Hi, I am a newbie to this site.  I have been sewing for many years, but had to take a sabattical from sewing for 15 years.  Recently I have renewed my interest in sewing.      

Here is my problem:  my mother (60 years sewing experience) and I are sewing my niece’s wedding dress.  It has a sweetheart neckline, princess seams to the armhole, front and back, and a “v” back neckline.  We employed staystitching at the neckline, as per our usual sewing method; but, then mom decided to lay the fabric on the pattern (before clipping the seam allowance) and noticed the staystitching drew up the neckline, so that the neckline is about 1/4″ lower than the shoulder line.  I told her that staystitching prevents stretching the neckline, but neither of us ever checked the bodice to the pattern again after staystitching.  No pattern instructions tell the seamstress to check after staystitching. 

Is this an expected result? Won’t the clipping help bring the neckline back to size again?  Does anyone have an idea?  Thanks for your help.