Simplicity 1595 "bridal gown"

Myra asks for a different dress up dress on a near daily basis. I can't keep up with all the princesses. But one dress that she asks for consistently is a "bride" dress, so I thought her 5th birthday would be just the time for an over the top fancy gown for her dress up box.

This picture makes my heart stop, a little. She's so lovely, but I am definitely not ready to face the possibility of her being an actual bride some day.

The pattern is Simplicity 1595. I was going to use my usual peasant dress, Simplicity 2377, but I had loaned it out, so since Hancock was having a Simplicity sale, I thought I'd just run over and get a spare copy. I use that pattern all the time. Naturally, they were out. So, after a little grumbling, I flipped through the pattern catalog to see what else was available.

I think it was for the best though, as this pattern was much more suited to a fancy dress! The long sleeve ruffle and the midriff band gave me more opportunities for embellishment. I added some hotfix gemstones to the midriff band, for a little extra bling.

She approves of the bling.

I also really like the shape that the midriff band and sash give to the dress. The upper bodice is gathered into the midriff band, which gives the appearance of a waist. It's very shapely.

There is a tie sash in back that pulls in the waist even more. The I made it a size larger than her measurements and a bit long, so that she would be able to wear it a while, but the sash keeps it looking fitted.

The fabrics I used are a polyester satin backed shantung and nylon Chantilly lace, both from the bridal section at Joann. I used the satin side of the main fabric on the inside, so I didn't need a lining. I constructed the dress using the shantung as an underlining for the lace in the bodice, skirt and upper sleeves. I used the lace alone for the sleeve and skirt ruffles and the shantung along (with bling!) for the midriff panel and sash.

Myra loves her bride gown, and she's very happy with the bouquet we made together. Thanks to Gillian for the suggestion!

The Bride

The wedding was Friday, and Breanna was so beautiful!

She definitely outshone the dress, which is as it should be.

It was a very full day, beginning in the morning for the actual sealing ceremony at the Temple in Manti. I'd never been to the Manti Temple before. It is so beautiful!

Here are the happy couple on the steps of the Temple, after having just been married. Radiant!

Myra was thrilled to see her Auntie Breanna as a bride! And doesn't the skirt drape beautifully here? That horsehair braid is doing its job.

You can see the back of the dress here as she pins a corsage on her Dad. Love those buttons!

Steven also felt compelled to show off his fancy threads. I think he's more interesting in peeking at his beautiful new bride though.

The dress was perfect as the bride and groom literally danced down the aisle at the reception. They were adorable!

And check out that range of motion as she was busting a move with her Dad! They were so cute! The whole day was just beautiful and we were so happy to be able to share it with them. Congratulations, Steven and Breanna!!

New Look 6723: Structure

Ducks are cute.

For the final installment in my wedding dress saga, I wanted to talk a little about the structure built in to the dress, as well as a few interesting construction tidbits. I won't go over every little detail, as that would bore you to tears, but if you'd like more details, I'd be happy to answer individual questions.

A wedding or formal dress generally has much more built in structure than does your average summer sundress. Although this dress isn't the most structured you'll see (no boning!) it does have some internal elements to help it keep it's shape, as well as to allow construction details to be as unobtrusive as possible.

The bodice consists of 5 layers; lining (Hang Free from Hancock's), underlining (Imperial Batiste), the fashion fabric (poly shantung from fabric.com), point de'esprit tulle to underline the lace (from Joann) and Chantilly lace (also from JAs). All of the layers except the lace were basted together and treated as one in construction. They were seamed by machine and the seam allowances were catchstitched to the underlining. In this case, the underlining serves as a structural component to support the fashion fabric, as well as hiding the catchstitches. The catchstitching secures the seam allowances and finishes them.

The lace layer was applied much later, after the skirt had been attached. The lace was hand sewn to the bodice. Again, the underlayers support and conceal the delicate stitching. The motifs were individually cut out and hand stitched to overlap across the seamline, making the lace continuous across the seams.

