Sunday 16 October 2011

Bridesmaid dress - almost done!

After A LOT of handsewing, the bridesmaid dress is now almost finished! Here are a few in-progress and inside-out photos:












As the dress is made of silk dupion, I had to underline it with silk organza to prevent seam slippage. I used a (really useful!) technique for the skirt pieces - flatlining with a Hong Kong finish which meant that the organza wrapped around the dupion at the seams so I didn't need to overcast the vertical skirt seams. 


The picture above shows the neckline stay on both the bodice and lining with strips of silk organza, and the grading & understitching on the neckline (so that the fashion fabric seam allowance is stitched to the lining to keep it flat where worn) and also the clipped princess seams to make it lie flat. 



Now please bear with me, the red dressform really steals the thunder of the pink dress! It's a lovely bright pink colour! I will certainly take more photos when my beautiful bridesmaid tries it on.

So the things left to do on this dress are:
  • Fittings;
  • Adding a waist stay (the stay is ready but i just want to make sure it fits perfectly)
  • When ready, insert the centre zipper;
  • Finish the bottom of the bodice lining - I'm still deciding on what to do (nobody will see it but I still want it to be finished);
  • Hem (still to decide whether horsehair braid is needed); and
  • Embellishment for the waistline. The pattern (simplicity 4070 - I made a view E this time) calls for a medium width band (in the same colour as the dress) with a corsage. I was simply experimenting in the last picture. 


Any ideas would be very welcome! 


4 comments:

  1. Wow, I can't believe all that handstitching. Such attention to detail! It looks really lovely!

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  2. Thank you! I'm glad you like it (and apprceciate how long hand sewing takes). I may have got my other half to overcast the bodice centre back pieces :p

    One problem though, now that I know how much work there is with the silk dupion, I'm really not looking forward to making the actual wedding dress fashion fabric layer... especially as I won't be able to use the flatlining technique due to its princess seams (unless there is a way??) so I'll have to hand baste the dupion to the organza and overcast the seams from top to bottom!

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  3. ohhhh...what a fabulous bridesmaid dress! I just love it! You did a fantastic job, Alice! can't wait to see your wedding dress! thanks for sharing these in-progress and inside-out photos with us! Keep up the good work! Cheers!

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  4. Thank you for the encouragement (much needed!) I'll keep you posted with the progress - currently STILL handsewing the lining layer...

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