Stay!
Well, I guess I am not as good at blogging as I had hoped because there’s been a lot of dressmaking going on since I last posted. One of my main tasks has been adding stay-tape to select seams and edges of the dress.
Preparations for sewing fabrics with stretch
There’s always a lot of prep involved once the real fabric is in play for a wedding dress. In most cases, you are dealing with clean white fabric and it is so important that it stays that way! It is imperative that a dressmaker be very precise and use the least amount of steps as […]
Today’s Challenge: Fabric with a bold pattern
The fabric that we chose for the jacket Leah is going to wear during her vows is a very stable plain weave 100% cotton fabric fully embroidered with a 3 color repeating pattern (blue vines, red leaves and small gold flowers). Fabric challenge #1: The embroidery is very bold and has small splashes of color […]
Caught Up on Blogging!
Yay! I finally caught up with myself and can talk about things I am doing NOW instead of in the past. My blog posts in the Leah & the Blog series kind rushed through in a general way about the major events of the process. From now on what I hope to do with this […]
Leah and the Blog pt. 7 (Fittings!)
Normally muslin fittings involve a lot of cutting, slashing, marking, pinning etc, while adjusting the muslin to flatter the bride and achieve that perfect fit as well as keep the integrity of the design and aesthetics. I am always cautious when I have a bride put on a muslin for the first time, warning them […]
Leah and the Blog pt. 6 (Muslins)
I feel it is a little inadequate to rush through the draping, patternmaking, and muslin-building process but I am anxious to start blogging in real time rather than retrospect. Many of the dressmaking aspects will be mentioned later when I make the dress for the final time: in real fabric! So at this point, patterns […]
Leah and the Blog pt. 5 (Draping and Drafting)
I use a combination of draping and flat patterning when making a dress. Draping is where you physically manipulate fabric (by cutting, marking and pinning) directly onto an expertly padded dress form. Flat pattern is when you use measurements and formulas to draft the shapes directly onto the paper. My method usually involves a […]
Leah and the Blog pt. 4 (Design Proposal)
Original Sketch © Brooks Ann Camper Bridal Couture Well, probably needless to say, Leah was sold on our fabric choices and I went in the next day for the purchase. I then spent many hours considering all of our favorite images and ideas, as I began to sketch. This design actually called for […]
Leah and the Blog pt. 3 (the Consultation)
Our consultation was a blast! We really got to know each other and came up with some fantastic ideas for Leah’s dress. Although our actual design was still unclear, we decided it would be some sort of vintage look of mixed eras. A little from the time period of the house (1850’s), a little from […]