Lindsey's Bridesmaids - Marla

For Marla's top, we chose a simple design with a drawstring neckline.  I used the neckline of this really old but fabulous Isaac Mizrahi top/dress, and I used the body of Vogue 8251, View C & D (the same one I used for Courtney), since I liked how it fit.

Vogue 2128 - OOP (out of print)

I cut a 14 at the bust, a 12 at the waist, and a 16 at the hips.  Marla has some serious curves!  I've never seen such a tiny waist!  For the first top fitting, I folded down the top edges and pinned them to her bra straps.  Kinda hard to visualize the drawstring.  The top fit really well.

 I pinned the skirt muslin at the waist, and took that amount from the side seams.  

 This is what the top looked like when I was finished.  One thing I like about the vogue 8251 pattern is that the side seams are gathered at the bust on the front pieces.  This helps to create a good fit.

 Top is finished.  Skirt is lined.

 I love how nice it fits at the back.  

 After seeing some of the pictures, Lindsey and I agreed that the skirts were a little limp by themselves.  We decided to use up the fine tulle that we bought way too much of (we only used it for the back panel of Lindsey's green skirt overlay), and had tons left over.  The tulle panels are 8" long and I cut them straight across the width of the fabric.  I cut 4 pieces for each skirt.  I think they end up being 2 layers, gathered to about 4x the width of the skirt (or was it 8x?  I can't remember).

 I positioned the tulle so it would peek out 1" at the bottom of the dress.  Tip: if you ever plan on doing this, have at least 1 1/2" or 2" peek out.  It would be more noticeable.  Nevertheless, it turned out fine.  I did a quick hem on the lining with my serger, and I cut it off so it would be 1" shorter than the outer skirt (2" shorter than the tulle).

 I was worried that the tulle would show when the girls wore the skirts (like it does here).  It didn't.  It looked wonderful.  And it added just the right amount of fullness.  

 I put invisible zippers on each skirt.  I'm getting pretty good at them!  

I added a simple 1" waistband to each skirt.  Marla's was the first to be finished, and I made it a tiny bit too tight.  Poor girl could hardly breathe.  Oops.  Sorry, Marla!  Note to self: if you see easing wrinkles, it might be too tight.

I enjoyed the couture finishing techniques I got to use to sew the lining to the zipper.  Well, they're not exactly couture, but sometimes fiddly handsewing is so much work, it should be labeled couture!

 I sewed skirt hook and bars to the tab at the waistband.

 This is what Marla's dress looks like completely finished, except for the ribbon embellishment on the skirt.

Lindsey's Bridesmaids - Courtney

The idea for the bridesmaids dresses was to make simple skirts with ribbon embellishment, and have each girl wear a top of a different design.  For Courtney's top, we chose View D from Vogue 8251 (The turquoise one at the top of the picture).  She has a very slim figure, so we decided to give her a little extra oomph by using the side ruching from View A & B.

Voge 8251 - View D

I wanted to use a semi-circle skirt pattern, but I didn't think I had one, and I ended up trying out the lining fittings for all the girls with 2 other patterns.  They didn't work at all.  I racked my tiny brain and I eventually remembered the overskirt I used for my wedding dress.  It was from the same pattern I used for my petticoat, and I remembered it was such a full skirt that it was even too big to fit over my huge petticoat, so I had to take it in!  It was the perfect choice.

Simplicity 5006 - Petticoat patterns

I sewed up a skirt muslin in the same lovely green cotton I used for Lindsey's overdress muslin.  It's inside out here.  I cut a size 14, and it was just big enough that I could use it for all 3 girls, and I just pinned it in at the waist, and took that amount off the side seams.  What an easy pattern!  

 Courtney's top here is a straight 14.  It fit very well, but it was a little loose around her ribs, and it was a tiny bit snug around her hips.  She's got more curves than the pattern!  Bonus!

 The straps are very wide.  I like them, but on Courtney's thin frame, they were a bit overwhelming.  Lindsey voted that I take them in to be only 1" wide.  They were the perfect length, though.

 I'm a sucker for anything with a racer back, so I absolutely loved this pattern.  I can't wait to make one for myself.  I finished the back edges with a rolled hem, as per the instructions, and the stretch satin was a dream to work with.  It turned out beautifully, and it fit perfectly across her back.

 The front tucks are very cute, and I loved how easy it was to finish the upper edge of the top with a band.

This is how the top fit after I took it in at the ribs and let it out at the hips.  Much better.  The straps are also 1" wide here. 

 I experimented with the straps until I figured out how to make it look more criss-crossy.  I sewed the straps together in one long loop, and I crossed them at the top closest to her neck, and fed them through the strap holes in front, and the lower strap is just straight through.  I think it looks very cool.  It's just pinned here (the bulky bit on the left).  It looked even better when I sewed it closed and pressed the straps.

I love the ruching down the sides!  I simply sewed 1/4" channels on the side seams, and inserted elastic, as per the instructions.  We tweaked the length of the elastic a couple times until it was just right.  I sewed them down close to the top and bottom edges.


I sewed the outer layer of the skirt, and I just pinned it at the center back to make sure it fit.  It was perfect.  I added an invisible zipper and lining after this.

Lindsey's Wedding Dress - Final Fittings - July 19 & 22, 2010

Now we're gettin' down to the nitty gritty!  The week of the wedding, we had a fitting on Monday, and I was thrilled that it was looking better every time.  That's a good thing!  I can't get over how small her waist looks!  I do love a good corset...