The bodice pieces were cut out along the scalloped border of the lace and the lace edge was placed to overlap the waist seam slightly. Again, the lace scallops were hand stitched to the underlying lace of the skirt as well as secured to the waistline.

The dress is fully lined, of course. Although machine sewn to the neckline and sleeve hemline, the insertion points at the zipper and armscye are sewn by hand. The lining is stabilized at the neckline with strips of organza selvedge.

Here is the sleeve, which you can see is lined to the edge. The fashion fabric armscye is machine sewn, with the lining sewn in with fell stitches by hand. This is my absolute favorite way to finish the armscye of a dress. I just think it is so beautiful.

In back you can see the zipper/button unit, as well as the sweet keyhole. The dress closes with a hand picked, lapped  zipper. The button loops are elastic and are purchased already attached to a gimp braid. I inserted the braid into the right side of the zipper lap as I was installing the zip. The buttons are sewn onto the zipper overlap.

To keep my stitches even when prick stitching the zip and applying the buttons, I used this awesome product which was suggested by some Facebook sewing friends. It is a 1/2 inch wide tape with measurements in metric and English printed on. Since my zipper lap was 1/2 inch wide, I just stuck it with one edge along the seam and placed my prick stitches every 1/4 inch using the ruler.

The skirt is layered much like the bodice, this time with 6 separate parts; lining, a net ruffle attached to the lining to add body, fashion fabric and underlining (this time poly organza from Joann), point d'esprit tulle and lace. The fashion fabric/underlining unit, tulle and lace layers were each constructed separately to allow them to flow over each other. They are all attached together at the waist and zipper only.

The fashion fabric/underlining unit is hemmed with horsehair braid. This adds structure and weight to the hemline, allowing it to drape nicely with still giving it fullness. The horsehair is stitched to the right side of the fashion fabric, turned under and catchstitched to the underlining.

From the right side, you can see the outline of the braid and the gentle curve it gives the hem.

The other structural component of the skirt is the layers of net that are attached to the inside of the lining. For this dress there are 4 layers of net, each one 7 yards long, which are gathered tightly and attached to the lining just below the zipper. This puts the fullness below the fullest part of the hip, giving the skirt plenty of flare without adding bulk to the hip line. A more traditional 50s style dress would have more fullness, and include layers of tulle or net sewn into the waistline to flare the skirt from that point, but we were going for a slimmer, modern (and not costume-y) shape.

Just for laughs, here is how I evened up the hem after the bias had hung out. I hung the duct tape dress form from a nail in the doorway so that I could easily reach the hem on all sides. The hanger I used inside the dress form rotates (a critical feature when you are making a duct tape form!) so I could just rotate the dress around and see it from all angles, making sure the hem was perfectly even.

I know you want to see how the dress looks ON the bride! I got a few not-very-good snaps of her when she came to pick up the dress. Hopefully, once she gets her bridal photos, I'll have some better ones to share.
This was such a fun project and I am so glad that I got to do it! I hope you enjoyed these little tidbits. I'll answer questions in the comments.

New Look 6723: Alterations

Myra and I went to see Brave for my birthday. So fun!

I mentioned in the last post that I would talk about the alterations that we made to New Look 6723 to arrive at the bridal gown that Bre envisioned.

Of course, the first step was getting the fit just right. I don't always find a catalog of fit changes that someone made helpful, since my body will be different, but for reference, Bre is quite petite, so we shortened the bodice significantly, with most of the length coming off above the bust. We also raised the neckline and tightened it up to remove some gaping, which is a problem I often have with New Look patterns. The back neckline also gaped quite significantly, so I curved the center back seam to get a close fit there.

For modesty, we raised the neckline quite a lot. As drafted, this neckline is LOW, particularly on Bre's petite frame. We also added lace trim to the neckline all around. Although this was a little fiddly to do, as the lace borders are scalloped, it really added to the overall look of the gown, so it was worth the effort.

