If you are purchasing a readymade wedding dress, alteration is almost an essential process, because unless you are extremely fortunate, the dress won’t fit you perfectly. And even if you will be having a tailor-made dress, you will need at least two fittings, and sometimes even three. Wedding dress consists of high quality fabrics and intricate designs which are beautiful to look at but also make it difficult to alter the dress. Here are a few tips from professional seamstresses and tailors for wedding dress alterations.
Length Adjustments
Hem: The finishing edge of your dress is called hem. If your gown’s length is to be adjusted, adjustments to the hem should be done. Length of the wedding dress is extremely important to prevent brides from tripping on their gown and keep the hem clean.
Ideally the hem must be around half an inch above floor. This modification can be done in plenty of ways.
It can be done by cutting and sewing the gown’s bottom unless there are details along the hem such as lace or beads. If there are such details, modifications can be done at the waist.
Some gowns don’t have a separation at the waist. In that case, the length adjustments should be done by removing the details along the hem and replacing them again after the length is adjusted properly.
Bustle: After the hem adjustment is finished, the bustle is stitched in. it is created to pin up the train after the ceremony so that the bride can comfortably move around and dance during the reception. Bustles are of different types for different dress designs. Two of them are the most popular.
- French Bustle is perfect for wedding dresses that are heavier in weight. This bustle is a bit fancier than the traditional bustle and offers the signature “whipped cream” appearance to the dress. It is formed with the help of ribbons to tie the dress from beneath to keep the train in place.
- Traditional Bustle is infamous for cracking during reception. Keeping that in mind, this type of bustle is used only with lighter wedding dresses that sport shorter trains. Traditional bustle is pinned up on the outer side of the wedding dress.
Size Adjustments
Let-outs and Take-ins: Generally it is easier to take the dress some sizes in than to let it out. Most dresses can be taken in for 3 sizes; but when it is to be let out, the range changes to 2 sizes.
Size can be adjusted wherever a seam is present. If the dress has embellishments along any of the seams, the seams with the least amount of details should be chosen for making adjustments. Otherwise there is a risk of distortion of the prominent parts of the embellishments.
To keep the beauty of embellishments on the seams intact, the seamstress better remove them and do the alterations. After the alterations are done, the beads, lace or other embellishments can be sewn over the seam in exactly the same pattern as before.
Some dresses that have a zipper in the back can be let out by substituting the zipper with lace which offers more room.
Layers
If your dress has layers and needs alterations, it needs significantly more work. E.g. if your dress (with layers) is to be taken in, it requires each layer to be taken in individually. Same is true when the gown is to be shortened, where each layer should be shortened individually.
LoveYourDress.ca are the leading wedding dress alteration professionals in Toronto who are working for more than 30 years. If you want a perfect alteration in your dress, this is the place you should choose. The photos in this article are their courtesy.