Close up of bodice

I pinned up her hem, and fiddled with her cap sleeves again.

Hem pinned up - back view

 You can't really see them, but I do have pins on the front of her dress.

Hem pinned up - Front view

Lovin' those pleats!

I fiddled with the cap sleeves a lot without really getting anywhere.  Once I finally got them sewn together with swimsuit elastic attached, they got surprisingly easy!  One last shot at pinning the pleats, and presto! they were done!

Cap sleeves

I was kinda at a loss as to how I was going to hem it, since I had to sew the lining and the satin together at the front so the pleats would all fold together.  I essentially underlined it.  The back of the dress was lined, but 'underlined' at the side seams.  It took me a while to decide how I was going to hem it.  After pondering my options for a while, I remembered a nifty hemming method I learned when I worked at The Bridal House.  If the skirt is made with 2 layers, you can trim the edge with lace, and hand sew it to the inner layer, thus having no stitch marks on the outer layer!

Lace trim hem on the front

I first stitched my lining and satin layers together close to the edge, then I serged them.  Then I sewed the lace trim on.  I measured the dress to determine how much lace I would need, and I ended up buying 4m.  I only had 11.5" leftover!  Yesss!

Lots of pinning at the corners!

After everything was sewn, serged, trimmed in lace, pressed, and pinned, I settled in for a long evening of hand sewing.  I made my stitches half this size when I went around the corners to keep them from getting wavy.

Hand sewing

We had our very last fitting on Thursday, and I was thrilled that the hem turned out so good!  It better have; I spent almost 6 hours on it!  Phew.  

Side view

When we first put the satin overdress on, it was very slinky and heavy, and it was quite apparent that the dress would not stay put with a couple of lace cap sleeves.  I sewed white bias tape to the back of the dress and the curve of the armhole of the bodice.  I hand sewed the bias tape to the inside of the corset.

Upper edge of dress hand sewn to corset

This is what the back looked like when everything was sewn.  The dress is completely finished here except for the cap sleeves.  My last step was to hand sew them to the inside of the dress.

Back view

Lindsey's Wedding Dress - Fittings July 11 & 13, 2010

Now that our lovely green cotton overdress muslin has all the kinks worked out of it, I can finally dive into that gorgeous ivory silk satin!  It was such a joy to work with.  All I had to do was put a fresh needle into my machine, and I didn't get one single snag.  I'm only taking half the credit for that; the other half goes to the excellent quality of the fabric.  I love working with expensive fabrics!  I wish I could afford to work with them all the time.  They're an absolute dream.

Close up of pleats

 I sewed the bodice pieces with one layer of lace overlay, and I tucked the lace right into the dart with the satin.  I also sewed curved pieces to the corners to give it a more feminine look.

Bodice pieces with lace overlay

Sewing the rest of the overdress together went really well.  Everything behaved as it should.

Front of dress sewn together

 When Lindsey came for her fitting on Sunday morning, we spent a lot of time fiddling with the lace.  The bodice pieces looked a little plain with only one layer of lace, so we decided to put 2 instead.  I also spent a lot of time pinning and re-pinning the cap sleeves.  

Lindsey with a mess of lace pinned all over her

After Lindsey left, I spent the rest of my Sunday sewing all the changes we pinned, and adding the invisible zipper to the back, as I wanted to make sure everything fit before I put it in.  I had my best luck ever with the zipper.  It's my most perfect one yet!  How fitting, as it's on the most important garment I've ever put an invisible zipper into!

My most perfect invisible zipper ever!

 On Tuesday, we had another fitting to double check that all the changes I made worked out.  Looks pretty good to me!

Front view

Back view

Close up of bodice with 2 layers of lace

Lindsey’s Wedding Dress – Fitting – July 6, 2010

Corset

The addition of the bra cups to the corset was a total success.  It fit her perfectly, and she said she’s much more comfortable.  The addition of the steel boning to the back of the corset was also a success.  She said it felt much better, and it fit much more smoothly than before.  Corset is done and needs no more changes!

New bustier

Green Skirt

The zipper and waistband on the green skirt fits great.  The skirt sits perfectly at her waist and doesn’t droop down in the front.  Skirt is done!

Skirt with new waistband

Sidenote: If you look at this picture from far away, she kinda looks like a hula dancer with coconut boobs and a grass skirt.  Tee hee!

  

Overdress

The fourth attempt at the bodice is the same as the third, only with bigger darts (to compensate for the addition of real boobs!) and a slight tweak to lower the peak by the armhole. 

The bodice pieces finally worked!  The darts are the perfect size, and everything fits now.  The only change I need to make is to raise the center front just a bit to make sure the corset doesn’t show.

Overdress with bodice attempt #4

It’s for times like this that muslins are a godsend.  I can’t imagine re-making several bodices out of delicate silk satin and lace.  What a mess that would be.  Cotton is my friend.  Faithful and sturdy enough to be ripped apart and re-made over and over again.

I pinned some straps on, and she likes how they sit on the edge of her shoulders. 

Temporary blue straps

Back view with straps

I cut a rectangle of cotton to test out the cap sleeves, and it worked really well.  I pleated the tips at the front and back, and I love how it drapes perfectly over her arm.  The cap sleeves will be made out of lace with a layer of fine tulle underneath, and I’ll be using clear swimsuit elastic for the straps.  That way, they’ll be tight, and a little bit sticky, so they won’t slip.

Cap sleeve test

From the back

I’m so excited!  It’s finally starting to look fantastic!