I’m back with some more wedding dress progress! We looked at the bodice last time and now I have the skirt sewn and the dress is nearly complete! It feels so good to see this project come together and I am really proud of myself. I love that I designed and sewed my own wedding dress! I think my younger sewing self would be so impressed that I pulled this off.
I am loving this apricot embroidered tulle so much, it feels like just the right amount of fancy and whimsical for me. If anyone is interested, I got it from this seller on Etsy. It’s been pretty easy to work with and it layers over the white cotton voile I am using as my underlining so well. I love the champagne/apricot colour!
My skirt is very simple and I am grateful for it. It feels like a lot of pressure just handling this fabric. It’s white, it’s easy to snag, and I only have so much of it! I am glad I went with a gathered skirt. I cut a large front panel and two back panels. There is a center back zip and I wanted to add inseam pockets.
I cut the large rectangles to size in the white voile and the tulle. I then layered them and basted them together along the top edge. I did three lines of basting stitches, which is one more than I usually do! Three gives the best results and this is serious business, so three it is. The gathers are very tight on this skirt, practically as tight as the stitches would let me get. This also helped to make it easy - distributing the fullness was made simple because it was so tight.
For the pockets, I added anchored inseam pockets. I sewed them as classic inseams but anchored them to the waist seam at the end so that they wouldn't be flopping around inside. I also added a lace facing to the pockets so that there wouldn’t be a strange pop of bright white peaking out at the side of the dress. I’m really glad I took the time to add this detail.
Once the skirt was all assembled I could baste the pocket bags to the waist seam and I could hold it up on my body and see how it was going to look! I LOVE how pretty it is. It makes me feel like a princess!
For the hem, I am going to make it a little bit short - just above the ankle length. I am planning to hem the skirt underlining and the lining shorter than the tulle so that the scalloped edge of the tulle can shine. Right now the tulle is untrimmed but I will be cutting it following the scallops.
After I completed the skirt I sewed it to the bodice and made the skirt lining and sewed that to the bodice lining. The dress is really feeling so close!! I just have to do the zipper and the hem. Wish me luck!
