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Hello,
I would like to ask you, knowledgable sewists about my latest adventure in alterations. Please bear with me, I am new to this and trying to learn from books. I would appreciate you expert advice, however.
1.This princess line wedding dress was too snug on my frined,around the waist part the dress just bunched up(the waistline did not lie smooth). I figured, the bodice was fitted too long, besides being too tight, and I would have to let it out and fit it higher. Was I right?
2.The shoulder part was sticking up the air. I had to lower it by about 1/2″ to fit nicely. In order to turn the dress inside out, so that I can stitch on the wrong side, I opened the sideseams and the center backseam. This way, I could pull the dress through the shoulder easily, since it was basically in parts, and the stitch(shoulder seam, around neck and armscye+understitching) would not show on the right side. Was I right, or is there another, simpler way to do this?
3. No brainer (so I thought) hem alteration, but after I figured out how to stiffen the hem ( I used narrow bias wigan, I think that’s what it is called), it came out nice.
My friend has not picked up the dress yet, but I am basically happy, that I was able to put it back together and it looks better, than before. That understitching really helped to keep the lining from peaking out at the neckline.
I would appreciate any input and happy stitching,
A.J.
Replies
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A J, sounds like you did the right things. shoulders like that are awkwarad to turn and sew. sounds like you got it right. and no there is no "easy" way. on the hem, a neat finish is to mark the hem 1/2 " longer and lay horsehair braid on the top side of the dress with one edge along the line and the body of the braid on the dress side of the line - stitch 1/4 " seam and trim off along the line. then simply fold the braid to the wrong side and steam - 1/4 " of dress should be showing on wrong side. either slip stitch top of braid to lining only or edge machine stitch the hem to hold in place - latter is the industrial finish. sounds like you have gotten over the worst hurdle for altering - letting your eye and the dress tell you what needs to be done. so many try to force the book way when it may not apply. good luck and kepp on sewing. bill
*Bill,Thank you for your expert opinion! I have read many of your other postings, that I have found on this site.As I mentioned this above, I am teaching myself this beautiful, industrial artform -sewing/tailoring -, and I really appreciate all the helpful insight I can find.A.J.
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