Today is my 4th wedding anniversary and to celebrate I want to tell you a crazy thing about my wedding. It wasn’t who I married. He’s great and I am so happy to be celebrating another anniversary with him. The crazy thing is that I sewed my wedding dress and I totally messed it up. But, sewing my own wedding dress was a great idea!
Why sewing my own wedding dress was a great idea
I tried to buy a wedding dress; I really did. But I wasn’t impressed with the quality of the fabric or workmanship for the amount I was willing to spend. It is difficult to choose a dress when there are barely any available close to your size to try on.
I also prefer to wear dresses that are a bit more on the modest side. My mother and I even travelled out of town to try on some modest dresses but there were hardly any available in time for my wedding.
Convincing my mom it was a great idea
I wanted to sew my dress from the beginning, but my mom wasn’t convinced until she saw what was out there. One place even offered to “hem” a dress for me for $400, when they meant they would cut the tulle and leave a raw edge. So we decided to sew my wedding dress.
The patterns
I used 2 big four patterns to make my dress: McCalls M7865 and Butterick 6415 (out of print). We combined them to get the silhouette I was looking for. This is actually the last time I used big 4 patterns. Nowadays, with the explosion of even more PDF patterns in inclusive sizing on the market, I would probably choose from among them.
The underpinnings
I am not a fan of boning sewn into dresses. It’s hard to find a good quality locally and I don’t like the tendency for it to bow out when you sit. Instead, I bought a bustier and made my dress around that. Click here for the one I used and loved.
Having the undergarments I would wear with the dress and building the dress around them was a tremendous stroke of genius. If you are planning to sew your own wedding dress, I cannot recommend this enough.
The muslins
To combine the patterns, we moved all the seamlines and darts so that they would line up. Serendipitously, the patterns were actually very close and this was not too difficult to do.
We made a muslin out of Swedish tracing paper first and sewed it together to check the fit. The garment ran big so we had a lot to take in. My mom pinned out the excess and lined up the seams so they were accurately centered. We sewed these new seam lines to check them.
When we were satisfied with the fit, I traced over the new seamlines in red. I then cut down the seam allowances to all be 5/8” and took the whole dress apart. This was our new pattern.
The store
All of the fabrics for my dress came from Haberman’s in Clawson, MI. I have not been there since Covid but it was always a lovely store, especially for special occasion fabrics. This is another reason sewing your own wedding dress is a great idea: fabric shopping!
The fabrics
My husband and I decided to get married relatively quickly (8 months). Accordingly, my options were a bit limited because some fabrics were on back order and we needed a lot of fabric. I was so pleased to finally find this beautiful embroidered and sequined net for the outer layer.
I chose a bridal satin for underneath to give the dress structure. I wanted a very light pink colour but that was unavailable in the quantity I needed. We therefore used the satin as underlining for a very light pink organza. I was very happy with the effect as it picked up the iridescence in the sequins.
I might have regretted all these layers on our very hot and humid wedding day for a little while. Luckily, most of the time we were in the air conditioning. I lined the dress with Bemberg rayon lining.
The details
These pink iridescent buttons and buttonhole loop tape were also from Haberman’s Fabrics also. I love how this detail showed up down the back.
I painstakingly cut meter upon meter of the scalloped edge of my lace to trim them hem of my dress and the train. After much experimentation, I used silk thread and a wiggle stitch to attach it invisibly.
I also added a wrist loop to facilitate walking and dancing. Finially, I anchored the overskirt and underskirt together to keep everything in place and it worked a treat.
No pockets
As cool as I think pockets are, I decided not to include them. They did not suit the silhouette. Plus, I had some bridesmen with suit pockets to tote my stuff around for me!
The big oops
About a week before my wedding I was putting the final touches on my dress. I had to trim part of the train. But, I TRIMMED THE WRONG PART of the underskirt.
I have never felt stupider in my life. I immediately panicked. I had an overwhelming sense of shame. I wanted to die. I used some fusible web, some thread and some tears to patch it up. Luckily, the lace really covered my repair job.
I kept this a secret until right now. I am ready to share and recover from this great goof up.
The stress of Sewing my own wedding dress
Besides cutting the wrong part of my dress off, I actually found it much less stressful sewing my own dress than purchasing one. I liked being in control of my dress. It was going to fit me and be exactly what I expected.
I have always made my own special occasion dresses and that is actually how I learned to sew. So, it felt very comfortable. Buying a dress already made was alien and scary for me.
Notwithstanding, listen to your heart and only sew your dress if you really feel it is right for you.
How long did it take?
The actual sewing of my dress didn’t take as long as finding the pattern and making the muslins, and fitting. A lot of time was spent just thinking about what to do for certain steps. The whole process probably took 3 months at a very slow pace, once we had all of our materials.
I can’t remember exactly which parts I sewed and which parts my mother did, but I remember that I did most of the finishing work because hand sewing is a four letter word to my mom! I also know I sewed in the zipper and it went way better than I expected!
The Cost of Sewing my own wedding dress
It wasn’t cheap, but it was cheaper than buying and I liked being in charge of my destiny. I kept all the receipts and everything cost $700 USD.
The best part of sewing my own wedding dress
My favourite part of sewing my own wedding dress is not the dress at all. Although, I do love my dress! It is that I made it with my mom.
I will always have those memories of working on different parts together. I’d love to one day get it preserved in a fancy shadow box and display it because it reminds me of all the wonderful time we spent together and my special day. But, for now it is safely packed away.
Three more things about our wedding
- It was a stormy day so we took pictures at in-laws beautiful home and I really like that we got to make these memories there.
- We had our ceremony and reception at a restaurant!
- Our first dance was to the Rainbow Connection… yes, the one from The Muppets!
My top tips
- Start early, even if you are a procrastinator like me. It is hard to find materials sometimes and maybe you’ll cut the wrong part off you dress, like me! But, I hope not!
- Go dress shopping. Try some dresses on. Try on weird things and see what best suits you. Take your time in the fitting room and examine construction.
- Buy your undergarments before you sew. Once you’ve decided on a style and patterns, measure yourself with your undergarments on and then make a muslin. Build the whole dress on the foundation of your undergarments.
- Involve your loved ones. It will add precious memories to your special day! If they can’t sew, they can bring you snacks!
2 comments