In back, we added a small keyhole above the back zipper. This little detail adds so much to the dress! I really love it. Again, the lace trim was very tricky, since the scalloped lace borders curved in the wrong direction. The lace had to be carefully shaped with judicious clipping and applied by hand. I used Susan Khalje's Bridal Couture to help guide me through a lot of the lacework. If you are sewing bridal or formalwear, this book is a must have.

The skirt of the dress is gathered, but not particularly full. I didn't want to add bulk at the waist, so rather than just adding width to the entire skirt, I slashed and spread at the hem only, without adding width to the waist. This gave the skirt about a 3/4 circular shape, with just a little gathering at the waist for looks. There is also a lot of structure built in to the skirt, which I'll detail better in my next post. I also added length to get the finished length of the lace layer to just below the knee.

In back, we added pearl buttons and loops overlaying the zipper. The sleeves were shortened to elbow length and slimmed so that they fit quite closely. The undersleeve is cap length.

Next up, construction and structure. Stay tuned!

New Look 6723: the overview

Polar Bear at the Hogle Zoo. He's protecting the dress from being seen by the groom. No clicking, Steven!

Whew! I really enjoyed sewing this dress, but I am also really glad to be finished. Big projects wear me out. There is a lot to say about the dress, so I'm going to split it into a couple of posts.

Here is my attempt at some "artsy" shots. I also used an embossing filter on Photoshop, which really makes the lace pop. Isn't it pretty!?

The pattern I used was New Look 6723. I made some pretty significant changes to it, which I'll detail in my next post. It was the perfect pattern for this look, though. I really enjoyed sewing it, and I will definitely be making it for myself.

There has been a lot of talk recently about the cost of wedding dresses. Trena wrote an insightful post on the subject here. I'm not going to go in to the work that this dress was, but I thought it would be interesting to detail the statistics for this particular dress.

Cost for materials: $290. This includes 2 muslins (made from $1 a yard broadcloth) and a "wearable" muslin. Obviously, this doesn't include the cost for any tools I used or for my time.
Time spent sewing: 40 hours. This includes fittings, but not the creation of the duct tape dressform or time spent purchasing supplies. I consider myself a fairly fast seamstress, but I am not a professional, so I imagine a pro would be faster. For reference, a pair of jeans take me 10-12 sewing hours and a simple knit top takes 1.
Total yardage (including muslins): 39.5. The final dress was about 25 yards of that.

Another aspect to consider is the type of fabrics that are used. Most RTW (even higher end) dresses are primarily polyester. Is isn't until you get to handmade or designer dresses that you will see silk used. This dress is more along the line of high end RTW. The fashion fabric and skirt underlining are poly and the laces and net are nylon. The bodice is underlined with Imperial batiste. I did use silk thread for most of the handwork, which is a detail you wouldn't find in RTW gowns. So, what is a handmade gown worth? What do you think about the cost of RTW wedding gowns? Are we just paying for the hype?

To see the details of the gown, click the links below:
Alterations
Structure

Wedding Dress Progress

If you happen to be the groom, please enjoy this lovely photograph of our favorite hike up Millcreek Canyon. Stop reading now and return to your prior task.

As for the wedding dress, progress is being made! I actually finished the sash, which pleases me.

Pretty, eh? The color isn't quite right on my monitor. It is more teal and less blue, but very saturated and with a nice sheen. I didn't use a pattern, just ruched a panel the length of the dress around the waist from the back princess seams around and 1/2 yard wide. I stitched gathering stitches every four inches then gathered them as far as they would go, fused some lightweight tricot to the back to stabilize the gathers and removed the gathering threads. I added tie ends and trimmed the ruched panel to make a sash 3 inches wide, then lined the sash with self fabric.

 The lining is completely assembled and the net underskirt is attached. The net ruffle is a full 7 yards gathered up and double layered. It provides a nice bit of fluff. I attached it just below the hips so that it would flare the skirt without adding unwanted bulk.

