Making a Couture Bridal Gown

or 

How I Spent my Summer Vacation

My DD got married on October 6, and I spent over 600 hours making her custom couture wedding gown. I drafted the patterns, tested the fabrics, fitted several iterations of muslins, both in cotton muslin fabric and later in inexpensive lace and silk-like fabrics, and finally I made the actual gown in silk charmeuse, silk doupioni, and French (Alencon) lace. This process took 12 weeks and did I mention the 600+ hours?

The inspiration for the dress came when my DD, searching the internet, spied a 1970 vintage (ouch, that word hurts when used with that date) Valentino wedding gown made with tiered Alencon lace and cinched with an obi-style belt made from striated linen.

She sent me the picture of the gown and asked if I could duplicate it, making only a few changes which she preferred. Right away 500 sewing hours flashed through my mind. I was only 100+ hours off. 

What also flashed through my mind was the memory, when the doctor told me she was a girl, of the thrill of the notion of getting to make her wedding gown someday. The day had come.

The Valentino tiered lace wedding gown is on the left and the one I made is on the right:

And here are photos of my DD (she'll be embarrassed that I'm showing her without makeup and hairdo), when she flew in for the final fitting over Labor Day weekend:

The wedding photographer has not sent the wedding proofs yet, so these final fitting photos will have to do. 

Update: here are a couple of wedding photos from the photographer's website. I don't have the wedding photo DVD/CD yet (my DD still has it), so am just posting the proofs here:

The gown has three main components, a bustier that is attached to a skirt and a separate lace peplum top cinched with an obi belt. 

The Valentino original gown was described as having a "hidden rear snap and zipper entry".  However, this dress is all about the lace, and cutting it at the back of the dress was too painful to think about. A side closure was essential, to my mind. An invisible side closure that is. But more on that later.


Here are the details:

The Bustier:

After testing various "looks" for the back of the gown (there was no available image of the back of the Valentino gown), DD settled upon a Jessica Rabbit-style bustier under the lace.

Yikes. As Kenneth King says, he has two words for this type of bustier: cast iron. Yet I persevered in the effort to challenge gravity with a bustier complete with a built-in bra. The bustier had to fit her closely and comfortably, staying in place through embraces at the ceremony and wild dance moves at the reception.

The foundation of the bustier was constructed with two layers of silk broadcloth into which narrow channels were sewn to allow for 19 pieces of gravity-defying spiral steel boning. I cut each piece of boning with wire cutters and secured smooth metal caps on each end before slipping them into the channels.

The lower edge of the bustier foundation was finished with a grosgrain ribbon waist stay.

The outer layer of the bustier comprised two layers of silk charmeuse, matte side as the public side. The innermost layer of the bustier comprised a silk charmeuse lining through which the ends of the waist stay were buttonholed. Thus the bustier was composed of 5 layers, including the dress lining to which it was attached.

This entire assembly was then attached to the completed skirt:

The nude colored slip on the dressform holds the padding on the form in place. The padding is used to mimic my DD's shape. The slip of course is not part of the gown. The mimic dressform was essential, since DD lives a plane trip away and was only available for 5 fittings, total.

Here is a view of the lining with the end of the grosgrain ribbon waist stay folded on top of it:

The side zipper was hand-picked into place, and I purposefully placed the level of the skirt waistband at her natural waist and the waist stay above it at the high waist. I did this both for comfort and to minimize the number of layers of fabric coming together at a single level in the waist area. Similarly, the peplum seam of the lace top was placed slightly above the top edge of the skirt waistband. That way, when the obi style belt was secured, it would lie smoothly over an area that was pretty much even in thickness:

In addition, the peplum seam was placed there because my DD wanted the obi belt to cinch at her high waist where her waist dimension is smallest.

The Skirt:

The skirt was fabricated as an underskirt to which tiers of the Alencon lace were hand-molded and handstitched with invisible seaming. The lace tiers are heavier than one might think; they therefore had to be secured to something that was firm enough to hold them in straight horizontal lines yet supple enough to allow the entire assembly to drape and cling to the body as DD walked down the aisle.

At first for that underskirt I tried duchesse satin, a traditional bridal gown fabric. However, it was too stiff, and I was afraid that the lace tier edges would stand away from the body, Christmas tree-like.

After making many samples I decided upon using one layer of machine-washed silk broadcloth as a foundation under two layers of silk charmeuse, matte side as the public side. This combination gave the skirt a beautiful drape and the strength needed to support the lace tiers evenly and gracefully.

Once the underskirt was made, but before attaching it to the waistband at the base of the bustier portion, I molded the tiers of Alencon lace to my DD as she wore the underskirt. Each dart (8 of them in the topmost tier) was invisibly stitched by hand, overlapping the lace motifs, stitching with hundreds of tiny fell stitches, and then cutting away the excess lace underneath.  The side seams of each tier were similarly invisibly seamed. I could not just wrap the bordered tier around the skirt since there had to be a motif centered front and back for each tier. Once the side seams were invisibly seamed, I cut around the motifs at the top of each tier and fell stitched them into place. There are literally thousands of tiny fell stitches holding those lace tiers together and affixing them to the underskirt. Each tier took nearly 24 sewing hours to complete.

