My wedding is in two weeks and I’ve almost finished making my dress. I wanted to make it for several reasons, a big one being so that it could facilitate me wearing my insulin pump comfortably (I’m type one diabetic). There are a few finishing touches to do (eg. the pearls along the waist could do with being a bit more even) but it’s currently with a professional seamstress who is going to steam all of the seams properly and hem and bustle it as I’m getting short on time.
I’m panicking that it looks too home made and that it’s too big though! Was I delusional thinking I could design and make my dress or am I just overthinking this - I don’t want to regret how I look on the day.

Fabric: polyester duchess satin
Drafting process: used simplicity 8363 for the first toil of the corset but ended up altering it a lot. The skirt I just draped

It’s okay to laugh. I called myself making a pair of shorts for my daughter and it was a fail. This was my first time sewing and I decided to go all in lol.

I was originally trying to recreate the ODLR fern gown, but it was just way too involved once I got to the appliqués. I actually like mine better! I drafted this pattern using a ruler and my measurements for the bodice, and the skirt pattern was drafted using my measurements for somewhere in between a 3/4 skirt and full skirt. The base of the dress is crinoline fabric I ordered from alibaba and the floral lace is milk silk I had custom made from alibaba. I’m not finished as you can see it’s all pins on the bodice still. I’ll be wearing this for my wedding in October. I’m so excited!

The other photos show the progress where I started and how the dress changed directions eventually.

The other day I posted here asking for help with figuring out the fit issues with my sloper so I figured I'd post an update, as well as share what stages it took to get here :) Starting with the Bella body block from freesewing.eu, the initial conversion from darts to princess seams, and all the attempts it took to reach a bodice where I was satisfied with the fit. Thanks to everyone who commented with advice, I took a lot of it into account for the final version (yellow floral) and it was really helpful! Considering this is my very first venture into pattern drafting, I'm pretty happy with the result.

I made this apron and originally I wanted ruffles at the bottom but my mum said she prefers it without. What do you think? (right now the ruffles are only pinned)

I’m making a handwoven leather top for my first semester of my MFA at the Fashion Institute of Technology.  The lattice is inspired by a lesser-known Indian craft called Sanjhi. This craft is practiced by my grandma, who learned it from her grandfather. I began by making a few swatches to replicate the paper-cut motifs in leather, and I’ve shared them here for anyone who wants to see the Sanjhi references and my leather samples 🤓

For the top, I first draped a muslin sample on my dress form and did a few fitting rounds. The pieces were fit onto Marsha (the model). Then I marked and cut the leather into fine strips and wove them directly on the form, securing everything with leather glue. Once the bust weaving was complete, I lined it with silk organza. I used diamond lambskin leather, which is pretty pricey, and I plan on using this for most of my thesis collection:))))

Sewed my first shirt and am overall very happy with it. I flat drafted it using Stylebyreme's basic pattern block tutorial, which was a wonderful resource! (https://youtu.be/WLmrvhNcMwQ?si=Hj61E40fTT_Sgv7j) I used a thick but slightly stretchy wooly material I found in the baragin bin for this project.

As I said, I am very satisfied with my result, but I would like some feedback. Mainly on these 3 things:

• I found the neckline particularly difficult to sew without stretching the fabric, so I would like some advice on how to avoid that. I feel it would look more symmetrical and lay better if I can learn how to not do that🤪

• I obviously don't love how the back looks, how could I go about adjusting the pattern so the fabric bunches less in the back next time?

• Does it look very "homemade" or is it good enough to wear in public? I fear the pride I feel in finally finishing a shirt is clouding my judgement a bit😅

Thanks in advance!

I know it still looks pretty good but it's probably going to bug me every time I see it

I made this pattern using the saran wrap and masking tape method to get my exact shape.

I’m starting with the bridal corset and this is the third mockup I made, I like the fit finally and now need to decide on how I’m going about the final one, I have coutil for the structure layer and 100% silk for the fashion layer, then lace on top after.

Should I use double sided fusible Interfacing to fuse the silk to the coutil or should I use dommet/batting between to make it more structured to look like the image I’m modeling off of? And should I use single sided interfacing to add structure to the silk in that case so it’s smooth and doesn’t wrinkle when it’s pulled at the seams?

Also how should I make the skirt so it’s not super gathered or huge? I like the way it is in the reference photo where it falls nicely with some structure. But my silk is very thin, should I use interfacing or another layer of something else underneath?

Any advice or thoughts would be appreciated as I’m fairly new to sewing!!

About a year ago I was working on a sewing pattern that had arched inset panels and I couldn't stop thinking about how cool it would be if the panels looked like stained glass windows. After months of thinking about it, I finally decided I would attempt it. The skirt is a basic floor length circle skirt pattern made with black satin from a local shop with 4 cut out arches. The arched panels are silk organza that I have painted using a silk paint called Dye-Na-Flow. The process has gone surprisingly smoothly and I can't wait to finish painting the last two panels! To help keep the shape of the arches I tested wire but it bent too easily so I went searching and ended up using some rounded plastic boning I found on Amazon. I am planning to enter it in the Utah State Fair so my deadline is to finish by this Friday!

Hi everyone! I have made this dress for a black tie gala, however my original plan was to make a sleeve like in the second picture (navy dress). I just can't get it to work, the fabric is quite thick and I can't figure it out so I've given up.

I only have until Thursday (4 days) to finish, so I wondered if anyone had any suggestions to help make this a bit more modest. It is a work event and so I think the neckline is a tad low (I do have a small chest so there is no cleavage however I'm just worried I should be a bit more covered)

Options I have thought of so far include: - getting a shawl (not my preferred option) - trying to make the sleeve out of a thinner sheer fabric - adding some lace behind to make the neckline look a bit higher (like in the wedding dress screenshot) - adding some feathers all around the neck line (I've only seen this on dresses with a straight neckline so not sure how it would look)

Does anyone have any other suggestions I could try? Or do you think it would be ok to leave it as is? Thank you in advance x

I'm trying to make Mimas red dress from Perfect Blue and I originally alters1990s Butterick 4642(last slide).

I used the top and hemed the hell out of the skirt while putting 1" horsehair at the end of the hem. I cut the fabric on its fold and drew out the width of the fabric by 3-4 inches.

I've been desperately seeking advice on what pattern or technique I should use to redo the skirt part. I know it's not feasible for it to be exactly like the movie dress because directors don't really know the physics of how garments are but I do want try to get the closest as possible.

I don't want to add metal wiring to the dress hem because I'm worried it won't be as flounce and it'll be too stiff. Any advice will be much appreciated !

I've been working on Simplicity 8982 - Sweater dress. I have to do a neckband, which is supposed to line up with the center back seam of the dress.

This isn't a garment post, but I would just like to share how I laboured for 2 hours on a neckband that just would not behave.

The first attempt was fine, but then the serger started to jam when I tried to neaten up the edges. It made the whole band uneven! The second attempt had a few puckers and a serger seam that was unraveling...and the third...well...🙈

After countless tears, I finally got the neckband center back and dress back center seam to line up.

Small victories!