Wedding dress shopping can be hard, and getting a perfectly fitting dress can be even harder. Too often we see brides who have tried sample dresses on at a boutique, had their measurements taken then waited patiently for their dream dress to arrive only to find, sadly, it doesn't quite fit as they had hoped.
We recently had the pleasure of working with one such lovely bride on her gorgeous lace dress. The stretch lace was intended to give a beautifully form fitting shape with little or no need for alteration. Unfortunately when it arrived she was unhappy with the fit and so approached us for our help.
At her initial consultation we identified several problems. The main issue was that the bodice of the dress was too long. This caused bunching of the fabric at the waistline on both the front and back. Infact, the dress was a little too big all over causing the neckline to gape and the the waist and hips to be a less than snug fit. The opening at the back only extended as far as the waist meaning that, despite the dress being too loose, the waist seam was being over stretched causing the stitching to break as the hips or shoulders passed through the narrowest part of the dress. The video clips taken at the fitting give an idea of how much extra fabric needed to be removed.
In order to create the perfectly form fitting dress our client was hoping for we needed to do a number of alterations. Firstly we completely separated the bodice from the skirt of the dress at the waist so that it could be re-cut to the appropriate length.
Once this was completed and the top and skirt were back together, we addressed the overall loose fit. The buttons, loops and zip had already been unpicked and we could now take the dress in all the way down through the back closure and into the skirt. We then needed to tighten the front neckline by taking it in along the seam at the sleeves so that it lay flush to the body.
The closure was extended by opening up the back seam further down into the skirt. We then added a new invisible zip before re-sewing the buttons and loops. This allowed the now even more snugly fitting dress to be put on easily without breaking any stitching! As you can see in our after photo, the result was a dress that fitted our client perfectly leaving her free to enjoy her day with no danger of bunching, gaping or bagging!
We were so happy to be sent these fabulous photos from the bride after her big day, you can read her full review below or click on the link to be taken to our google review page.
Photography by Katie Hamilton at https://www.katiehamiltonphotography.com
