184 Days To Go - The Actual Dress: Part 1

The Actual Dress (Part 1)

This wouldn't be a process if I didn't have to make major changes. 

This past weekend was busy for the dress... After resewing the ceremony skirt, sewing in the zipper, trying on my dress again, and hearing input from my mom, I decided to head in a different direction.

A few things to mention:

1. My dress is being made with Broadcloth Cotton in Eggshell. Why? Because it is an inexpensive fabric that I have experience sewing with, it's easy to work it, and I know what to expect. Not to mention it is soft and lightweight. 
2. I am adding a lot of details so I wanted my dress to be simple because the details will bring it together. 
3. My mom's input was that it was missing something. She was right. It is missing texture, which is wonderful because it brought out a whole new onset of creativity. :-)
4. Criticism is hard to take sometimes, but when it comes to something like your wedding dress, it's expected, and necessary in order to progress. I cried when I received it, but I'm so happy I got it. I don't have a board of women watching me try on dresses.  

A few more hours of sewing, and I feel much better. 

In the end, I am still right on track for where I am expecting myself to be, and overall, much happier with how it turned out. 

Basically, I created a whole new dress:

THE CEREMONY SKIRT:

I picked out a pattern for the skirt this time, because I wanted to ensure that everything would look as I intend. I chose Butterick 5325:

I wanted my ceremony skirt to be paneled, with a train that wasn't too overbearing, but circular and just long enough. 

The pattern was really long, so I ended up having to use my floor instead of my table to keep everything flat. 

 
Lots of drawing and cutting....


And a lot of pinning as well. Luckily, everything was pretty even with the pattern. Connecting was a little tricky because the panels looked the same, and it was like pieces of a puzzle.

 Without a serger, I did my double line to keep everything from fraying.

(this is the skirt fabric, but I also made one with the lining).

LOVE this skirt way more than the first one. Though it took patience, it was worth it.

 I especially love the train because it circles around the bottom, and turned out to be the perfect length.

THE BODICE:

First, I should say that the above bodice was wonderful. I was proud because I drafted it without a pattern, but it was lowcut, thick, and wasn't fitting quite right once I added the zipper. The sleeves were also a little off once I had everything else finished, and so I decided it would be best to redo this as well...

This is the pattern I found and decided to use because it is much more modest, and the bodice can be a separate pattern (i.e. attaching it to my ceremony skirt won't be a problem). I went with C, and I am still deciding on whether to add the sleeves from F. 

It was pretty simple once I got all of the patterns out. 

Everything I needed was on the same page which was so nice!

 I used the purple fabric marker that fades after 24 hours to trace the pattern and mark everything.

 After sewing the bodice pieces together, I ironed the seams down so that when it was sewn, it wouldn't be to one side or the other. 

This makes it line up better with the lining as well.

 Probably the trickiest part is pinning & sewing the lining to the bodice. 

It makes me so nervous because if they don't go together perfectly, there can be issues later. 

 But everything lined up according to plan!

 I added a double line to sew the seams of the lining and bodice together. 

 Gives it a finished and professional look. 

 I had to pin the top of the skirt to the place on the bodice that I wanted the skirt to fall. 

Because I didn't want the skirt to fall at the bottom of the bodice, I put it on, and pinned it.

 It was surprisingly simple to change out the bodice, and in the end, I am really glad that I did, because it is much more modest, and it gives me more room to add creativity to it :-)

 The back is no where near done! Because this is usually the last thing I do, I have been pinning it where it will be sewn instead of adding the zipper. 

Here are the fabrics that I picked out to add over it. 

A soft lace that moves with the material, and a crushed tulle that is so much fun! 

My creativity comes and goes in waves, but this has got to be the most exciting art project I have ever worked on. Everyday, I look forward to adding more.