A bit more about the tiers: I could not secure the lower tiers to the waistline seam because of the bulk that would be created. I also could not cut them off straight a few inches above the lower edge of the overlapping tier because the straight upper lace tier edge  would be very visible through the overlying lace tier.

I therefore cut around the motifs at the top of each tier and fell stitched them into place. Here is an example of the top edge of one of the tiers affixed to the skirt's base.

When the overlying tier is in place, there is no sharp border; the irregular edge blends into the overall lace look of the skirt.

Machine washed and dried silk doupioni, underlined with silk organza, was used for the ruffle at the bottom of the skirt. I purposefully created a deep hem so that DD's stiletto heel would not catch it as she danced. The hem edge is hidden with silk satin ribbon, densely fell stitched into place on both long edges. 

The Peplum Top:

The sheer lace peplum top was carefully molded to my DD's figure with the overlapping areas due to waist, side, and armhole darts invisibly seamed. It fits her like a glove.

The peplum was also invisibly darted with 8 darts and stitched by hand onto the bodice portion.

The armholes were enclosed with blush silk organza. I dyed 4 pieces of silk organza in various flesh-tone shades and held them up to my daughter's skin to choose the one that matched her skin tone the closest.

That way, the 1 inch bias armhole facing blends into the color of her skin underneath so that, on her, it looks no different in that area from any other area of the sheer lace bodice.

The side seams, shoulder seams, and peplum seam were reinforced with silk organza selvedge. Most couture bridal sewing guides recommend that the entire lace bodice be reinforced with silk organza or English net. I chose not to do that because it would have given a milky appearance to the top and obscured the beauty of the intricate lace.

The top's closure is on the left side; my goal was to make it as invisible as possible yet strong enough to withstand those dance moves. An invisible zipper was ruled out, as it's zipper tape would not be invisible under the sheer lace and would add unwanted bulk on top of the zipper that was used to close the bustier/skirt assembly directly underneath.

I first closed the armhole with a one-inch long side seam. For the opening below that seam, I handstitched two layers of silk organza into place for reinforcement and made an enclosed hook tape from them. I made the connecting eyes from thread reinforced with a buttonhole stitch. A single strip of silk organza, fell stitched in place on the wrong side of the lace, supported the area under these thread eyes. I cut around the motifs on the front bodice edge as closely as possible, reinforcing where necessary with hundreds of tiny hand stitches using silk thread. Next, clear snaps were stitched into place to secure the edges of the lace motifs to the bodice.

Here is what all of this stuff looks like from the outside of the gown. The first photo is of the top layer only.

The final challenge was to attach a border edge to the top edge of the bodice. As with all lace fittings, the border had to be molded to my DD's shoulders and upper body. It had to smoothly skim over the asymmetry in her shoulders, one lower than the other.

It had to be reinforced so that the edges of the delicate lace were not floppy as she moved.

It had to be seamed invisibly at the lower edge as it was split in several places to allow for the curvature and affixed onto the bodice with hundreds of tiny fell stitches. The excess underlying bodice fabric would then be carefully cut away. The lace border's upper edge had to be invisibly darted to make it mold onto the neckline curve, still preserving the shape of the scalloped edge.

Oh, and 4 rose motifs had to be centered at center front, center back, and each shoulder.

It needed to look as though it was all in one piece with the bodice.

Here's the result:

 

The neckline border was reinforced with the same dyed-to-match-DD's-skintone silk organza that was used for the armhole facings.

I cut a 3-inch-wide blush silk organza facing and seamed the shoulders. Then I traced, with white Saral wax-free tracing paper, the scalloped upper edge of the lace onto the upper edge of the silk organza facing. I trimmed the silk organza facing to within 1/8 inch of that traced edge. The edge was then turned under and fell stitched onto the upper edge of the lace border. I then carefully cut away the lower edge of the silk organza interfacing as I went along, fell stitching it to the lower edge of the border. Here's what that reinforced border looks like from the inside:

The Belt:

The obi-style belt is made from the same machine-washed-and-dried silk doupioni that was used for the skirt ruffle. I tried several interfacings from super stiff to medium weight. No matter what I tried, the large loops would crease at the belt line as the body bent forward. They would stick out, away from the body, with wear. I therefore inserted extra stiff horsehair braid (from a plastic horse, apparently) into the interfaced loops, and they bounced back into place with each move of the body. The obi belt and loops were handstitched since it was too difficult to turn a tube of the stiffened fabric.

The Shoes:
Valentino, of course!

