If you’re doing bridal gown alterations for clients, at some point you’ll probably be asked to salvage a gown that someone else has already worked on.  A bride called my studio at the end of July, a week before her wedding, and asked if I could see whether anything could be done to make her gown fit better.  She said the gown was originally several inches too big.  The bodice had been taken in, but now it was way too tight at the top while it was loose at the waist.

Here are some photos of how the gown looked when the bride brought it in, showing several issues I hoped to correct in addition to improving the fit. The “jog” along the top edge, created when the side seams were taken in, needed to be smoothed out. The gown had a layer of Alencon lace with Venise lace appliques on top, crossing the seams.

The Venise lace was sewn into the seams when the bodice sides were taken in, instead of being lifted and reapplied across the new seamlines. The satin belt was positioned 1/2” above the waist seam instead of being seated at the seam (the ruler in these photos is aligned with the waist seam).  Also, the belt wasn’t extended under the buttons.

And opening things up to look inside, here is what I found:

Part of the reason the bodice was too tight at the top is that the side seams were curved inward.  This may also have been the reason the top edge seam was not trued up.

I was happy to see that the Venise appliques weren’t completely cut off when the seams were trimmed.

There was just enough fabric left in the side seams to let the bodice out at the top enough to gain the amount needed for a more comfortable fit.  I had to open the side seams up completely to release the Venise appliques so they could be reapplied across the seams.  I straightened the bodice seams all the way up (recalling Ruth’s reminders that a bodice should be funnel shaped), and that brought things back into alignment enough to allow me to true up the top edge seam.

After taking the gown in at the waist (and altering the skirt layers to fit back on correctly), the satin belt needed to be shortened.  Since I had to remove it to do that, I moved it down to align it with the waist seam.  I also extended it beneath the buttons at center back.

Debra Utberg said on the Discussion List recently that our goal with alterations is for the work to be undetectable.  I felt pretty good about the way this turned out, given what had already been done to the dress. 

And that is what I was doing while you were all working on finishing your Threads Challenge projects!

Written by Tina Columbo