Final Dress for Wedding

So on my return from the NEC Birmingham I realised that I would need to do a quick practise run of the dress as I have never used the Amazing Fit Collection before.  So I got started once I had had my two days recovery time.  I cut out my pattern and from there I used some old fabric and assembled.

I them paid a visit to my mums as making alterations to clothing your in is rather challenging.  I informed her where I wanted it adjusting and from there she made the adjustments with pins and baste stitched it to the right size on her machine and I retried the dress.  Having given a small allowance for the lining to fit as the pattern did not call for a lining but I wanted to line the finished dress as it was to be a smart dress, I was happy with the alterations.

Trial dress 

So I returned home with having borrowed 'Diana' my mums adjustable manikin to help me in any final alterations on the final dress.  I used the trial dress and cut this all the edge of each seam and from there drew out the pattern with the semi allowance on paper.  I was then ready to start on Monday 28th March the dress in the final fabric.

So I cut out the ploy satin main fabric, the lining fabric and after a trip to my local haberdashery store 'Village Fabrics' in Wallingford I cut out my lightweight black fusible interfacing.  Now this was the first time I had worked with a satin fabric and most people said I was mad using a fabric I had not used before for the final dress but I always like to push myself and my knowledge if I can.  My first test was where to pin the pattern pieces to the fabric, now if you haven't worked with Satin before it is so unforgivable and if you put a needle or a pin where it will show you will see it in the finished garment as it does not heal itself like cotton fabrics do.  So I worked out I needed to pin in the seam allowance.

Cutting pattern pieces from the satin

I applied the fusible interfacing to the required pieces and then set to sewing the dress together.  As the pattern did not give instructions as how to add a lining I repeated each step that I carried out with the main fabric with the lining fabric.  In the end I ended up with two dress fronts and two dress backs which needed to be attached together.  I laid out the dress so when turn the right side out the wrong side of the dress and the lining would be together. Once the sides of the dress and the lining had been sown together the next step was the neck line.  The pattern had its own neckline pieces which I had earlier interfaced.  Once attached right side to right side the neckline was folded inside and top stitched around the neck line simultaneously attaching the neck line of the lining to the dress.  

Finished Dress

All that remained now as the sleeves, the zip and adding the hem to the dress and the lining.  In hind sight I should have also added sleeves to my practise dress as the pattern piece for the sleeve gave very little movement to the dress and as the fabric had no ease to it once I added the sleeves I found to restrictive so I made a decision and cut the fabric of the sleeves and reshaped long sleeve in the design and adapted them into short cap sleeves by adding a rolled hem on the edge of each sleeve.

I decided to add an invisible zip which as i didn't purchase an invisible zipper foot for my machine meant i had to sew the zip in by hand.  This added a handmade element to it as it added a pit of puckering at the base of the zip.  But as this was my first dress with an invisible zip in a satin material and first lined dress I was pleased with my result.  This only left the hem which I trimmed the dress and the lining to the correct length and added a rolled hem to both.   All in all it took me about 3 days from start to finish and the dress was admired at my friends wedding and I may have opened a market with friends who require alterations, dresses, baby clothes etc. All in all it was a fantastic learning process and I got myself known out there for doing craft and sewing for my new home business I'm setting up. So good all around.

Speak soon
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