It’s crunch time!
A little over 3 weeks until the wedding and I am swamped with work (both legal and sewing)! But, I hope to accomplish all the projects: wedding dress, bridesmaid dress, mother of the bride dress, and father of the bride outfit (jacket and/or pants).
Because I don’t have much time to write, I will basically share the wedding dressmaking story through pictures (with a few tips and comments along the way). Sorry 🙁
This week:
(1) Adjusted the pattern at the hips
(2) Preshrunk silk
(3) Cut the 100% silk taffeta/charmeuse (I’m not entirely sure what you would call the silk we bought for the skirt underlay)
(4) Built the silk skirt
Unfortunately my dritz washable marking pen dried out on me, so I used a light blue chalk to trace my pattern onto the silk.
TIP: I DON’T cut on folds or through 2 layers when I cut silk. Instead I pin down the pattern or use heavy weights/bricks to keep the silk from moving. Luckily this silk was thicker and not too slippery! However the silk charmeuse (BUTTERY fabric) we bought for the top of the dress will be extremely slippery, so these tricks will be especially helpful for that cut!
After cutting all the skirt pieces (panels, godet, and waistband pieces), I interfaced and serged the edges of all the pieces.
We decided not to interface and line the entire skirt due to: lack of time, limited money, silk being covered by lace and likely hot temperatures in the chapel. However, I decided to interface the edges of the godet and panels. (Interfacing would add more strength & stability to the seams.) Also, I fully interfaced and lined the waistband pieces.
If I could go back, I’d definitely do things differently (when interfacing the edges). Some seams are a bit puckered (this could change after I steam the dress). Perhaps I could’ve used a different interfacing, skipped interfacing, interfaced the entire skirt, or used very narrow interfacing strips.
Well, it’s not worth stressing over because the silk will be covered in lace! 🙂
Next, I stitched all the pieces together & inserted the godet (train-like piece in the back).
Lastly, I basted and stitched in the back invisible zipper.
Here’s what we have so far!
(My sister is out of town so I had to fit the skirt piece…she is about 2″ taller than me and thinner, so the skirt is a bit tight and long in the photos here.)
Next Step:
Finishing the silk hem & sewing the lace overlay.
The process will be similar to the silk skirt, but there won’t be any interfacing to fuse and the lace will have to be hand stitched to the skirt at the zipper.
After attaching the lace overlay, I’ll be able to finish lining the waistband.
that is awesome. fitting the dress may be the most time consuming part but well worth it. can’t wait to see the lace!
Thanks Susan!