 27cm in diameter and fits over the stomach without bulging over the sides. Below are the steps I used to experiment making the stomach pad.

To begin with make sure the calico is ironed and flat

1. Measure the diameter of the dinner plate to see if its an appropriate size to work with
2. Draw around the plate onto calico making sure the calico is flat with no lumps in the fabric. 
3. Cut around the circle
4. Place the circle onto another piece of calico and repeat step three
5. Pin the two circles together
6. Cut out two pieces of 5cm width and 40cm length calico
7. Fold the calico in half lengthways to create a strap
8. Sew closed remembering to keep one end open to fold inside out
9. Fold the strap inside out, iron and then slip stitch the end shut
10. Trap the straps between the circle so it forms a sandwich with the ends facing inwards 
11. Using a sewing machine sew the the two circles together (1cm seam allowance) leaving a hole at the bottom to turn the fabric inside out
12. Turn the fabric inside out through the hole
13. Place wadding into the hole stuffing the pad until you see sufficient 
14. Slip stitch the hole closed making sure that no wadding will fall out

27cm diameter stomach pad

37cm diameter stomach pad

To experiment further I have decided to try adding another 10cm to the diameter to see if it would add make my actress look more rounded or pregnant. Following the same steps one-fourteen as above I added 5cm around the entire circle increasing the diameter of the stomach pad.

I found that by adding the extra 10cm in diameter made the pad quite large and rounded rather than blending with the bodies natural shape meaning it would make the actress look more pregnant than rounded, as tested on one of my classmates Andy (see below). After debating the shape of the Wife of Bath with others within the team and the lecturers it has been decided that we may be able to create the body shape by adding pleats and ruffles to the skirt as well as rouching the sides of the tunic to create a more voluptuous figure

Padding the Bust:

The director has asked that the Wife of Bath is made quite busty and voluptuous as her character is quite sexual. It has been decided that we shall boost the actresses bust up to a 36 G. to see if the cup size shall work I shall be using a bikini top with bra straps  I understand it is three back sizes to small however for experimentation purposes it shall work until an appropriate bra has been sourced. using wadding of 2mm thickness I padded out the bust creating chicken fillet shapes which for the performance may be sewn into the bra. I tried two degrees of padding, the first being a rounded, light padding which only boosted the shape a small amount and would not hold the actual shape needed under the weight of calico. The second being heavily padded and creating larger chicken fillet shapes which can be decreased within the fitting.   The second style seemed to work best on the mannequin, however until the fitting I shall not know if it will be best for the actress. Once the bra is tried on the actress and the padding added we shall know the  amount needing to be sewn in. Below is the two styles of padding and a third being a close up of the second style to determine the curve size presented for future reference when making the final garment.

Style two: Heavy padding
with added chicken fillets made of wadding

Style one: Light rounded padding

Close up of style two