Work in Progress

I have been sewing, off and on, since I was in elementary school.  My aunts and grandmother were major crafters although not in the hobby sense.  They made things because it was more cost-effective, more practical, and traditional to do so.

Sewing my own wedding dress was an option I've always had in the back of my mind.  Making that decision was pretty easy.  However, sewing my own wedding dress while incorporating structure, shaping, and some couture technique-that's pretty new.

Sewing my own clothes was easier when I was in high school because I was smaller.  I weighed a lot less and my shape was more in line with pattern sizing.  Things have definitely changed since then.  I find that now that everything up front is bigger I have to make considerable alterations to any garment I want to make.

Take this dress for example.  This Cynthia Rowley pattern from Simplicity is really cute and it is designed for a stretch knit.  Should be a piece of cake right?  Not so much.

Source

The finished garment measurements on the back of the pattern envelope were way off so I decided to make a muslin and do a full bust adjustment to be on the safe side.  This is what I ended up working with.

Not cool.  Not cool at all.  (I cut up a jersey dress I found at Goodwill on the off chance that the muslin would be wearable.)  The bodice fit okay but the neck band and shoulder straps were not happening.  These pieces are interfaced so the really don't stretch much at all.  The neckline was basically a turtleneck.  The skirt had no fullness, which made the pockets gape.  Awful.

 

This is what it looked like after some clipping and tugging pieces into position.  I need to add from an inch to an inch and a half of length to the shoulder straps, the center front of the neckband, and the sides. I also want a really full skirt so I will double the width of the skirt and gather it to fit.

 

 

 

Additionally, the neckband curves around the bust need some reshaping to correct gaping.

I think it will be really cute once I correct the fit!  I am planning to live dangerously and experiment with horizontal stripes once I have a workable pattern.

* All un-sourced photos are my own.
** I decided to name my dress form Kiki.  It's usually naked and I decided that if I was ever a stripper Kiki would be my stage name.  Kiki's doing a pretty awesome job right!