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Wedding Alterations!

8/24/2017

2 Comments

 
A friend who was getting married earlier this month asked me to do her wedding dress alterations.  It was a three part job: hem the front skirts shorter, create a 5-point bustle for the back, and shorten the shoulder straps.  The hemming was basic, and the bustling routine, but the shoulders were interesting, and would make a good tutorial. 

SHORTENING SHOULDER STRAPS ON A LINED AND BEADED GOWN

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First, while the bride was wearing the dress, I found the shoulder seam at the top of the shoulder, and started my pinning there.  I pinned the excess fabric out, until it fit properly. 

Then, later, I used red thread to trace the place where my pins were.  When I took the pins out, the red lines showed me my new seam lines. 
Next, using a seam ripper and small scissors, I unpicked the shoulder seam.  There were three layers of fabric that needed to part: the lace top layer needed to be cut; the satin seam needed to be unpicked; and the lining seam needed to be unpicked.  There was also a strip of gummy non-slip stuff sewn over the edge, which I had to cut through. 
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Once the shoulders were entirely separated, I pinned the outer layer (satin and lace) together at the new seam lines, right sides together. 

This picture on the left shows the multiple layers.  Right now, I'm only interested in the outer layers; I simply pinned the lining fabric out of the way.  I don't yet remove the red tracing thread. 
And here's the newly-sewn seam!  I remove the red thread just by pulling it, or snipping it where it got caught in the seam.  It's easy to see against the white. 

Finally, I turn the shoulder inside out, tuck all my seam allowances away neatly, and close the lining with slip-stitches, by hand. 
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Two important notes.  First, when I cut the lace which overlay the original seam, I had to also cut through the threads sewing some beads and sequins on.  I gently pulled the sequins and beads off so they wouldn't bulk up the new seam allowances, and tied off the threads so the beads still on the gown wouldn't fall away.  Second, I didn't trim the seam allowances down, because a future bride might have a longer torso, and the future seamstress might need those seam allowances to make the shoulder straps long again!  For the same reason, I put the leftover sequins and beads in a little baggie and kept them with the dress. 

THE BEAUTIFUL BRIDE

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2 Comments
The Sister
8/26/2017 12:25:31 pm

Very nice!

Reply
Mia Evans link
11/15/2021 07:04:57 pm

I like that you talked about pulling the sequins and beads off to prevent them from bulking up on new seam allowances. I hope that would be done to my wedding gown as well because it is somewhat hard to breathe in it. It would be safer for me to have it done with alterations to ensure that it is not too fitted to my body.

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    Karen Roy

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