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From: TupJane
Date: 07-11-2005, 10:33 AM (1 of 6)
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I am in the middle of making a very simple A-line strapless wedding dress. The bride is very petite and we've altered the pattern accordingly. However, when we tried on the dress for a fitting Saturday the A-line of the skirt is very pronounced and on her very petite size and height it doesn't look as good as a straighter line might. Is it possible to remove some of the fullness in the skirt without ruining the way the skirt will hang? The material is a heavy satin that doesn't drape as well as a lighter satin might (the dress is cut from an earlier family gown). There are three pieces to the skirt - the front and 2 pieces in the back. I can take it completely apart and recut if necessary. Any ideas?
Jane
See Jane Sew |
User: TupJane
Member since: 02-04-2005 Total posts: 55 
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From: paroper
Date: 07-11-2005, 11:16 AM (2 of 6)
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If I were doing it, I would put the dress on her and basically using a drape method, alter the dress to fit her size. I would use very fine pins and pin the lines until I got a good fit and line to fit her stature. Patterns that are made for softer materials sometimes look ridiculous in siffer materials...so don't feel bad that it doesn't look like you expected. There is a wide range of stiffness even in satins. Most alterations would probably be made on the sides if the only problem was in the a-line of the skirt. I made my daughter's dress up in inexpensive saitn ($6.98 a yard as opposed to $18 a yard) to figure out what fitting and alteration problems I might run have and because she doesn't have much on top, I had quite a few surprises. I finally got a good fit on her and she announced that the future hubby to be is buying her a boob job for her birthday....now, if I had a jury of women who sewed, I could probably get off.... Basically, once the dress is cut and put together, the alterations on the dress are customizations to fit your taste and needs. I use the IBC 1 3/8 fine glass head pins on all of my satin sewing to prevent holes and snags. pam
Bernina 200e, Artista V5 Designer Plus, Explorations, Magic Box, Bernina 2000DE & 335 Bernette Serger, Bernina 1530 Sewing Machine, Bernina 1300 DC Overlock (with coverstitch) |
User: paroper
Member since: 02-03-2004 Total posts: 3775 |
From: TupJane
Date: 07-11-2005, 11:51 AM (3 of 6)
Thanks Pam. I have been patiently waiting for you to post. I have already done the pinning....just wasn't sure that it was the best solution. Sounds as though it's the same body shape as your daughter. I was quite surprised with the way the top fit! (or didn't as the case actually was). Luckily the dress is very simple with no embellishments at all. So I'm not having to fiddle with lace overlays or anything other than the actual dress and lining. I'm learning lots though!! Thanks again. 
Jane
See Jane Sew |
User: TupJane
Member since: 02-04-2005 Total posts: 55
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From: paroper
Date: 07-11-2005, 12:09 PM (4 of 6)
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Our family is known for their birthin hips...not their bustlines...sorry..but at least we are firmly planted on the ground with all that weight in the legs and hips...like wheeple people...may wobble but won't fall down. The cut of her dress is not alteration friendly. She also has a very flat back (something which I haven't often seen. Her shoulder blades don't stick out so I usually have to do some funky stuff back there too. Here is her pattern: http://store.sewingtoday.com/cgi-bin/voguepatterns/shop.cgi?s.item.V2720=x&TI=20003&page=6 The problem is that when you cut the back piece the sleeve which is built into the pattern and the back nearly touch each other. She is needing more space in the top of the sleeve (she does a lot of CPR). I have managed to put more in the top but she needs it in the bottom too...so I've elected to make the seam a LOT smaller to get the fullness so the garment doesn't pull under the sleeve.... You just have to adapt these patterns to a point where they will fit your situation. I have often had to add a little elastic to the top to make a shoulderless dress like this fit her (if you get in a bind and it just won't hug...do it...it will look so much better.) Good luck! pam
Bernina 200e, Artista V5 Designer Plus, Explorations, Magic Box, Bernina 2000DE & 335 Bernette Serger, Bernina 1530 Sewing Machine, Bernina 1300 DC Overlock (with coverstitch) |
User: paroper
Member since: 02-03-2004 Total posts: 3775 |
From: TupJane
Date: 07-11-2005, 12:45 PM (5 of 6)
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I am learning more and more about little tricks like you suggest with the elastic. I've done things like that for myself for years but when I started sewing for others, I felt as though I were 'cheating' that there must be a 'right way' to do things. Obviously the outer appearance of the garment justifies many things. I am amazed to realize that women (and men) will pay for some of the alterations that they ask for and that there are still lots and lots of people out there who will pay to have a garment made from scratch. There is so much available in ready made that for years I hesitated to offer my services because I thought people would just laugh. I love sewing. I'm sorry that I didn't build a business years ago. I've purchased a book on altering ready made but I think I need a book on pattern altering (any suggestions?) and I think I need a 'before I start your garment you need to know these things' sheet for customers to read. I've had everything from buying the wrong amount of yardage to buying the wrong pattern size combination! But I think the biggest negative is working from home where everyone (especially hubby) knows that you are! 
Jane
See Jane Sew |
User: TupJane
Member since: 02-04-2005 Total posts: 55
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From: paroper
Date: 07-11-2005, 01:02 PM (6 of 6)
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Of course you want the inside of the garment to be beautiful, but there are some easy cheats you can do to the garment to make the outside fit well without major alterations (sometimes). The problem with working from home, or even working outside the home and working odd hours is making everyone realize that you are WORKING! Not only are you working, you are running a household (in my case I was doing it with three small children that needed me) and you need your rest!!!!! The best way to do that is with a schedule. Each week I would roughly block off my time in terms of days that I planned to do grocery shopping or taking the kids out for something special..and what my work and rest time would be...then you have to pretty much make that work. When my kids were very small I did sewing when they slept at night and during the afternoons. I had an advantage because our home was small and I could watch kids and sew too (we did everything in one very large room), but I had very specific rules about my sewing equipment. I always feared that they would get hurt with scissors. Fortunately, I got pins in the feet and so did my husband, but my kids never did. I HATE alterations but truly, there is a lot more money to be made in alterations when you think in terms of time and effort involved and the prices charged (which can be quite hefty). If you want to specialize in alterations there are plenty places to "plug" in and get all you need. A wedding shop, a local high class garment boutique, a men's shop, a dry cleaners..the list is long...and just one good source can muster all the work you'll ever need. Some of these, esp. wedding and evening gown shops and men's clothing stores pay very nice prices for alterations. In some of these the salesmen do the marking, in others they just refer clients to you. If you are working in men's clothing, having them mark the clothes, have you pick them up and return them and being paid by them is probably a better way to go...safer for you (sometimes they will deliver the alterations to you.) pam
Bernina 200e, Artista V5 Designer Plus, Explorations, Magic Box, Bernina 2000DE & 335 Bernette Serger, Bernina 1530 Sewing Machine, Bernina 1300 DC Overlock (with coverstitch) |
User: paroper
Member since: 02-03-2004 Total posts: 3775 |
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