Caitlin’s Custom Wedding Dress Fittings

Continuing the story of Caitlin’s custom wedding dress creation…

…it was finally the part of our process where she’d get to try something on!

I patterned and made a mockup “test dress” out of muslin and some lace yardage.  The dress would eventually be made using some of her mom’s wedding dress fabric, so we wanted to work out any and all changes before cutting into it.

Caitlin (and her fiancé!) met me at the Sewing Room to try on the first mockup.  At this stage, much of the dress is left unfinished and a little imagination is required.

We first fit the muslin underdress and then added the lace overlay with the collar and sleeves.  In each layer I pinned a few corrections, but the overall design and fit worked really well on Caitlin!  

After the mockup fitting

At this point in the custom process, I usually take the corrections and use them to create a second mockup for a second mockup fitting.

Since Caitlin’s first mockup fitting went so well, I was confident that it was time for the real fabrics and the real dress!

I took the corrections from the test dress and transferred them back to the pattern.  Then I used the corrected patterns to cut her mom’s dress fabric into the underskirt.  I also created a lace overskirt to cover the stains on the vintage fabric.

The top of the dress was remade with Caitlin’s choice of lace trim as the collar.  I pinned the lace overlay of the bodice to the underdress with safety pins for the fitting.  It would eventually be hand stitched together, but I wanted to leave room for changes in this first fabric fitting.

Ta da!  Cait was looking great!

During this second fitting, I made a few new adjustments fine tuning for the perfect fit and I marked a hem for the lace layer.

We left the fitting process with huge happy hugs making for an overall excellent experience.

NEXT POST:  I start the couture finishing phase of the custom process!