I can’t believe I am that person. It is less than two months to my wedding day and I have not sewn my dress yet! Don’t worry, I have been working on it, but it is definitely time to kick things into high gear and get this dress done! Today I want to share two wearable muslins that I have made in preparation for the final dress.
I knew I wanted to keep it simple with my wedding dress. I’m not very experienced sewing fancy gowns or delicate fabrics, and to be honest, It’s not something that I have ever been that interested in. I know a lot of sewists use their wedding dress as an excuse to sew formal wear and learn couture techniques, but for me, I just want to make a pretty dress that is comfortable and makes me feel special. It’s only being worn for one day, so I’m treating it kind of like a costume! I think I am intimidated by this project, so I’m letting myself off the hook for making it ‘fancy’ and ‘perfect’ and just trying to have fun with it.
My wedding dress design needs to be:
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Comfortable (ideally I can go braless)
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Made from breathable material (it is going to be hot!)
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Cropped (I realized I don’t want to be dragging fabric on the ground at my outdoor wedding)
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Whimsical and fun!
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I figured I would use our Lockhart Dress pattern as my base. I love this design and I love how it fits me. The bodice was a great starting point, and I just scooped the front and tweaked the side and back slightly until I had the fit I wanted. The teal striped dress was my first wearable muslin and the cotton block print was my second. I think the fit on the second bodice is near perfect!
I went with a simple gathered skirt for the teal version. The final dress will be made from a lace that is directional and has a clear border design, so it lends itself well to a straight rectangle skirt/hem. I like the volume and simplicity of this version.
If you want to do this as a Lockhart Dress hack, it is super easy! You just sew the bodice as-drafted and then add a gathered rectangle skirt instead of the included a-line skirt.
For the block print dress, I experimented with a fitted dropped waist that comes to a point at the side seams. I like how this turned out and it feels like it fits perfectly. I like the look of the dropped waist a lot, but I am hesitant about how the lace will work with this design. I think I like the ‘princess’ vibe of the teal skirt version. This block print dress is so cute though! I am really glad I made it in this fabric.
In the end, I prefer the teal version and I am going to proceed with the gathers at the natural waist. I will use the bodice from the block print version but without the dropped waist. The fit in the bust is slightly better and I eliminated the back panel seams to make it easier to sew with the lace.
I plan to layer the lace over white cotton fabric. The lace has an ‘apricot’ base which reads very brown when it is folded up, but laid over white it is such a pretty, creamy, warm white. I got this lace on etsy from this seller if anyone is interested. It is so pretty and it has inspired this whole dress design. I can’t wait to carefully place the designs in the lace on the bodice and the skirt.
When I was first working on the dress in actual muslin, I took some pictures with the lace held up as the skirt. I was also playing with the idea of a shoulder detail but don’t think I am going to include that now. I may do a small veil though, we will see!
I can’t wait to share more with you about my wedding dress journey! As I mentioned above, I am keeping this simple. I am confident I can sew up the final dress in a couple of days once I am ready to go for it. Wish me luck!
