Why Have I Become So Lazy That I Can't Write a Post That I Took Pictures for 3 Weeks Ago? A Modest Answer.

A couple of weeks ago, waaaaaaay before the wedding, my sister and I went shopping together for a dress for her to wear to my DD's wedding. She found "the perfect dress" almost. My sister doesn't want to wear a plunging neckline, and this dress had one, but we decided to fix that with a modesty panel. Also known as a chemisette, dickey, or mock camisole, it is easy to make and utilitarian. A modesty panel fills in the space that a plunging neckline does not hide.

You can buy modesty panels. I have a couple that I purchased. They look like the top edge of a camisole worn underneath a dress or top with a low neckline. But like many other things, I have never made one. But why not try one since I just made my first couture wedding dress with some success. So here is my DIY Modesty Panel.

We went to our local big box fabric store and picked up a black lace and a tan/beige/taupe colored fabric for the base. These were both colors in her dress. We looked for a lace fabric that had a nice finished edge. Not all lace has finished edges, so if you want to do something like this, look at the salvages to see if you like the edge.

The first thing that I did was fold over the edge of the taupe fabric to get a smooth straight edge. The wrinkled seam was taken care of by a warm iron. Next, I lined up the black lace so that it was even with the fold in the taupe fabric.

My sister was not interested in modeling for the next step (there is that modesty thing again), so we measured her bra from strap to strap while she had it on. But, so that you know what it is that I mean, here is a photo of that step while the bra is on a hanger. But remember to wear the bra when you are measuring it. The width will be different than a measurement on just a hanger!

Using the measurement of strap to strap, cut a piece of fabric that resembles the shape in the picture to the right. The top of the fabric should be the width of the strap to strap measurement and the length should be at least a couple of inches longer than the plunge in the "V" of the neckline.

I pinned both pieces of fabric together and used a grid ruler and rotary cutter to cut out the pieces.

Using thread that matched the lace, I tacked down the top edge of the lace to
the backing fabric. This made sure that they now acted as one piece of fabric. As you can see on the right, all I did was catch a few places -- most of the thread is on the backside.

I then pulled out my serger and went around all of the other edges to keep the two fabrics from separating.


While I had my serger out, I made two small strips about 3 inches long. One end was attached to the top of the modesty panel with a couple of stitches.  And the final step was to attach snaps so that it will be able to hang onto each bra strap.

I think it turned out well and my sister loved it. It was the perfect touch for the dress and worked well to achieve her desire for modesty.

Happy Sewing!