It's All About the Fit

I like to make things better for people and I'm certain that is why I love what I do.  So when I got a call from a mom of a bride asking me to take a look at her daughter's gown to see if there was anyway to make it fit, I couldn't resist.  I told her I could take a look.

A few hours later, I was looking at a dress that looked like there was about an inch that could be let out through the bust, waist and hip areas. That evening the bride was standing in my sewing room trying to remain calm as her mom and sister tried to fit the dress to her. The bodice fit across the front, the issue was through her waist and hip areas.

The dress was a used dress altered to fit another bride. The dress in its original size was still 3 sizes too small for the bride through her waist and hips. There was really no option for me, I couldn't tell this bride, who's wedding was 2 short weeks away, that I couldn't help her.  I was determined to find a solution for her dress.  Usually I like to take some time to figure out the best way to alter a garment but this time, I needed to find a quick way to make this dress fit like it was made for her.

After assuring the bride her dress was going to fit and look good, we said our goodbyes and I headed back to my sewing room to take a closer look at her dress.  A lace up corset back is a good option to give some extra room to a dress but I wasn't sure if that would give enough room.   I compared the bride's measurements to the dress manufacturer's measurements and figured out how much I needed to add to the dress to make it fit.  According to the dress manufacturer's measurements, I needed to make the dress 3 sizes bigger but only through the hip and waist.

My plan was to add two side pieces, one to each side of the dress and replace the zipper with a lace up corset back with no second guessing myself.  Second guessing is a big part in my process, sometimes it leads to better options and sometimes it leads me in a loop back to my original plan.  For this dress, I had to stick to my first thought and just make it work.

Original side

Starting to rip out side, getting it ready for the new piece.

Creating new side pieces. I found satin and a crinkled tulle
for the overlay.  I ironed the tulle to remove as much of the
crinkle as I could.  It was a good color match.

After removing the side seam, I stitched the new insert to the
 back side seam and front side seam.

A tricky part that made me pause was figuring out how to make
the organza skirt wider to fit the new sides of the dress. There was
not enough in the seam to take out and I couldn't find organza
 to match.  Attaching something slightly different in this spot
would be noticeable, and I wanted everything to blend.

 Taking out the seam in the organza skirt (2 1/2 inches long) to form
a "V" and attached the top edges to the bottom part of the bodice, stretching
it out as much as I could.  To widen the underskirt, I attached a "V" shaped
 satin insert.

I removed a few appliques from the skirt so I could attach them
to the side of the skirt

Starting at the bottom I hand stitched the appliques to
cover the open space

I wanted to blend the sides, making it match as close as I could

Finished sides with the attached appliques

If I had more time with the dress, I would have liked to applique the entire side panel.

The fold lines along the new side seams were pressed out using a tailor ham:

Next step, the lace up corset.  After making the satin cording,  I cut it into 3" strips and attached them to two satin panels that would be attached to each side of the back seam.

Stitching the cording to the satin panels

All pieces attached

Forming the loops

Attached the panel to the dress

Both panels added to back of dress.

The lace up corset back. The modesty panel,
a "V" shaped piece made from satin, was placed behind the lacing (no photo.)

 Typically, this would have taken a few dress fittings.  At the bride's next and final fitting, we were able to adjust the corset back and everything fit, thankfully.  The best part of the fitting was the bride's comment that she felt like she had the figure she wanted in this dress.  We all assured her that it wasn't the dress, she already had that figure before she even put the dress on.