Wedding Dress Progress

I seem to have had no time for blogging recently.  It's been as much as I can do to keep up with reading blogs, let alone posting myself.  Sorry about that. 

I'm not totally sure why, although I have been spending rather a lot of time working on this:


I don't know if you remember me posting a few weeks ago about the wedding dress I'd been asked to make, well that is what it looks like as of today.

It's been a bit scary so far.  The fabric (silk double crepe) is shifty, but not slippery, so if it moves a bit as you're sewing, it wants to grab onto itself and stay there.  Of course, the grabby-ness can be a help when you've got everything lined up properly, so it's not all bad. 

I also have the lining made, I actually did this first, so I could check the fit based on the alterations I made to the muslin.


As you can see I made a facing for the neckline and armholes out of the silk and attached that to a lining.  I wanted to make sure that none of the lining could be visible. 

I had to think a bit about the order of construction, as Marfy patterns don't give you ANY instructions at all.

Once I'd cut the pieces out, I cut the front bodice and back bodice again in silk organza to provide some stability to this area.  The dress the bride showed me as her inspiration was quite structured in the bodice, and the silk is just too drapey on its own. 



 Then the next step had to be hemming the skirt drape and attaching that between the front bodice and front skirt.  Once that was done, construction could proceed in the "normal" manner.

I really love how the skirt drape looks.


The back is plain.  It will have covered buttons and rouleau loops down the back.  I've had the buttons professionally covered as I hate doing these.  I figured the time it would take me to do them neatly equated pretty well to the cost of having them done for me.  They look really lovely, the backs are also covered for a couture finish.


The next steps are to pipe the neckline and attach the lining to the main fabric, then to work out the back fastenings.  I think I know how to do it - I just need a couple of hours of peace and quiet to sit down and work it through properly.  That will hopefully happen at the weekend. 

After that the dress will be pretty much finished.  Only hemming to do, and some sort of embellishment for the front along the seam joining the bodice to the skirt.  The bride wants some sort of silver lace, but so far hasn't found anything she likes. 

Anyway, that's pretty much what I've been up to. 

I have been sewing for myself too, I've made another Anna dress, which I'll show you soon.  Get your sunglasses ready - she's bright!

11 comments

  1. This is really impressive, Sam! It looks beautiful! I'm not sure I could have gotten this far with no instructions!

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    1. Thank you Gail. I'm really pleased with it so far. I'm sure you would have no problems with this, having seen the things you make. So far (fingers crossed) the skirt drape has been the only part that's needed much thought. The rest is pretty much a straightforward shift type dress.

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  2. Oh Sam, this is going to be so pretty. I love that shade.

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    1. Thank you. It really is a gorgeous shade of blue.

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  3. Lucky bride, it looks beautiful! Top tip about getting buttons covered for you.

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    1. It's definitely worth getting the buttons covered, I dread to think how long it would have taken me to do 25 of them!

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  4. It's beautiful Sam, you are so clever. The buttons are lovely, totally made sense to get them done elsewhere so that you can concentrate on dress construction. You are the bridalwear queen :)

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    1. I don't know about that Jacq, but thank you. x

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  5. It really is a lovely dress Sam, must have been a little nervewracking taking this project on.

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    1. It's a little scary, but enjoyable at the same time, if that makes sense.

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  6. Wow, this is quite stunning! The way the skirt drapes is lovely. You are a generous friend :)

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