Val's Completed Wedding Dress

Friends, if you've been following along this summer (actually we started last May), you know I'd been commissioned to make two wedding dresses for this fall.

This weekend I finished the first dress and today, Val, my client, took it home with her. 

Here's a brief recap of the process:

Val tried on dresses with a friend last spring and sent me photos of a vintage lace dress she'd seen and admired.  Could I make her something similar?

While there were things I liked about the dress, such as the overall lace and scalloped neckline, to me it looked too much like a nightgown.  I didn't think it showcased Val's figure.  And the lines were boring.  So I did a little online research and found  Vogue 1032 -- much more sophisticated.  I ran it by Val.  She was on board with it!

We made an appointment to buy the fabric.  I thought we could do V1032 in lace if we found one with a jersey-like drape.  (From the get-go we decided to eliminate the train, which meant we needed considerably less fabric.) We met at Metro Textiles, and Kashi showed us a beautiful ivory poly-blend lace that was perfect and just $6/yd.  That's right: the lace for Val's dress (we bought four 4-yard panels) was less than $100.  We bought matching poly charmeuse for lining, though I ended up using just a bit of it, opting instead (much later) for a more stable ivory georgette at Metro for $3/yd.  Can you beat it?

Next we scheduled fittings.  I cut a pattern Size 12.  I had to do a lot of fitting in the back, where Val was narrower in the torso than the pattern; the front looked pretty good.  I made a muslin first of course.  I didn't follow the pattern directions precisely: I went my own way by choosing not to underline each individual pattern piece.  The bust area and narrow yoke pieces were underlined but the skirt is two separate, identical skirts: one in lace and the second in georgette. That way the beautiful seam lines remain visible and I don't have to worry about the two fabrics hanging differently.

Val tries on the muslin.

I tried to resist the temptation to overfit the back, since the muslin has very little "give" but the lace has a lot.

There was some question about how we'd handle the neckline and back which, on the pattern envelope, are done in a contrast fabric.  My original idea was to use something sheer.  But the silk organza I chose didn't work: too stiff, too opaque against Val's skin, just wrong.  So we decided on going full-out lace with no underlining or lining, just bare skin.  Bingo!

It was now time to make the final dress.  I made the lace skirt first with no slip underneath.  It fit great.

Next I sewed up the georgette slip and attached it.  Another fitting followed.

Zipper basted in, still no closure at the neckline. 

We decided the front was more flattering with a thin bust pad.  I purchased mine at Daytona Trim for about $5 (below).  I made each pad its own charmeuse pocket (to mask the color) and tacked each pad to the bust sections.

In addition to a traditional zipper, I picked up button loop tape and covered buttons.  I didn't want to use hook-and-eye closures because I was afraid they might catch on the lace.  The button loops -- at the neck and above the zipper -- work great.

The hem of the slip is serged.  The lace hem is finished with an ivory rayon seam tape facing.  The bodice armhole and neckline edges are finished with silk organza bias strips and hand sewn into place. 

Today, Val tried on the finished dress.  Lovely!

This dress -- my first foray into bridal sewing -- was really a joy to make though, naturally, there were a few stressful moments, but only a few.

Stay tuned for wedding dress #2...

Have a great day, everybody!