Now here is a treat for all of you who are tired of strapless revealing dresses!
I didn’t even know that the salon carried something so timeless and modest and feminine as Wtoo Kensington :
On the model, it is perfection, on my bride is just needs a little tweaking up top and a one point bustle.
Can you see what I see? Check out the hem…does the left side look like it is dragging? How could that be? Surely everything was cut perfectly and stitched well? Ah…no.
What we discovered is that that left side is 3-4 inches longer than the rest of the dress so I pin out the excess for adjustment.
Here is the chunk that has to be eliminated… all between the two red thread tracing lines.
First decide where to cut:
Slide the motifs up and pin and machine stitch:
One other area to reduce is the underarm seam of the sleeves. Pinned out and ready for basting. Thankfully it was not a French seam!! What you can’t see are the darling covered buttons in a row at her wrist.
The back neckline flared away from the brides back, so I made a tuck on both sides just behind the shoulder and stitched it down by hand.
To top off this romantic dress a bride needs a really long veil! It took 2 hangers to hold all the folded tulle…about 12 feet long.
Now that the nights bring frost warnings, the succulent tower has been moved into the garage for the winter along with fuchsias and the lime tree. Mr Mole has been busy planting for the winter outside under plastic and has been experimenting with growing lettuce in his study with the grow light.
Ever wonder how permanent pleats are made? Here is a gentleman who knows all about it.
Now the rush to get everyone on the Christmas list taken care of…and maybe get all the cards mailed before Dec 24!
Thank you for all your comments last time!
Happy Holiday Sewing!!!
fit for a queen 
How nice for a change – what a beautiful dress!!!
And such a lovely bride to work with as well! Win/win!
That is a really pretty dress and she has the figure to wear it.
Did you make her veil or did she buy it. I love stitching the lace to those long veils. I only do it for brides I know but it is just very relaxing. My girls had veils like that and then we used the lace for their Christening gowns.
I’ve never been asked to attach lace to a veil but I see lots of them some glued and some sewn. Seeing as all we have in town is a ratty JoAnn’s there is not much lace edging to choose from!!!
It always intrigues me how much you can do with altering lace – it somehow disguises all the changes and looks fresh and fitted. And I love the sleeves on this dress. It’s so much more elegant and sophisticated, to my eye, than all the fleshy stuff. And the colours of your succulent arrangement is very classy too.
Thank you, Kate…yes lace should not be too scary…it really makes altering a lot easier than it looks as you almost…almost can’t make a mistake…ha ha! Succulents have been quite popular for home decor since they don’t need much fussing and good for those who forget to water them. Of course, like most things in the Moles’ garden, they grow way bigger than normal!
What a beautiful dress. You are so right about this being a refreshing change from the strapless bare numbers. How does a factory get the lengths so uneven? Guess it’s mass production. This one must have been a joy.
I have found most dress are at least an inch or 2 off from left to right side. If you measure the side seams of wedding gowns, they are never equal…wishing they were so we could take the same amount off all the way around…but fate does not treat us well.
What!?! You mean she doesn’t want the whole torso tightened up so she can only wiggle-walk? Where did you find such a sensible bride? Beautiful!
We got lucky!!! She even said she wanted ease to walk and get up and down in a chair…too sensible!
Oh this dress is absolutely exquisite!!! And yes, it’s lovely to see a modest dress that’s so gorgeous!!! The bride will be so pretty on her special day.
No yanking the front of the dress up all day either!!!!
It’s how much longer. ??…..(can’t stop laughing to type) on one side? I’m going to stop sweating the 1/8″ misaligned hems. Kate is right, lace is infinitely more forgiving that I’d ever thought. It looks so intimidating, and you break it down so well. I think there’s some genius here on your part.
And the lettuce is beautiful, too.
I hope your holidays are full of good family and leafy lettuces.
The holidays will certainly be filled with leafy greens…none of our 6 kids and 11 grandchildren live near us so there will be lots of video calls instead. Hope you and your family have the best of times with lots of yummy seasonal foods!
Such a beautiful dress. You always make everything look so effortless, but I know it is not! Bravo.
Actually Cindy, after you have done the same alteration about 50 times…it really is easier. Sort of like if you make pies…the first couple are hard but after 50…you can do it with your eyes closed…well almost!
It is a beautiful dress – which will be made even more so once you’ve worked your magic on it! Thank you so much for the pleating link – rather serendipitous as just last weekend I attended a pleating workshop at the last pleating business left in my city (Melbourne, Australia), and it was just fascinating. Reading about Kyri and seeing all those beautiful pictures was wonderful.
I remember a professor telling me about a pleating company in Los Angeles and how the styles were almost secretly guarded. I always wished I could go there and sniff around but the best we could do for a field trip was to visit an interfacing factory and swimsuit factory.
What a lovely dress, graceful but still with the ‘wow’ factor.
I am shocked at the irregularities you had to fix. But I obviously shouldn’t be ; )
To reassure my brides when this pops up, I just say, “it doesn’t matter how much you paid for your dress…this is common” so they don’t feel like they should have spent more.
That’s nice.
Beautiful dress! It’s so refreshing not to see something that doesn’t look like the icing bag as you roll it up tight to squeeze the contents through the piping nozzle.
That is the best description of a too-tight garment that I have seen in a long time — particularly appropriate when you think about the sort of cake that typically accompanies any wedding celebration.
HA ha…perfect description, Jay! When a bride has to exhale for me to get the zipper up, that’s the limit!
What a beautiful modest dress! Such a pleasure to see this pretty dress on the bride. I love the details of your alterations. Thanks, as always, for posting, Mrs. Mole!
My pleasure, Tia…but where are your sewing projects???? I always enjoy seeing your creations!
I actually haven’t had much time to sew this year, sadly. But I’m determine to make a few things before year’s end!
Oh!!! My succulents are still outside!!!! Thanks for the reminder. Beautiful dress, this is what I would choose for myself!
It certainly makes a sleek line for a modern bride!
So pretty. If only the flesh barers could be convinced weddings would be so much more attractive 😉
Your eye for total perfection and symmetry makes me hang my head in shame.
Yet another exquisite fitting and the most beautiful of dresses – less is definitely more!
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