Making the Dress: The Finale!

Hello there!  

It's me again.  And as promised, I'm wrapping up my little series about my adventures in making my own wedding dress.  First of all, it worked out!  I'd be crazy to say I wasn't a tad worried that it would be a total flop and I'd be rushing to a bridal salon at the last minute to find something to wear.  Thanks to starting early, lots of design editing, and many late nights by my Aunt Donna (she's a superhero), my dress was aisle-ready!  Not only that, I LOVED it.  Truly.  It was worth all of the long hours and major minor setbacks.  


About those setbacks.  I already told you about almost running out of fabric, and about the lining issue (see Part 3), but that was nothing compared to the zipper malfunction the week before I was supposed to wear it.  We had a lovely invisible zipper in the side of the dress, lined up perfectly.  But of course, when I tried it on, the zipper refused to zip past the big seam at the waist.  We tried multiple tactics to get it up, but nothing worked.  We knew that even if it eventually worked, the last thing we wanted was for me to be stuck safety pinning my dress on my wedding day because it malfunctioned again.  Aunt Donna didn't want to switch to a different zipper (because the invisible one looked so perfect with the ruched style of the dress), but I said I would rather have a construction zipper in it, than be stuck fussing with it on my wedding day.  Soooo, my Aunt Donna saved the day by getting a new (sturdier) zipper, which still looked great and eliminated a potential disaster of epic proportions.  (We're the only ones who know what it looked like before anyway!)


So here you go, the final photos and the day of the big reveal!  HUGE thanks to Jamie (Jamie Delaine Photography) for capturing the dress and the day perfectly.  


Putting the pieces together:

Slight sweetheart neckline in the making (sideways!):

Hand-gathering the top layer of the skirt (the dress was 4 layers in total - 2 sheer, 2 cotton lining):

Can you count the pins?:

Can't wait to see it done (ps thanks for the shirt Jamie)!

This is what I mean by editing the design (please excuse the brown tank top): 

Straps try #1 - not a fan of the shape it's creating.

 Try #2: better, not great - too wide.

 Try #3: Very close!  Slimmer and more gathered to match the rest of the dress.

And now - the finished product!  Complete with a rhinestone belt from Tessa Kim on Etsy - just to give it that extra something - and my sparkly Toms.  For more photos of the day, visit Jamie Delaine's blog.

Getting ready to put it on:

Backyard shots:

How the back turned out in the end:

So there you have it, my dress-making adventure!  Even though most of the stitching and cutting and ruching was by me, I can't give enough credit to my Aunt Donna (can you tell?) for her guidance, patience, commitment to my dreams, and long hours of hard work.  This was an impossible task without her.  And she did much more than just help with the dress - but you'll have to wait until my next post to see where else she worked her magic :)  Next up, my favourite wedding-day details!

Making the Dress: Part 3

Well, friends, it's in one piece!  Still not a finished product - but closer than ever.  Just some hemming and fitting, and it will be aisle-ready!  I love it.  Of course, now that it's together, these Making the Dress segments will be on hold for a while (97 days til the big one!)  Until then, here's a few recents.

This first one represents the whole process - one big journey in problem solving.  We laid out the fabric, took the first cut for the skirt, and then my wise Aunt suggested we measure the rest before making any more cuts.  We did, and had JUST enough for what we needed...that is, until I realized, "we only measured for the skirt!  What about the bodice??"  Uh oh.  So this is a picture of the back of the bodice pattern, which needs to fit on that piece of fabric.  I said I felt like Jesus with the 5 loaves and 2 fish - making a miracle happen.  

But of course, we made it work.  Here it is in pieces!  Aunt Donna told me that this is the part she never lets the bride see.  Oh well, I was happy!  Even though we had put in around 18 hours before even turning on the sewing machine...

No, I didn't hand-stitch my dress.  But I feel like I did with all that basting.  Many parts I actually cut and basted twice, because my Aunt had a nightmare about the lining we had been using (literally) and decided it was all wrong, so she decided to get a different kind and start again.  She was totally right - what we have now is much better, so I was willing to baste the night away.  

Finally, the machine is running!  Here I am putting the first 2 pieces together.

Yay!  Now, it's hanging up for a while, so that the bias of the skirt stretches out - I had no idea that was an important step - glad I'm not doing this alone! (thanks Aunt Donna!)

Making the Dress: Part 2

Next up, pattern making!  Now that we have the design and the perfect fabric (it seriously thrills me!), it's time to create the pieces to be sewn together.  My Aunt Donna pinned some scrap fabric around me to determine fit and shape.  Then we laid the fabric out onto  a roll of paper.  Because the bodice involves some gathering, we cut the pattern into thin strips and then spaced them out on the paper.  This is so we have the proper proportions, but also enough fabric once it's condensed (gathered) - so smart!  Warning: this step took a few hours - if you plan on making your own dress, be prepared to put in 10+ hours before you even plug in the sewing machine!  And always, always, always measure twice and cut once (if I had a nickel for every time I've heard that!)  

Stay tuned for part 3!

Making the Dress: Part 1

As promised, here is the first of several posts over the next few months - my adventures in wedding dress making!  Before I begin, I must mention that I am NOT doing this alone...oh my goodness no.  I'm definitely not a professional (or even close).  I've been blessed with an amazingly talented aunt who is guiding me through this whole process (she's the pro!)  Thanks Aunt Donna!  


The first step is really gathering ideas/inspiration and sketching my design, but that would reveal too much at this point.  Maybe I'll do a prequel sometime!  For this post, I'm jumping in at buying the fabric.  I gathered the girls together on a Saturday afternoon, and even though a blizzard threatened us to stay home, we braved the 401 for a day in Toronto's fashion district.  I didn't pick a specific store, but I knew that heading to the corner of Queen and Spadina was where we should start.  We went into the first store we saw, and that's where we found it!       

 Leo's Textiles was wall to wall bolts of bridal fabric with lots of sweet Asian ladies bustling around (their fluffy dog was sleeping on the floor near the front door!)  You won't believe this, but the first bolt of fabric I pulled out was EXACTLY what I was looking for.  Then a lovely lady named Suzy led us directly to the right fabric for the bridesmaids dresses*!  Really!  So in 20 minutes we picked it, paid for it, and packed it up!

We even asked Suzy if she would take a picture with us - she was so cute and excited to help "such beautiful girls"!

That's me in front of the store holding my bag full of fabric!

I really couldn't have planned a better experience - it was lovely.  I was soooo happy!

Mmmmmm, plus we had my favourite fast food - Chipotle Mexican Grill - for dinner. And to top it all off, I got the cutest text from Bryce asking if he could rent us a movie and have some snacks ready when we got back.  Of course we would!  Here's his handiwork - complete with 27 Dresses ready to play in the background!

That's all for part 1!  Next up, making the bodice pattern!

*Did I mention we're also doing the bridesmaids dresses?  The fabric is the same for all, but each girl got to choose their own design - they will look fabulous!  (oh, and did I mention they've only paid $30 so far?  yep.  Might be $10 more for the lining...)