Dress Reveal

As part of our photography package, we got an engagement photo session. We weren’t really interested in engagement photos. Our photographer was kind enough to switch it out for a wedding dress session. Scheduling this was the motivation I needed to complete the dress! Enjoy!

I even was organised enough to schedule my practice hair day before going to the shoot. I was so proud of myself!

She wouldn’t let me wear my sunglasses!

I was really glad I wasn’t wearing a larger or heavier dress. It was hot and humid. Because July in Florida is like that.

Then I decided to run away, or something.

In case you want to try this dress on your own, here is where I found everything.

• Lace and Peau de soie are from Carol Fabrics in Miami (no website, just an address)
• Silk Habotai for lining from Dharma Trading Co.
• Boning from Corset Making Supplies

I’ll be showing off more of Candi’s photos with my other wedding posts. If you are in need of a photographer in the Winter Haven area, I highly recommend Candi. She is easy-going and professional. She was great fun to work with. Check out her website, Holden Memories, for more details and to see her other work. She also has a facebook page.

The Rest of the Dress

https://flic.kr/p/uyGoxS

Just as when I made my wedding dress (I completed the bodice and then didn’t work on the skirt for a couple of months) this post has been on the back burner for some time. Now I am excited to share other wedding projects, but I feel I can’t move on to those until this is done. Quick note, if you click on each photo, they are linked to Flickr. My Flickr page gives a further description of the photo.

https://flic.kr/p/uhFjMv

After working on the bodice for what felt like million hours, the skirt portion was a simple undertaking. The dress didn’t have any crinoline or fancy under-skirting to make it poof out any. It was a basic A-line-ish skirt with a small train. The only difference being that this dress had a lining, the main fabric, and the lace overlay.

https://flic.kr/p/uhxdFY

Because I was using expensive (at least for me) and not easily replaceable (everything had been bought online or from far away), I didn’t want to send it through my serger to create finished edges. Instead, I opted for French seams. This doubled sewing time since each seam needed to be sewn twice.

https://flic.kr/p/tC7mCd

A French seam is similar to an outside leg seam on blue jeans. First, you sew the fabric together from the outside. Then, you turn the garment inside-out and sew along the same line just far enough away to encase the edge between the seams. Doing this prevents the fabric from unraveling and leaving strings all over.

It really was quite boring doing this portion since all I was sewing was long straight seams over and over and over and over again.  I was delighted when I finally got to baste (temporarily stitch) the three skirt layers together.

https://flic.kr/p/tC7r9h

When it came time to stitch the bodice to the skirt, I found another conundrum, the bodice was decidedly longer than the skirt opening. Even with my decision to attach the bodice further down the skirt than the normal 5/8 inch. I discovered with the different seam and the multiple layers, the skirt was narrower than the practice copy. Thankfully, the skirt flared out and by lowering the bodice, I was able to make it fit nicely.

https://flic.kr/p/uzmkxB

My solution to the extra bodice length was to add fancy buttons and loops rather than the usual hidden hook and eye. Doing this also added support to help keep my dress up!

By the time I got to hemming this project, I was over the whole thing! Really, I just don’t like hemming stuff. I often have a handful of projects hanging around waiting for hems. Five minutes of work, but I just don’t do it. In this case, since I lowered the bodice, I didn’t have much to work with for hemming. I decided to do a rolled hem with my serger. Doing this meant I wouldn’t have to iron and pin each skirt. Instead, I could just sit down and start feeding the fabric through the machine and it would come out with thread encasing the edge of the fabric. What could have been a massive hours long project was quickly completed in less than an hour.

I was finally finished!

https://flic.kr/p/uz8LAH

The Bodice

https://flic.kr/p/qkSfxp

After cutting out the dress pieces, the bodice was the most intensive portion to construct. Yes, construct. This wasn’t your basic dress top. This small portion of the dress contains 5 layers of fabric. And boning. It was also the most interesting portion to make as I have never made something quite this elaborate before.

https://flic.kr/p/rhzB2o

The 5 layers include, from outside to inside, lace, Peau de soie, underlining, interfacing, and lining. I decided to go all out with my fabrics and use silk linings. I used silk chiffon for the underlining and silk habotai for the lining. There was no iron-on interfacing on this dress. I used sew-in interfacing. This was heavy-duty stuff; adding this enabled the bodice to stand on its own.

https://flic.kr/p/rfkCMS

Underlining is like stay stitching. It is added to a garment to add stability. It is also used to place markings so you don’t have to mark on the nicer outside fabric. Thankfully, I only needed to use it on the bodice. In my research, I learned that it is often used over the entire garment. What makes using an underlining time-consuming is that you hand stitch the underlining to the main fabric. Once done, you treat them as a single piece.

https://flic.kr/p/r1djBK

Next, you add the interfacing. I also hand sewed this in. I don’t recall my reasoning, but I did. The interfacing is very sturdy. The bolt was labeled for use in bodices for strapless or formal gowns. Right now, I can’t recall specifically what kind it was.

https://flic.kr/p/rhzzVL

I somehow managed to miss a step at this point and didn’t add the boning to just the linings and main fabric. I skipped ahead and added the lace overlay. Thankfully, thanks to the type of fabrics I was using, I was able to mostly hide the stitching when I added the boning casings.

 https://flic.kr/p/rhwGuT

As my deviation from the pattern, I eliminated the pleats in the lace. I rather liked small pattern of the lace on its own. Before adding the lining, I decided the bodice needed a little piping along the top. I used some of the scraps from cutting out the dress and made matching piping. I wish I had also added it to the bottom of the bodice as well. At the time, I was planning on making a belt to wear with the dress. I changed my mind/ran out of time to do this.  I will probably add this detail when I refashion the dress into a sun dress!

https://flic.kr/p/rhCK6M

It was about half-way through the construction of the bodice that I realised why wedding dresses are so expensive. I also established my price should anyone ask me to make them a wedding dress. My fee, not including materials, will be five thousand dollars. That sounds like a high price, until you calculate the cost of time. I spent about a month working on the bodice. I will admit to taking extra care on each step as well as giving thinking time to consider details. I wanted this dress to be amazing.

https://flic.kr/p/r17emY