Sunday, August 15, 2010

Lindsey’s Wedding Dress – June 2010

Green Skirt

After the green satin skirt was taken in and fit perfectly, I pinned up the hem and finished it with a narrow rolled hem.  Simple and easy. 
Skirt fits perfectly
Pinning the hem
I had her stand on the treadmill because it was a flat surface.  
Once it was hemmed to the right length, I measured the skirt and cut the lace overlay so it would match perfectly at the bottom.  The lace goes from the side seam on one side to just around the back on the other side, so that there’s just enough lace where the overskirt covers it, allowing for some wiggle room if the skirt flips out.  I filled in the back with 2 layers of fine tulle. 
Green skirt with lace overlay
Overdress

After the second failed bodice, Lindsey asked if I could do the bodice with lace overlay, and I said that would be no problem.  I was having trouble finding decent patterns with pleats, so lace would be a piece of cake.  All we needed was a simple darted bodice.  The third attempt was a crossover style, similar to the first, except instead of pleats, it had darts.  It still didn’t fit quite right.
Overdress with bodice attempt #3
Corset

Part of the reason we’ve been having problems with fitting the bodice is because the corset is quite tight and kinda flattening (not flattering). 
Too tight
It took me a while to figure out a solution, but after the third failed bodice, we knew something had to be done.  I decided to sew a strapless bra into the corset and cut away the bust, thus making a bustier!  It was surprisingly easy. 
Strapless bra
I had marked the bottom curve of Lindsey’s bust at her last fitting, so I lined up the bra to those marks, and it lined up quite well with the top edge of the corset.  I stretched the bra a bit as I marked the placement of the cups, since it will be pulled tight when she wears it.  I stitched around the lines I marked before I cut them out. 
Bra curves cut out
I trimmed the top edge of the corset and the bust curves with bias tape, then I hand-stitched the bra in place.
Trimmed with white bias tape
Bra hand sewn in place
Another minor problem we’ve been having with the corset is that the 2 center back strips of boning have folded into the back of Lindsey’s waist.  Not comfortable, plus, they make a bit of a bump, and we want the back of her dress to be smooth.  I decided to replace them with steel boning, and I found some flexible coil boning.  It was still quite bendy, so I put 2 strips on each side and sewed them under a strip of 2 layers of cotton twill for added stability.
Steel coil boning
Green Skirt

The lace was the right length, so I finished off the green skirt with a zipper at the center back and a waistband.  I put a skirt hook and bar for the closure of the waistband. 
Zipper
Satin waistband

3 comments:

  1. where did you find the flexible coil steel boning? I have been looking for it with no luck.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I found it at Sig Plach in Edmonton. It's one of 2 high end fabric stores here.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete