Everyday Art Work: Wedding Dress Alterations

This as a Masquerade ball gown/wedding dress.

I don't alter clothing very often. Usually I sew them from a pattern, but Renee was given a dress for her wedding that had gone through 4 previous owners. I have pictures of the past 2.

Kaitlynn wore it first to a formal dance. She is quite tall and the length was perfect. The picture was taken by her mom, Kimmi, who is a photographer.

Kimmi Sue wore it last for "Mom Prom." This is a fundraiser where the ladies dress up for a formal dance and have a blast. As you can see...Kimmie is vertically challenged and almost a foot shorter than her Amazonian daughter. Just kidding. Kimmi was about 8-10 inches to short for the dress and used lots of pins to tighten it to fit.

Renee was on a budget and a free dress that could be altered was a blessing, however...her color scheme was black, white, and red. Oh... and she loathes pink!!!! So this is what we came up with...

First, Renee sent it to the cleaners to get most of the dirt off the hemline. I had to cut the burned area off, Fortunately it was in the bottom 5 inches that I planned to cut off.

The hemline was about 2 inches up inside of the dress and it as gathered. I'm not wild about stitching gathers, but I had to do it. There were also 3 layers: the lining, the Satin outside, and the netting.

After I got it cut, I had to rip out the zipper and replace it so it would take in the waist 1.5 to 2 inches. My Nana taught me to do zippers as a teenager when I made my first dress.

I had Renee come for a fitting and by taking in the zipper, I didn't need to mess with the ribbing. YEAH! I could then go ahead and stitch up the bottom using a blind stitch and gathering it at the same time. I think it turned out well! By cutting off 5 inches and hemming another 3 inches, it became the perfect length for Renee.

Re-Hemmed

Renee wanted a strapless gown, so I un-stitched the straps, and restitched the top where the opening was. I also fixed a little of the trim work that was pulling off. Looks good so far!

NOW...How to eliminate some of that PINK??? First thing was to make a new satin BLACK ribbon to tie the dress with! I had some leftover scraps of black from Ashlin's costume a few years ago, so it was an easy fix.

But how to change all the trim? Or, at least most of it? I had a permanent black fabric marker that I used in quilting. (Never use a regular permanent marker as sweat can make it run.)

I practiced on a strap that was removed first and showed the bride. She decided it looked fun and she would finish the dress as she would be bored and need something to do.