Project Wedding Dress: Finale

Would you like to get a good look at the final project?

I went from this muslin . . .

Image is my own

. . . to this dress.  What do you think?

Image by Love Joleen Photography

The dress is made from 100% dupioni silk ordered from Fabric.com.  If you remember, I really wanted a peach shade and this color turned out to be perfect.  You also can't beat the texture of dupioni silk.

The fabric was pricey so I skimped a little on the yardage.  That meant I had to cobble together the cumberbund waist overlay and I was not able to make the effect as pronounced as I wanted without sacrificing length.

Image by Love Joleen Photography

Here is what I have learned about sewing my own wedding dress:

• Muslining is essential--if for no other reason than that it will make you less nervous to cut into the pricey fabric.
• If you want silk, go for silk dupioni and make peace with texture.  That way you can throw that sucker in the washer and dryer.  Which I totally did.  Twice.
• It might be worth it to shell out the cash for a half yard more than you think you will need.
• Petticoats are a pain in the ass.  I made what I guess is called a can-can slip for this dress which was a lot less involved than your traditional petticoat style . . . but still.  PITA.
• Don't skip the horsehair braid hem.  I did and it made walking way more difficult than it had to be.
• Plan for more sewing time than you think you will need.

Image by Love Joleen Photography

The wedding is long since over and at this very moment my wedding dress, that I slaved over, is draped unceremoniously over some shelves in our bedroom.  It's too long to hang in the closet and the attached petticoat means it really can't be folded.

I have plans though . . . and those plans include taking it apart.

Stay tuned . . .  Project Wedding Dress is about to become Project Something Else.