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Bride + dressmaker: Allie Photographer: Meg Runion Studios |
The wedding dress is such an important part of the big day, and the right dress can make a bride feel truly special. As a sewist, have you ever considered making your wedding dress?
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Bride + dressmaker: Jasmine Photographer: Claudine Rosendale |
It was the best experience, I learnt so much and ended up with a customised dress that fitted me perfectly and had all the details that I wanted. It was one of my proudest achievements, and even won Make It Today magazine’s Dressmaker of the Year, Occasion category! This just shows what is achievable when you put your mind to it. Where there’s a will, there’s a wedding dress!
If you’re thinking of making your own wedding dress, where to begin? When I started out, I spent ages trawling the internet for advice. Here I’ve compiled a list of top tips from my own experience and those of other home sewists who have made their own fabulous and varied wedding dresses. Hopefully this will save you a bit of stress and encourage you to go for it!
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Bride + dressmaker: Jasmine |
Part of the reason I was able to make my dress was that I knew I had time on my side. I had about a year between deciding to make my dress and the wedding day. I spent the first few months developing my sewing skills before planning out my dress, and finally bought the fabric to start sewing the final dress about four months before the wedding.
It meant that I could take my time and get that perfect finish. I was able to work on intricate details like hand stitching the bias binding of the neckline and armholes, and making rouleau loops which was rou-lly fun!
It also makes the process much less stressful. One thing you don’t want to be doing the day before your wedding is unpicking a rushed wonky hem!
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Bride + dressmaker: Melanie Photographer: Todd Hunter McGaw |
One of the best aspects of making your own wedding dress is that you can make it truly unique to you and your style. I browsed many images of wedding dresses, but none of them had quite the right neckline that I was looking for. Making my own dress meant that I could modify the pattern to exactly what I wanted.
Why not take the opportunity to express your personality and come up with something non-traditional? Melanie wasn’t afraid to add a bit of colour to her stunning wedding gown. Her gorgeous peach and gold dress was inspired by an Elie Saab design, and she found two Marfy bridal patterns – one for the bodice and another for the skirt – that, combined, would create something similar.
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Bride + dressmaker: Allie Photographer: Meg Runion Studios |
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Bride + dressmaker: Alice Photographer: Marlena Gibas |
My mum always told me that practise makes perfect, and I hate to admit it but she’s right. Fit is so crucial, particularly for most form-fitting wedding dresses.
The best way to achieve the perfect fit is to start off by making a toile. A toile (or muslin) is an initial mock-up of a garment made in cheap fabric so you can check and alter how the pattern fits your body before cutting into your nice fabric. I have a big roll of cheap unbleached cotton in my fabric stash that I use for this purpose.
My dress was fairly simple, so I only made one toile. But for more tricky designs, it is definitely worth making a few until you’re 100% happy with the fit. Alice (pictured above) started off with a Simplicity 2959 pattern, and then over the next ten months made toiles with numerous adjustments before she settled on her final design. While it may seem like a lot of work, it's worth the extra effort to end up with a bespoke dress that's exactly tailored to your shape.
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Bride + dressmaker: Yasmeen Photographer: Justin Harris |
Making your own wedding dress can seem incredibly daunting at first, but you’ll soon realise that it’s just a dress. At the beginning of my dressmaking process, I found it really difficult looking at a wedding dress and visualising how it was constructed. But once you break it down, all the individual components are fairly straight forward. My dress was basically a half-circle skirt, strapless bodice, and lace tank top overlay. Simple!
You can do the same with something more complicated. Yasmeen had an excellent strategy where she broke down the process into smaller steps. Her dress used a combination of three patterns: one for the skirt shape, one for the under bodice, and another for the bodice lace overlay. She made sure to adjust the patterns so the seams all matched up at the waist. She then made lists and ticked off each step as she completed it. And as you can see, her excellent organisational skills paid off!
If you find yourself struggling with a technique, there’s no need to panic as there is a wealth of knowledge out there. Don’t forget that before the dawn of fast fashion, everyone had to make their own clothes, so it’s not rocket science. I started off by signing up to Craftsy classes and buying sewing books, which gave me a good knowledge base to start from.
Alice was also a self-taught novice sewist when she embarked on her wedding dress. She recommends searching online sewing forums such as patternreview.com, where you can get great advice from experienced dressmakers who are more than willing to impart their wisdom on us lowly novices.
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Bride + dressmaker: Allie Photographer: Meg Runion Studios |
5. Have fun!
Remember, it’s just sewing, and what’s the point of sewing if you’re not enjoying it? Because of the delicate materials usually used and the pressure to achieve a special finish, a wedding dress is always going to come with challenges. Chose a pattern or style that you know will be achievable, something you know won’t stress you out. It is a wonderful experience, so make sure it doesn’t become a burden.
Allie chose a Simplicity 5343 pattern that was similar in style to previous sewing projects that she had worked on. The individual components of the dress she was familiar with – a scoop neck bodice, a pleated skirt, and a little three-quarter sleeved jacket – so she felt confident that she could make it. The biggest challenge for her was constructing the jacket, which was sewn entirely by hand for a seamless, couture look. It took many late nights, and she had to be careful not to prick a finger and ruin her lovely jacket, but she got there in the end and enjoyed the process as well as the amazing sense of achievement at the end.
So those are our top tips on making your own wedding dress! If you've got a wedding on the horizon, I hope you feel inspired to get sewing. It can certainly be a challenge, but that is part of the fun and a great way to learn new skills. If you do decide to make your own wedding dress, I know you won’t regret it.
Have you made your own wedding dress? If you have any more tips, please share them in the comments!
Here are some resources you might find useful (some of these are affiliate links):
Books:
Bridal Couture by Susan Kaljie
Couture Sewing Techniques by Claire Shaeffer
The Sewing Book by Alison Smith
Sew Many Dresses, Sew Little Time by Tanya Whelan
Websites:
Patternreview.com
Craftsy classes:
Couture Finishing Techniques by Alison Smith
Couture Dressmaking Techniques by Alison Smith
The Essential Guide to Sewing With Lace by Alison Smith
Burda courses:
BurdaStyle Academy Wedding Dress Courses