Guys… I finished the dresses! It felt like a miracle! I powered through the night Thursday, only stopping for a half hour of sleep (and about 15 minutes of panicked sobbing… hey, I think that’s pretty good, considering the situation!), and I hopped on the plane with some of the hand-sewing left undone. Luckily, one of the other bridesmaids worked in a costume shop in college, so she dove right in and we finished in the nick of time!
Sadly, someone [coughnotmecough] remembered to bring the camera, but forgot the memory card (d’oh!), so I only got a couple of shots of my sister’s dress before the memory was full (nooooooooo!!). So for now all I can show you is B’s dress:
To refresh your memory, this is Simplicity 2209, from the Lisette collection. It’s a very simple silhouette, so I thought I would dress it up a little by making it in a cotton/silk blend. It’s fully lined, with a self-lined bodice front and bemberg lining for the bodice back and skirt. [Sidebar: is there a secret to working with bemberg rayon? I thought it was a huge pain in the butt to deal with… ugh!!]
I had to alter the dress quite a bit to get a nice fitted look since my sister is really petite, but it ended up looking nice, in my opinion. I originally cut a 10 in the bodice and a 14 for the skirt, but I ended up cutting an 8 up top and I still needed to add shoulder darts to accommodate sis’s tiny shoulders. The peachy-pink color is really flattering on her (and everyone in the wedding party– it’s a really forgiving shade!). I liked this pattern a lot– the crossed waist darts are an interesting detail. If I made this for her again, I would lower the darts more (I lowered them in the first round of alterations, but they’re still too high… I guess that’s one of the perils of long-distance sewing!). It annoys me that they’re so high, but I guess non-sewists probably wouldn’t notice. Sigh!
So there you have it! Bridesmaid dress #1 in all of its glory! Hoping to get some pictures soon to show you the other dresses!
What are you guys working on? Anything fun? Oh! I have a surprise to show you! I’ll take some photos of it and show you tomorrow!
Ginger Makes... 
Awesome! It turned out so nice! I can’t wait to see the other two!
LikeLike
Thanks, Gail! 🙂
LikeLike
You’ve been teasing us about this for some time so it’s great to see the finished articles (or one of them)! You’ve done a great job – it fits her perfectly. This is a great, simple pattern, perfect for a wedding in this colour.
LikeLike
Thanks, Katy! The peach color is a nice color for a wedding, especially a fall wedding!
LikeLike
This is so cute (as is your sister)! I’m so glad the sewing for others experiment was a success. And of course, I want to see pictures of yours and your mother’s dress as well. Well done, Ginger!
LikeLike
Thanks so much! In some respects, sewing for other people is easier (if your models don’t live out of state/province)– it’s so much easier to pin out changes on a garment that someone else is wearing!
LikeLike
How lovely and very chic !
LikeLike
Thanks so much, Elise!
LikeLike
It’s a great color and your sister looks lovely in it!
Do you have any tutorial recommendations on how to line a dress? I am quite lost.
LikeLike
I do! First of all, is it sleeveless? If so, Angela Kane’s tutorial is a good one. Katy expands on this in this blog post, too. If you have any questions, send me an email! I haven’t lined anything with sleeves, so I’m not sure exactly how that works…
LikeLike
I haven’t chosen a pattern yet, but the fabric is wool so it’s going to be itchy without lining! Thanks for your help. I’ll keep you posted.
LikeLike
Ooh, you’ll definitely want a lining then! You could try interlining it– basically you cut every pattern piece out in your shell fabric as well as your lining fabric, baste it together, and then handle each piece as though it’s just a single piece. If your wool isn’t too bulky, that might be a good option, although it’s not as clean of a finish inside as doing a full lining. Good luck!!
LikeLike
oh, i think it turned out beautiful! what a lovely color!
i can’t offer you any tips on bemberg rayon, but i will say that i LOVE LOVE LOVE bemberg rayon. LOVE. have i said that enough yet? lol. yes, it is slippery, but all lining fabric is. at least with the rayon, if you accidentally press it with a hot iron (er… story of my life), you won’t melt a hole in it. and it feels uhhhh-mazing against the skin. totally worth the trials & tribulations of trying to cut it out, imho 🙂
also, random, but i am really digging that wall color & i want it in my house.
LikeLike
Hmm, I’ll have to give it another shot based on your recommendation! I hadn’t thought about the melt-ability of other linings– and dude, who’s got the cash flow for silk lining?!
I really love that color, too! My apartment is covered in Easter egg colors– ridiculous! I’ve been eying your coral-orange-y-salmon situation– it’s fanTASTic!
LikeLike
Hey, that’s me! I knew the dress looked great, so I felt great all night! You can really tell here by how much I’m hamming it up for la photographer.
Guys, Sonja’s dressmaking skills are mad awesome! She was understandably anxious and stressed by the time constraints, but this gown fit like a glove (an easy-fitting, non-constraining glove), had beautiful pressed and bound seams, and will be my new go-to gown for weddings and such. I love it!
LikeLike
Oh, and I’m so glad the picture doesn’t show how FRICKIN COLD I was in that Easter egg bathroom. Believe me, it wasn’t pretty. The awesome powers of peach Lisette can’t be downplayed here.
LikeLike
oh i’m so glad you’re happy with the end results, i’ve been waiting to see them! fair play pulling an all nighter – if it was me i probably would’ve fallen asleep mid-sob haha 🙂
this one’s gorgeous, as i’m sure the pics of the others will prove too, well done again!
LikeLike
Thanks very much! I probably wouldn’t have picked peach if the color had been up to me, but it really is a nice color and looked really swell on everyone!
LikeLike
So pretty! NB I love your Avatar picture.
LikeLike
Thanks, Karen! 🙂
LikeLike
This dress is BEAUTIFUL! Congrats on finishing. I really love that color.
LikeLike
Thanks very much! 🙂
LikeLike
I found this post through your “Check the Technique” page – genius idea for a page by the way! – and I LOOOOVE this dress. It’s exquisite! You did such a beautiful job!
LikeLike
Thanks, girl! I really didn’t know what I was doing when I sewed this poor dress– it really suffered from my trial and error! The “Check the Technique” page actually comes from Reana Louise! She had a previous blog that had a post by that name, and I was inspired to do the same thing!
LikeLike
Pingback: Ginger Made: Houndstooth Victoria Blazer! | Ginger Makes...