Making my first wedding dress

I finally made my first wedding dress and I’m so excited to share with you.  It has been a long process in the making.  I bought the fabric over a year ago, but there was something blocking me from moving forward with this project.  The main thing blocking me was FEAR.  The only way to get past the fear is to face it head on and just jump into the project.  I’m so happy I did.

Last year, I found an awesome online course for making wedding dresses, called Corset Academy – Online Haute Couture Classes.  I watched the free videos and then realized it was definitely worth it to invest in the online course.  I am a visual learner, so to be able to watch step-by-step how to put together a wedding dress, was super helpful.  Also for each dress video, you get the PDF pattern and written transcript.  In addition, there is a supportive forum of dressmakers, who share their work, passion, and knowledge about dressmaking.

For my wedding dress project, I followed the first wedding dress video: Dress with Whole-Piece Train.  Overall, I was really happy how my first wedding dress came out.  I wish I made it the actual size of my dress form so that I could photograph it well.  I didn’t use expensive fabric or lace appliques because this project was just for me to really work through my crazy fear of making a wedding a dress.

Let me share with you some photos of the process.  First, I cut the pattern in muslin to check it on the dress form. I knew at this point, it didn’t fit the form, but I was being lazy and didn’t feel like making pattern adjustments…HUGE MISTAKE.  At least, it looks like my dog, Lily Mae, approves of the muslin.

Second, I cut out all the fabric, the self fabric, lining, lace, and woven fusible.  The instructor, Tatiana Kozorovitsky, has such an interesting and speedy way of cutting all the fabric.  I bought all the fabric at Joann’s Fabric store.  I do wish I used a heavier lining fabric because you could see the shade difference between the bodice and the skirt because the fusible is only applied to the bodice.

Lastly, the wedding dress gets patiently sewn up.  It was definitely a labor of love with all the boning and tulle, but well worth it.

Right now, I’m working on a Crew Neck Dress with Full Skirt, that you can find the course online with Corset Academy.

Once I have some pictures, I will add them to the blog so that you can see the progress.

Happy Sewing!!!