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... 

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!