I assembled the bodice, but didn't want to go forward until we had another fitting since the lace overlay won't be alterable. Based on the lining, it looked like we might need a bit more room in the bust, which I thought was odd, since we'd fit 3 muslins, but I added a bit at the princess seam and stitched it up. I'm not sure what was up with the lining, but I ended up taking out the addition I made, so I'm really glad we did another fitting. This picture was before I fixed the bodice - you can see the excess making unsightly wrinkles on the right. Those are all fixed now! The skirt is just basted on, but I wanted to fit with the weight of the skirt in place, since that can effect the fit of the bodice. I also wanted to be sure that we are in the right place with the length before I cut the lace for the skirt.

Now that we are happy with the fit in the bodice, I'm catchstitching all of the seam allowances to the underlining. I feel like we are making really good progress, but there is still a bit more to do...

Still to come:
1) Cut and sew the lace and tulle for the skirt.
2) Baste lace/tulle overskirt to shantung/organza skirt and attach to bodice.
3) Assemble lace overbodice, lapped seaming mostly by hand.
4) Attach lace overlay at CB and baste at neckline.
5) Baste elastic button loops at CB & insert hand-picked zip.
6) Attach lining at neckline and hand sew to zipper.
7) Assemble and attach sleeves. Hand fell lining at armscye.
8) Apply lace to neckline and hem.
9) Stitch horsehair braid to FF hem, hand sew hem.
10) Hem lining. Attach buttons and snaps. Consider waist stay and apply if needed.

So, there is still a lot to do, but it feels nice to have the list out there. I also have been thinking it will be helpful to have a dress form to do the lace work on, but Breanna is quite petite and my dressform is too long in the torso, so we are going to make a duct tape form for her. Fun times!

Wedding Dress Progress

No peeking, Steven!!

This picture has nothing to do with the dress. I just wanted to be sure the thumbnail didn't show up on Facebook and reveal any tidbits to the groom.

I have been working steadily on Breanna's wedding dress for the last month or so, and I wanted to show you all where we are now. I've never sewn for Bre before, so I started with some measurements, and made a very rough muslin with a small (1/2) petite adjustment right off the bat, as well as lengthening the skirt 2 inches to have it fall below the knee. I also added some fullness to the skirt at the hem.

Here is the first muslin, all pinned up. I took an additional 3/4 inch out of the bodice length above the bust, as well as 1/2 inch tucks in the neckline to eliminate some gaping there. I did a small (1/2 inch) FBA and took out another 3/4 inch below the bust, as well as raising the neckline another 1/2 inch. This baby is drafted like a Burda! The skirt was great though. I did a second muslin of the bodice only (no pictures) and took another small pinch out of the princess seam below the bust, but otherwise the fit was great.

Here is where we stand now. This will be sort of a wearable muslin that Breanna can use for trashing, rather than destroying her actual wedding dress. If you are unsure of what I am talking about, you aren't alone. Apparently there is a new(ish) phenomenon in the photography world whereby brides wear their wedding dresses in situations in which they are destroyed or dirtied. I definitely was not a fan of this happening to the real gown, so this muslin will serve as a dress she can trash, without me going into shock. It doesn't have the fullness in the skirt that the final gown will have, and rather than a lace overlay, I have just used tulle. Otherwise, the bodice details are as they will be in the final gown.

Here is the front neckline. Isn't it lovely? The final version will also have lace trim around the neckline.

In back, there is a small keyhole, which will also be trimmed in lace in the final version. The keyhole closes with small snaps. The back is closed with a hand picked zipper, which will be covered with a button and loop overlay.

Here's a little construction tidbit for you. When I first started garment sewing again, and was whining about how much I hated setting in sleeves, my Mother commented on a past post that in the atelier Chanel, they didn't ease stitch sleeves, rather they pinned in the cap ease with lots of teeny pins. At the time, I thought that sounded insane, but I'm coming around to Mlle's method. I feel like I have much more control over how the sleeve eases this way. The fullness is precisely where I want it for a perfect fit.