Dressform Photos:

For the bridal gown sewing diehards, here are some of the things that I learned while making this gown:

Wedding Dress Construction Notes: Things I learned that weren’t in reference books:

Spiral stainless steel boning can shadow through the layers of white fabric. Make a sample to determine how many layers are necessary to cover the darker color of the steel boning. I catchstitched 1 inch wide strips on top of the boning channels on the side of the foundation that faces the wrong side of the fashion fabric to lessen the shadow. I only had to do this for boning channels that were not covered by the seam allowances of the fashion fabric, which were also adequate to hide the darker shade of the boning.

 Handsewing godsends:

a.      Japanese fine silk basting thread from Shibori Dragon (http://www.shiboridragon.com/Notions-Japanese.htm ). It’s perfectly light enough not to leave marks and strong enough to do its basting job smoothly. Great too for catchstitching seam allowances and marking places like center front, etc. without leaving behind any thread marks.

b.     Colonial milliner’s needles, size 10, for both silk and poly threads for the non-Alencon lace portions of the gown.

c.       Fine self-threading needle for tailor’s tacks made with fine rolled elastic. The fine rolled elastic grips the fabric better.

d.      Japanese cotton basting thread from Shibori Dragon or Waechter’s Silk Shop (http://www.fabricsandbuttons.com/ ) for thread tracing the lace. I used the bright yellow on the Alencon lace and it worked beautifully.

e.      John James No. 11 straws (milliner's needles) for hand stitching the lace seams and darts. They are small, long enough to hold comfortably, and very sharp. Perfect.

f.        Gutermann Color 21 100% Poly thread for hand stitching the lace seams and darts. It is just grabby enough to hold the seams securely without slipping and to repair any of the cut cording on the Alencon lace.

g.      Clover Patchwork Pins (fine) Article #2507. These are very fine pins, 0.4mm in diameter and 36mm (1.4 inches) long. They slip into fine silks and laces like butter without doing any damage.

A double layer of silk charmeuse is best underlined with a prewashed layer of silk broadcloth. The broadcloth softens slightly with washing,  The three layers have a beautiful hand and drape. 

Silk broadcloth makes a great foundation for a corslette but don’t prewash, as firmer is better. 

Amazing articles on sewing with lace: 

                   a.      Susan Khalje

                                    i.      Bridal Couture (book)

                                   ii.      Sewing with Lace (article), Threads #124

                iii.      In Love with Lace (article), Threads #88 

 b.      Connie Long, Luxurious Lace (article), Threads #29

 c.       Judith Neukam, Lady Lace (article), Sew Stylish Winter 2011, available on the Threads Insider site.

 d.      Claire Shaeffer, Fabric Sewing Guide (book)

To put a fine edge finish on silk organza that does not pile on the thread like a serged edge would, do a small zigzag with poly thread, placing the needle’s right swing just off the edge of the fabric.

a.      Machine settings:

                                      i.      Stitch selection: zig zag (#8 on Janome 6600)

                                      ii.      Stitch Width 2.0

                                     iii.      Stitch Length: 1.0.

b.      Then carefully use a rotary cutter to trim any of the hairs that may poke out too far.

Invisibly handsewing the lace darts:

a.      The dart legs are marked with that wonderful Japanese Basting Cotton in a bright yellow.

b.      Place the dart in front of you and study it to determine the best pathway to cut through it. This may mean that you cut past the dart leg into the body of the garment a bit. Be fearless in doing this, even though it flies in the face of everything you’ve ever done when trimming dart allowances. It’s not the same thing at all. The small excursion into the body of the garment will all be hidden in the dart overlap.

c.       Cut carefully with small, sharp embroidery scissors. Leave 1/16 inch seam allowance on the edge that will be appliqued on top where possible. This does not always happen when two reembroidered motifs abut each other and you must cut exactly in between them.

d.      Lay the fabric down in front of you on a small gridded cutting mat. Make sure the mat is clean and free of any marks before doing this.

e.      Align the leg of the dart that will be the underlayer of the dart along one of the lines of the cutting mat.  This is particularly important if part of that basted mark has been cut away in Step c. above and will be invaluable when you align the dart legs in Step g. below.

f.        Secure the lace on that side onto the cutting mat with a couple of pattern weights so that it does not wiggle away when you position the top layer over the underlayer.

g.      Carefully move the layer that is to be on top over the underlayer, aligning the dart leg of the top layer with the dart leg (and, coincidentally, the line on the cutting mat that is directly under it) on the underlayer.

h.      Secure the overlapped edge with pins to hold it in place. These pins will point from the top of the dart to the point of the dart.

i.        Now, with many pins placed perpendicular to the long axis of the dart, secure that dart closed. These pins should be placed 1 to 2 mm apart the length of the dart along the corded edge that will be hand stitched into place with dozens of tiny fell stitches per dart.

j.        Fell stitch the dart closed along the corded edge of the top lace layer, tucking in the tiny seam allowances as you go.

k.       Remove any remaining pins, flip the piece over, and carefully trim out any of the loose underlayer, leaving about 1/8 inch seam allowance. Go slowly and position your finger between the under and top layers ensure that each snip only cuts the underlayer only.

l.        This process takes 40 minutes to 1 hour per dart.