Wedding dress updates and progress! Part 2

Wedding dress updates and progress! Part 2

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• 4.24.2011

(Avert your eyes if you're waiting till the end for the big reveal!!)

Like I said, I'm making my wedding dress and am happy to post pics as we go.  The process is taking a while since I'm only working on it at my mom's house on the weekends.  My parents live 45 minutes or so away and I've been going out there on Saturdays or Sundays to do the wedding dress and help my mom get ready for the civil war reenacting season.  She has a business making historical clothing and is VERY busy this time of year!  But it's lots of fun to work on the wedding dress there with her nearby, and get her help on the tricky parts.  She is a cutting-out expert.

Anyway, if you want to be surprised when the dress is done, wait till I finish it next month or till August when I can post pics of the wedding!!  If not, here's part 2 of the process!!

I assembled the lining of the skirt, gored with 6 panels.

I put the skirt on the mannequin, which just makes it so much more fun!  I draped all four of my sheer tulle layers (grey, ivory, pale pink, and shimmery peach) onto the mannequin and tied a ribbon around the waist.  Just to get an idea of the look...
I plan to do self-fabric embellishment with little flowers and all, but still haven't decided if I'll add some lace as well, so I threw some on there to try out also.

Then it was time to assemble the bodice.  I did an "interlining," which means I put the lining and fashion fabric (in this case the first layer of the fashion fabric, since I plan to cover it with tulle shirring) together and sew them right sides together.  I serged each of the pieces along the long seams before sewing them together so I can insert the boning in the seam allowances.  I pulled out my mom's box of corset boning... plastic-covered steel...

See, I just inserted the boning in the seam allowance!!  I'll put some in the side seams as well.

I also took a little horizontal dart in the center front of the bodice to make the bust fit better--there's a gap there with this pattern otherwise, and on a wedding dress, I thought it really should fit.  Vintage dresses often have this dart, actually.

Anyway, next I gathered three layers of tulle, together (not all four like the skirt will have, don't want to add too much bulk).  I cut rectangles the width of the bodice and ran gathering seams down the angled seams.  I pinned the sheer layers onto the grey pieces.  It was a bit of a pain to get them all to lay flat.

Then I sewed the front and back together at the right side seam (I'm going to put a side zipper on the left rather than a center back zipper).  I also put a belt of strong, sturdy linen in as a reinforcement.  I basted it to the bottom with big stitches to keep it in place.

Ta-da!  Here it is on the dress form.

Yay!  A shirred bodice and a plain gored skirt.

Next up: gathering all the layers of the skirt and putting them on.  Then sewing the bodice to the skirt.  Stay tuned for more updates!!