Alterations of a corset bridal gown

9/6/2020

Here's a beautiful view of my sewing studio when I was working on this wedding gown. The bride came to me in March for her wedding in June, but unfortunately, the wedding had to be postponed twice because of the Corona lockdown here in the Netherlands. Yesterday was finally her big day and the dress was perfect!

I shall tell a little bit more about the alteration process below.

I shall tell a little bit more about the alteration process below.
At the first fitting, the dress was one size too big and the weight of the whole dress was hanging on the two fragile tule mesh shoulder seams.
So first I took in the waist at both side seams and second I made a grosgrain waistband that I hand sewed on the inside of the dress.

For taking in the two side seams I had to remove the boning first. after sewing the new side seams I asked the bride to come back for a second fitting. I needed to check whether the bodice was fitting right because I had to trim both side seam allowances to 2-3 mm in order to sew the ribbon and the boning back on. After trimming these seams there's no way back so a double check is in its place :)

The Bride lost a little bit of weight so I took in the dress a little bit more in the side seams. I placed the boning back and the corset base was now the right size. After that, I had to take in the same amount of the side seams of the tule mesh layer. In order to do this, I needed to remove the lace pieces on the bodice first and afterward place them back again and hand sew them in place.

Once this was done, I made a grosgrain waistband from a Petersham ribbon, with a bra closing attached to it. By adding this waistband, the dress is supported in the waist and 'stands' on the waist rather than hanging on the tule mesh shoulder seams.

The inside fabric of the corset was a bit rough so I added a silk satin layer in the bust area, which I made by first drawing a pattern for the corset pieces and then sewing it in the corset by hand with tiny stitches.

The lining of the skirt needed something extra at the waist area so I added a piece of silk organza under it as an extra interlining.

Last but not least I needed to shorten the two tule skirt layers which took 1,5 hours each of cutting. I can recommend a large and sharp pair of scissors doing this kind of job. You can see the end result in the picture below and I also made a youtube video explaining the process.

3 Comments

John Luke link

3/5/2021 11:33:02

Great!
It is a great blog post. I am always read your blog. Helpful and Informative blog. Thanks for sharing this information with us.
Thanks For sharing.

3/5/2021 11:34:12

Mia Evans link

8/16/2022 07:07:18

I like that you talked about how the gown can be one size too big and how the weight of the dress is hanging. I have that issue with the dress I got for my special day, since I found it online for a low price. So I might need alteration services to make it fit perfectly with my body and show my figure well.

Alterations of a corset bridal gown

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