Making Tiffany’s First Mockup

After the first drafts of Tiffany’s custom patterns were created, it was time to test my experiments by making a ‘test dress’ using inexpensive materials. This dress and this stage of the process are what I call the mockup (often also referred to as the muslin or toile). Though I sketched the design onto Tiffany’s silhouette and created the custom patterns on a Size-Tiffany body double, working through mockups is a risk-free way for myself and the bride to communicate design and fitting ideas in 3D on her body, while evolving and improving upon the original information. I absolutely adore this part of the custom process.

A mockup takes away all the pressure to get things right on the first try (or second or third…). Cutting, ripping, pinning, marking, practicing, and drawing all over the test dress is its purpose (and is really fun). You have complete freedom to make a mess (without fear of messing anything up) while discovering the answers to all your questions. With the knowledge and practice gained from the mockup process, the actual dress comes together with lots of confidence.

Choosing Fabrics

After testing some swatches, Tiffany and I decided that her custom wedding dress would be made from the most beautiful Ivory Silk Satin from Mulberry Silks. I was excited to work with it and knew Tiffany’s dress would be absolutely delicious in this gorgeous fabric.

But in order for the creation of Tiffany’s wedding dress in the scrumptious nearly-$100-per-yard fabric to go as smoothly as possible, I will want plenty of practice first. For my practice dress, I found a cheap polyester satin.

Often I’ll use traditional muslin as a mockup fabric, but for Tiffany, I decided to find something with a more similar weight and sheen to the real dress fabric. This dress commission was accepted as a RUSH and I didn’t know how much imagination the bride would have for looking at a muslin dress. I hoped this fabric would give us both the best chance for successfully evaluating how the real dress would look and move, so that we could move as quickly as possible through the custom process.

Cut… Prep… Assemble…

My custom patterns include no allowances. Allowances are just extra bits of fabric used to construct seams and turn back edges. To me, the stitching lines that represent the fit and design of the garment are much more important to transfer to the fabric.

With a regular mechanical pencil, I use the edge of my pattern piece to trace my stitching lines onto (a single layer of) my fabric. Then, I use my ruler to draw a cutting line ~1″ away from the stitching lines to add the allowances directly on the fabric.

Since the pattern was drafted for only half of the body, I flip the paper on its centerline and follow a similar process for marking the opposite side, creating the full side-seam-to-side-seam front bodice piece with no center seam.

I wanted certain bits of the dress to be stiffer and provide more structure than others, so I traced certain bits of my pattern onto fusible tailor’s canvas.

I did not want the tailor’s canvas to be inside the allowances or in the fullness of the bodice. As I traced around the edges, I cut and flipped the bits I didn’t want to trace out of the way.

When all the bodice pieces were cut, I heat-fused the canvas where I wanted it and started stitching everything together. Though the real dress will not have a center back seam, I added one to the mockup dress for extra fitting opportunities.

My lovely assistant Rebecca volunteered to help with the thread marking.

Marking the lines that represent the edge of the garment with thread allows you to easily and accurately fold the allowances out of the way.

Once the skirt was seamed together, Rebecca basted wide horsehair to Tiffany’s hemline…

…which was then folded on its thread marking and hand basted in place. If I need or want to make any changes during the fitting, I can quickly pull out the basting stitches to test other ideas and options.

Tiffany wanted decorative diagonal style lines on her midriff band, so I had to come up with a creative way to achieve it, or else it could get really overworked really quickly. Though I’m not one to add seam allowances to a pattern, for this, I drew internal diagonal allowances onto the pattern and fabric…

…before cutting…

…and pinning as needed while barely moving the fabric.

With delicate handling, I quickly stitched up the seams by machine.

Whew! Ready for a press!

To create more stiffness and stability to the midriff, I cut fusible tailor’s canvas to fit the band. Before adding it to the back of the fabric, I zig-zagged on some cheap plastic boning using a cording foot for my machine. The bones will eventually hide behind the diagonal stitching lines.

I finished my midriff pieces as Rebecca finished prepping the skirt…

…and I began to try the pieces on Tiffany’s body-double.

Starting to shape up!

Next up, I clipped and based back the armhole/cut-in-one sleeves on their thread marked lines before stitching the band to the bodice.

Next, the skirt got gathered onto the waistline…

…and machine basted in place.

BOOM!

To finish the mockup dress, I basted the side seams from armpit to hem. I also added a little facing for the inside of the collar, so the bride wouldn’t be distracted by the collar guts.

Isn’t she lovely!!!?

Tiffany’s test dress was ready for testing! We will be able cut, rip open, pin, and mark all over this beautiful thing to refine and improve the design and fit.

I was super excited to play with this dress on Tiffany’s body! The mockup stage of the custom process is so incredibly fun and helpful that I can’t imagine why or how anyone would sew without it!

What do you think?

NEXT POST: Tiffany’s first mockup fitting!!!

ALSO: Would you like to learn more about the unconventional way I sew by designing and drafting your own custom-fit patterns? My interactive Intro To Custom Sewing eCourse opens for registration online very soon!