The Wedding Dress -- The Skirt is Finished!

After what seems like miles and miles of hand sewing, the skirt is done. I wish I could show you a more complete picture, but you know DD's rule! Can't give too much away. . .

On to the bodice and Happy Sewing!

The Wedding Dress -- Sometimes Tack(y) is Good!

I got a lot of work done on the dress. I finished hand picking the skirt's zipper and sewed the skirt lining in at the top creating the plain skirt waist that DD wants.

At the present time, I have only basted the waist line, but I plan to set it with a couple of stitches in each seam and a good press.

I wanted to make sure that the lining does not shift around and get twisted up so I used a couture finishing technique called a French Tack or a Swing Tack. I found a lovely video that was made by my couture hero, Susan Khalji. It is a great lesson on how to do this technique properly.

Here is my tack! I think it looks great. I put one in every seam  -- some at the mid point and some closer to the hem.

I then pinned the trim around the hemline of the dress. That took forever! Now I am beginning to sew the trim on. When I am done with that I will finish sewing the lining to the hem and the skirt will be done.

Still so much work to be done.

Happy sewing.

The Wedding Dress - Bling from Turkey and a Horse Hair Hem

The bling finally arrived from Turkey. I was beginning to get worried but it still arrived before I am even ready for it. Again, this is just a small part of the actual design -- DD won't let me show the whole thing. Cannot spoil the groom's first glimpse!

This weekend I put the horse hair in the hem of the skirt. First, I pinned up the bottom where I wanted the hem, then I took out just a couple of pins at a time leaving just enough room to slip the horsehair into the hem.

I then heavily pinned the hem to keep the horse hair tight against the bottom of the hem.

After the entire hemline was completed, I basted in the horse hair and removed the pins.

That allowed me to trim back the edge of the hem to the top of the horse hair. I will use the same catch stitch that I used for the seams to finish the hem.

Of course, all of this work will soon be hidden behind the lining of the ivory dupioni. So much work, and no one will ever see it again!

Happy hemming!

The Wedding Dress -- Quick Update with Photo

I just saw online that the applique has finally made it out of Istanbul and into a New Jersey US Postal Service Facility! Thankfully, it should be here sometime next week. The above trim made it all the way from China last week and is much prettier in person than in the photo above.

I should be done tacking all of the inside seams down on the dress soon. Then I can begin on putting in the lining and applying the sparkles! The last thing will be the fluffy over skirt.

Happy sewing!

The Wedding Dress -- Notes to Self

While I continue to work on tacking down the seemingly unending miles of seams, my mind keeps running ahead to the ruffled overskirt. The more I think about it, to get the look that DD wants I can't use chiffon as I first thought. It isn't stiff enough to have the bounce and body that she wants. So I think that I am going to be using organza.

I have received some of the sparkly trim for the dress. Unfortunately part of it is sitting in a postal facility somewhere in Turkey and I am beginning to get nervous!

Happy Sewing!

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!!!!