Tuesday 1 November 2016

Making the Wedding Dress Toile

After looking at all the dress inspirations my DD was relying on for the final dress shape, and having purchased the Butterick pattern as the basis to create it, I was confident that I could get the dress made within a week. I calculated that it would take a full day's cutting and 3 days sewing and another day on final adjustments. With my own ability to cut and handle patterns I was keen to find out exactly how much fabric I'd really need. Patterns are usually on the generous side but it's been more than 20 years since I worked with someone else's patterns, and I wanted to know exactly how much fabric I could get away with. At $99 per metre, I had hoped I could save a few metres off of the pattern allowance of 7.8 metres. Only a toile would tell:
Straight away it was clear that the Butterick pattern skirt was exactly what she wanted, so there'd only be minor fitting adjustments. The only work was going to be in re-creating the bodice to better suit her frame (which I'll cover in an upcoming post). With the skirt on and swishing beautifully, the only considerations were lining up the pleats to match the bodice. However I knew I'd be changing the bodice so this alignment wouldn't happen until later.
After making this toile, I was so confident that I breathed a great big sigh of relief. In fact, I was suprised with how easily and quickly it was all coming together. IF ONLY I'D KNOWN that frustrated disaster was waiting for me just around the corner..

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In September 2016 I made my DD's wedding dress using the Butterick Pattern B5731 as a starting point. I then created my own variation of a semi corset with a built in bra as a replacement to the pattern bodice. I took the Craftsy online class 'Sewing Corsets' with Alison Smith which I can recommend as essential viewing for anyone interested in sewing corsets or formal wear bodices with corset elements. In fact I even received personal advice from Alison and am happy to recommend this class to anyone who's interested.
 Sewing Corsets with Alison Smith

5 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing, Esther. So I guess a toile is what we in the States would call a muslin? I'm curious -- did you find that you could indeed make do with less fabric than the pattern called for?

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    Replies
    1. Yes, I could have made it with 7 metres instead of the 7.8 called for, even whilst respecting the nape of the fabric to cut all the pieces in one direction. However what ended up happening was that the fabric we were purchasing was the last of the lot and the final bolt had 10 metres on it, so we purchased the lot. And thank goodness I had that extra fabric because I needed it when creating and re-creating the bodice. And now the leftover is being used for the wedding quilt :)

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  2. The dress is looking lovely ♥

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  3. Thanks for sharing, Esther. So I guess a toile is what we in the States would call a muslin? I'm curious -- did you find that you could indeed make do with less fabric than the pattern called for?
    wedding dresses

    ReplyDelete

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