Adding and Adding

The bride fell in love with this dress because of the sash: DaVinci 50161

 

 

 

 

But what she bought was a Wtoo lapis:

The bride needed more coverage:

She ordered extra lace motifs so we could play with some sort of extensions. I thought the lace alone would be pretty as you can still see through the motifs:

Besides adding to the top edge of the bodice, the zipper will be tightened up 5/8 inch on each side. The pins show the new seam allowances.

That all important butt tuck involving all layers:

Then hem 2 layers and shorten the train and tulle by 10 inches. The trimmed away layers will be used for the bodice extensions.

 

The bride opted for a solid extension using the extra lining fabrics, 2 layers of tulle in this basic shape. I traced the shape and added seam allowances to two layers of cotton muslin.

She wanted one inch added to the top edge.

Add some seam allowances:

Let’s start stacking and sandwiching 6 layers without the final lining layer.

Once 5 layers were stitched and flipped to the right side, they were pinned to the original bodice. The new lace motifs will be hand sewn on to cover the joined edges. The top edges may need to have some twill tape added to pull the cups back into her chest and be more rounded.

Hand basted back zipper:

Grab a diet Pepsi and get pinning with a sample using a double layer of a black satin scrap. No, the final sash will be beige lining fabric and will have a row of buttons down the back like in the website photo.

The sash will be hand sewn to both sides of the new zipper placement and hand tacked along the top edge with the side seam placement spreading up and down before gathering/pleating  at the princess seam under the left bust.

  

A beaded lace motif will be attached but for this shot, I just used a regular lace one:

Keep pinning and wrapping tight as you go until you get back to the center and pin in those pleats again. I flipped the excess fabric up to show the second row of pins.

A little bit uneven and in need of tightening but you get the idea…OK, now try picturing it in beige with the edges touching.

I’ll share the final photos with you as we move along. This dress will take 8 hours of labor.

Last week, I was in San Diego with Mr. Mole’s 3 grown-up daughters and family after hosting the first week in our home.

When I boarded the plane, I knew I had 5 new brides scheduled for this week but found 4 more new ones who had left messages on the answerphone. The phrase, “if you play, you have to pay” comes to mind, so my penance for visiting the Old Town, Seaport Village, La Jolla and Balboa Park is to park my butt on the floor and pin, pin, pin for the next 2 weeks and help Mr. Mole with the veggie gardening/transplanting.

As our temps rise here on the West coast and summer seems not-too-far-away, I wish you all a great week of planning and sewing!