Simplicity 2251 - LBD?

Before Xmas, I mentioned the drape that I was going to make on the front of the wedding dress. To familiarise myself with how this would work, I had a go at Simplicity 2251 which is the closest pattern that I could find. 


I had this in mind when buying the fabrics, so I ended up with:

• 1m of white/black silk chiffon with butterflies (for the drape)
• 1.2m of black silky material - I think it's viscose  but it's nice and shiny and very comfortable to wear!
• silk habotai lining. 

Here's a photo of it as a work in progress. I'm yet to finish the hem and all the seams - as the fabric frays A LOT, I'm going to hand finish all the seams... but maybe after all the hand sewing for the wedding dress is finished first. Priorities!

I haven't made many alterations to the pattern (thankfully I'm usually a standard Simplicity size 6), but then again I haven't followed the steps in order. A couple of thoughts when I made the dress in case it's helpful:

1. The pattern called for interlining for the neckline on the wrong side of the lining. I'm not sure how much this add - personally I prefer to use silk organza selvages to stablise the bias. 
2. I had a 'tube turner' gadget that is supposed to help me turn straps inside out easily... but it didn't work! However the trick explained in the pattern is really useful - I think I'm going to use the 'needle method' for the satin straps for the lace-up back of the wedding dress.

Once I've hemmed the dress and ironed it, I will upload some more photos of the finished product. Who knows, if it turns out well, maybe that can be the dress that I wear to our summer ball this year? 

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! 

Progress report - Sat 24 Sept - understructure finished!

I was going to share progress at the end of the weekend/on Monday but I couldn't wait until then! 


So I've managed to tick a few things off my to-do list and here's the result:

corselette (with waist stay unattached on the outside for the time being, also note that I had just had a big dinner when the photo was taken...)

 Top edge of corselette stablised with strips of silk organza selvages on the outside. The reason for this is that the neckline was unstable due to the bias cut. 

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 Skirt lining #1 with 2 layers of gathered dress net attached to corselette.


Then top layer of dress net was pinned to the corselette directly to check length. 

Top layer of dress net now sewn onto the corselette with a straight stitch. The bottom of the dress is slightly off the ground when I'm wearing the wedding shoes! exactly what I wanted. 


I am happy with the progress I've made as the understructure is now finished! even the seam allowances have been dealt with (zigzagged/catchstitched where appropriate). You can really see the silhouette of the dress now and I think it's going to be lovely! Obviously I do still have a lot to do but I don't think it'll do any harm taking a moment to enjoy the progress so far :) 

To-do list for the weekend

Now that I have given the assembly of the dress more thought, I have jotted down what I would like to achieve this weekend.

To-do

·         Reposition the zipper so the corselette fits perfectly.

·         Test whether the bottom of the corselette should be left open.

·         Sew organza selvage onto the right side of the corselette top bias edge.

·         Decide if top layer of netting should be attached to foundation or skirt lining.

·         Implement – under structure should then be completed!

·         Decide length of lining – to consider extending the train at the side seams and to lengthen the current pattern (check if it’s been shortened) by up to 10cm (to allow for heels).

·         Decide on depth of back opening – to consider using a zip at the bottom so the opening is large enough for me to get into the dress...

·         Adjust pattern accordingly

·         Cut lining – place centre back on selvage

·         Attach garment sections of lining

·         Test fit on dress form with the understructure

·         If it’s a good fit, overcast the seams

·         Press open the seams and catchstitch

So by Sunday night I should have the understructure done (with temporary closure until much nearer the time) and the lining as well... these are ambitious plans but let's see how I get on...