How to Make a Homemade Short Wedding Dress
A wedding dress, at its simplest, is a formal dress that is white or off-white, worn by the bride on her wedding day. If you're skilled at sewing and have the time, a cost-saving alternative to an expensive bridal gown is to make your own. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Dress pattern
- fabric
- sewing machine
- thread
- scissors
- tape measure
- Dress form (optional)
Instructions
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Pick your design and pattern
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Before you can make your dress, you have to know what you're going to make. McCall's and Simplicity are two large companies that sell clothing patterns. Most craft stores carry patterns and fabric.
Look for a formal dress pattern. On the cover of the pattern, it will show you the different bodice and skirt combinations you can achieve with that particular pattern. Some of the simpler patterns will allow you to choose the hemline of your dress.
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Purchase your fabric. Sometimes, the pattern you purchase will suggest the kind of fabric you may want to use. Common fabrics used for wedding dresses include silk and satin. If natural silk and satin are out of your price range, consider using polyester or a cotton/synthetic blend. Some of these blends emulate the look and feel of the luxurious fabrics. If your dress has an over-skirt or an overlay, you'd want to select a transparent fabric like organza.
If your dress has a full skirt, you will need to purchase some tulle for the underskirt.
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Measure and cut the pattern according to the enclosed directions. This directions that came with the pattern will guide you in determining your size, tracing the pattern on the fabric, and assembling the pattern for sewing.
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Place your dress over the dress form. Here, you can make adjustments and alterations. Furthermore, you can add embellishments like ribbon, piping, or bead work if you desire.
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Tips & Warnings
Before making the dress, make sure you have the measurements of the bride. You can easily go to a tailor to get professionally measured.
When you measure and cut the fabric, giving yourself extra room by measuring a little larger than the bride's current size will allow you room to make errors. Also, if the dress needs to be let out for any reason, you will have room to do so.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit The Dress image by Jenn from Fotolia.com
