Ideas for the lace overlay on the bodice

See the photo of the back of this dress on the bottom right?

The lace is actually sewn INTO the back of the dress...probably installed the same time as the loops for the laces.

I thought perhaps I could copy this construction method to anchor my lace overlay for the bodice so you can still see the laces, but guess what?  I had a chicken and the egg moment and I installed the loops already!  (It went a little something like this in my head:  Don't install the loops until you have the lace overlay done.  Oh, I need to be WEARING the bodice so Denise and I can drape and pin-fit it to me.  Ok, let's install those loops so I can lace up the bodice and wear it when Denise gets here.) 

I texted Denise a photo of the loops installed on the bodice--very proud.  Her response, "Uh, you weren't supposed to install those until we have the lace overlay done."  DOH!!!

Sigh...oh well.  Denise thinks we can still tack the overlay to the bodice in such a way that it will look like I sewed it into the bodice where the loops/laces are installed...we will see!!!

The goal is to end up with something that looks like this from the front, but doesn't obscure the lacing detail in the back.  This lace overlay is constructed like a short shirt, and it has a hidden zipper under the armpit to allow you to get it on and off.  Because it's constructed like a shirt, it has a full back panel of lace, which would cover up my ribbon lacing design on my dress.

This is actually something you can BUY on Etsy, but the gal didn't have enough lace to make one for me and I didn't like the lace she counter offered.  It was about $300.  It's beautiful, but I thought I could pull one together for less.

It may be several weeks before I get back to blogging about this--I have to make an appointment with Denise to tackle this next step, but I will update you along the way as soon as we start!

Just a reminder, here's what my lace looks like.  I purchased this, on sale, for about $200 (2 yards).