Too cute not to cross post!!

Too cute not to cross post!!

See Story Here!

The Wedding Dress -- The Zipper Is Stronger Than I.

DD must have tried on the bodice a dozen times over the last couple of days. I kept adjusting the folds of the wraps and the fit of the base bodice. She wants the wraps to be fairly snug, but try as I might, I could not pull the zipper side together and get pins to stay. My fear was that I had not cut the bodice pieces correctly and it was not big enough (even though the muslin had fit like a glove). So, I decided that I would hand baste the zipper into the opening and see what happened.

After reviewing the section on adding a zipper to a garment in the on-line couture class that I took last summer, I carefully pinned one side of the zipper to the bodice and hand basted from the top of the zipper to the bottom. Repeating on the other side from bottom to top, I finished the zipper. It was pretty hard going in a few places as there are several layers of fabric with the folding.

Then came another try with DD. After all of the tugging and pulling and worrying that it was too small; the bodice zipped up without a hitch!!! In fact, I will actually have to take in both the side seams and re-position the zipper because it isn't snug enough!

I followed Susan Khalji's advice in the video regarding not using an invisible zipper because they cannot take the stress that a regular zipper can take. DD certainly does not what a sudden popped zipper to ruin her wedding ceremony. I did not do a great job at getting the sides of the zipper to close completely over the zipper. But, since I have to take out the zipper and re-position it, I have another crack at getting both sides to meet. Then, I will handpick the zipper permanently in place. I am not worried about the zipper in the skirt as that does not require as much work and there will be less stress on that zipper.

I have added a couple of excellent links below on handpicking zippers. This couture step, when done correctly, is both beautiful and strong!

Sew Me Love
Threads Magazine Tutorial

Additional Note: By the way, I had read where silk shouldn't be pinned in the body of the dress as the pin marks could leave a permanent mark. I am thrilled to report that this dupioni is VERY resilient! I have even taken out seams sewn on my machine and no marks have been left. This fabric's biggest challenge is that it frays so easily. It does not take much at all to have several loose threads hanging. I think it could fray if you stare at it too hard!

Happy Sewing!!!!

The Wedding Dress -- The Week Long Fitting

My DD arrived on Friday afternoon and kind of expected to see a semi-assembled wedding dress, however, time got away from me last week and I had not finished assembling the bodice to the point that she could try it on. One of the problems that I had to work through (and that slowed me down a bit) was the fact that I could not fold this fabric as evenly as the muslin. I tried for a couple of hours to get the fabric to fold with nice even folds as I did in the muslin a few weeks ago. I ended up going with a compromise between the gathering and the folds and folded the fabric more casually with uneven layered folds. My guess is that the wraps' underlining may have made it more difficult. DD did not have a problem with it and I think that it looks pretty good the way that it is.


I got to work and finished basting all of the pieces together and she was able to try it on the first time Saturday evening. I had to make some adjustments to the bodice in several areas. Some areas had to be let out and some areas had to be taken in a bit. Then, I used my sewing machine to sew up the three seams in the back of the bodice and the two seams in the front of the bodice. At least something was "done".

Next, I sewed up the top of each boning channel so that the boning had a stop at the top edge of the bodice. Then I slipped in a length of boning that extended out past the lower hem allowance. I could have trimmed it off at that point to the battom of the bodice, but I didn't. Why? Well, because I didn't know where we would end up making the bottom of the bodice yet!

We are pretty close to the point where we will cut them off and bind up the bottom of the channel as well just above the hemline.

Next, I started cleaning up the seams of the bodice after sewing the panels with my machine. I trimmed the seam allowance to approximately an inch and ironed each seam, using a tailor's ham for the curved seams at the bust and waist. It was necessary to cut into the seam allowance to allow the seam to open or close with the curve.

Then using the catch stitch, I fastened each loose seam allowance to the interlining. This will create clean smooth seam lines where the allowance stays put and does not bunch up. It also covers the channels for the boning giving it an extra layer of cushion between the bone and DD's skin.

There is still a lot left to do. We've tried it on three times and made adjustments each time. As soon as I am done with all the catch stitching, we'll need one more fitting and then I can put in the zipper.

Here is just a peek! Sorry, I can't give you more, but Mom promised DD.

Happy Sewing.

The Wedding Dress -- Lined With Gold

The cream colored dupioni for the bodice and skirt lining arrived last week and yesterday I got right to work on the dress. Last week, while I was waiting for the fabric to arrive, I had cut out the underlining for the bodice. When DD and I went to Vogue fabric when she was here in November, one of the things we bought was cotton crinoline to use as the interlining for the bodice. Back last fall when I practiced putting boning in a bodice, I used the casing that came with the plastic boning. But it really was very thick -- kind of like heavy muslin -- and I wanted something much smoother and less bulky.

Lucky for me I remembered a blog that I read at Gertie's Blog for Better Sewing on using the underlining fabric to create your own channels for the boning. What a great idea!

The first thing that I did was cut 1 1/4 inch pieces of the crinoline for each channel that I needed. I wanted a channel for each seam line. They were cut to the lengths that I needed for each seam. The ones in the front are shorter so that the boning stops at just below the bust. I then folded the crinoline in half lengthwise.

I then pinned the channel just inside the seam line. You cannot see the white on white marked seam line here, but trust me it's there! Then with my sewing machine, I sewed on each side of the channel, attaching it firmly to the interlining. Then, of course, just like all the other interlining pieces, used that as the pattern to cut out the dupioni.




I kept going and cut out all the pieces of the skirt again for the lining in the cream dupioni. (See the picture at the top of the blog.) My next steps are to: mark the cream dupioni with the seam lines so that I can baste the lining together and finish the skirt after DD tries it on; hand baste together the interlining and dupioni of the bodice; cut out the white dupioni for the bodice wraps; fold and baste the folds of the wraps down so that they are ready to attach to the bodice base; cut out the pieces of the lining for the bodice. Insert the bra and boning into the bodice. . . I can't even list everything here, but this is what must be done in order to be ready for DD's arrival in two weeks! OH MY, I HAVE SO MUCH TO DO!!!

Happy freaking out! (I mean Sewing!)