Simplicity 3784 - a break from the wedding dress

I wanted a break from making my wedding dress so I decided to have a go at making Simplicity 3784 which I've wanted to make for a while! 

I bought some satin bedding for £5 about a year ago because I loved the pattern. It's made of 100% cotton but it's soooo smooth (but not as slippery to work with as I had feared). When I saw this pattern, I knew exactly it would be perfect for the fabric! 

I made a view D size 6 petite and thought it turned out well. I made a couple of minor modifications:

• I added a waist stay;
• Instead of the bow at the waistline I used a cream coloured ribbon instead; and
• I didn't line the skirt - only lined the bodice and I think it worked fine. 

I thought the pattern was well designed and really easy to follow. This project didn't take me long, even with the boning and inserting the horsehair braid into the hem (I decided to hand sew the hem this time based on my previous experience with machine sewing the braid). The effect of the braid is much more obvious on this dress - I'm really glad I used it. 

I used Rigiline boning this time as it's easier to buy and quite a lot cheaper than spiral steel. and I was happy with the structure it gave the bodice. 

The sizing was fine if not a little bit smaller than I expected. Usually a size 6 Simplicity gives me a little bit more ease - although perhaps it's a sign that I should exercise more now!

The best bit is, I only used half of the bedding so still have plenty left for a project another time!

Progress with photos - Sun 20 Nov

So I couldn't resist but trying on the layers of the wedding dress although lots of seams are only pinned at this stage (eg the side seams as there will be some pleats/front drape to come) and here's a picture of the work-in-progress:

The side seams look a bit bumpy and the back is open as these seams are still unfinished, but you can see the silhouette of the dress now! I loved how it's turned out and the feel of the silk dupion - it's so soft and luxurious!

I'm going to add a front drape of some sort to it at a later stage, as inspired by Alan Hannah Flavia

I've tried it out with some polyester chiffon over the understructure and it looked like this. Will experiment more later.

After enjoying being in the dress for some time, I finally got round to making a modesty panel for toile #2 to finish the lace-up back. It was very creased (as I used scrap fabric) and I think I could do better when it comes to the real thing. I added covered steel boning (it's stiffer than spiral steel boning which is used in the bodice) but I'm not 100% happy with the result - would like to include one going down but I'm not sure how the intersection would be dealt with... will look into it! Here's what it looks like in case it is of use to anyone who is also looking to make a modesty panel:

Progress report - Mon 14 Nov

Overcasting finished! and pieces assembled leaving gaps at side seams for ruching. 


I'm pleased with the progress, especially with all the overcasting which took me hours and hours. I know there's more hand sewing to come (as I haven't done the catch stitch for the lining or the fashion layer yet) but it certainly felt like a milestone!


Photos to follow once I've cleaned the sewing room... 

Second attempt at my bouquet

I like the results much better this time - I used some reduced flowers from Waitrose (they cost me £3.28 in total!) to make these. Had a better go this time as I used some scrap fabric to tie them up (a cheaper alternative to buying ribbons for now) and pearl headed pins to secure the stems. 


Tried out two types and here're a few pictures:

I think I prefer the one with the yellow roses as it looks a lot tidier. For the actual bouquet on the day though I'm thinking that I may opt for white, pink and yellow roses to match my colour scheme! then perhaps yellow/pink bouquets for the bridesmaids? 

Progress report - Tues 26 Oct

Last weekend I finally cut into the white silk dupion and organza (for underlining)! I cut up all the pieces and have started to hand-baste the layers, and overcasting the seams... it's of course taking ages...

Have also (sort of) decided on the details for the bodice... finally... (until I change my mind again I'm sure). I will probably have pleated/ruched dupion at the top of the bodice (underlined) and a band going across the empire line potentially along with a little bow...