The evening dress of your dreams can cost a lot more than what you are ready to pay. But with a little patience, money for basic materials and sewing experience, you can create your dream dress yourself for a fraction of its price! Read this article to understand how.
Steps
Step 1. Buy or make your own design for your height and size
These designs can be purchased in fabric stores. Each Butterick, Kwik Sew, McCall's, Simplicity and Vogue design has sewing instructions that can be easily followed by any tailor. Not all designs or sewing instructions are the same. Butterick, Kwik Sew, McCall's and Simplicity normally have step-by-step instructions, while Vogue's instructions are aimed at tailors who already have good experience.
Step 2. Buy some material for your dress
Generally, sewing isn't the hardest part of creating an evening gown. The hardest part is figuring out how to deal with the fabric you are using, which has specific characteristics.
- Pay attention to the fabric recommendations in the design envelope. Some fabrics will work "much" better than others for a specific project, and the design envelope will tell you.
- Pay attention to your material. Most evening dresses (satin, lace, silk, velvet) are dry cleaned and have specific instructions for how to treat them (cold iron, etc.). Some also have the annoying characteristic of being slippery to handle (need a lot of tacks), fibers "unravel" and go away when sewing (your machine may need a new, sharper needle) or fray easily. (Tape or iron interlining along all ends before sewing garment). These hard-to-manage features are why it is best to look and study the material well, and at the same time why clothes made of these materials are so expensive and difficult to make!
- Buy the necessary length plus half a meter. The indications normally already give the necessary length, but it is better to have a little more material "for safety", for example if the first time you cut a wrong piece. If you do everything correctly, you can always use the extra fabric to make a scarf, bracelet, or any other item that will match the color of your dress.
Step 3. Buy all the necessary accessories first, such as hooks, eyes, zippers, buttons, strings, border strings, interlinings, etc
Check the instructions for a list of the items you will need. The last thing you want is to have to go to the store again right in the middle of your job.
Step 4. Wash your materials according to their respective washing instructions
If you're using a dry-cleanable fabric, you can skip this step (unless it stinks - in that case, take it to the dry cleaners before you start cutting).
Step 5. Read your instructions carefully
Step 6. Cut the pieces you will need
They will be sold to you in loose fitted sheets, with lots of printed pieces for each sheet. You will have to cut the ones you will use and put the others away.
Step 7. Place your fabric on a smooth, clean surface
- Pay attention to the recommendations given to you in the instructions. Some may specify that the material should be folded in half, others that it should have a single layer. Be careful or you may be left with less fabric than you need!
- If you don't have a large enough table, you can also use the floor (clean it first!) Or a sewing board. You can find pre-folded cartons with cm marks in most tailor shops for around 10 euros.
Step 8. Arrange your fabric according to the instructions
Step 9. Pin the fabric carefully
Step 10. Double check the position of your weft, the number of layers of the fabric, the number of pieces you are sewing, etc
Step 11. Cut the pieces well following all the marks in the drawing, such as darts etc
Step 12. Sew according to the instructions in the design
Companies that make clothing designs usually have very good sewing instructions, with specific illustrations - all you need to do to get the best results is to follow them carefully and to the letter.
Step 13. An optional step is to add your creativity to your project:
beads, feathers or any other accessories you like. You will probably need to hand sew these things or use thread that is the same color as the dress.
