Lace Dress

I mentioned in my Instagram post that I'm going to make at least two lace dresses to wear on a special occasion next month. As usual, I searched for inspirations on Pinterest and chose the right design that might suit me. 

To start my sewing journey, I drafted the sheath dress pattern and made a muslin. I wasn't happy with the result, too simple for a special dress. So, I drafted another pattern with a princess seam bodice, I made a muslin and adjusted the fit. Again, I wasn't happy with the princess seam dress and decided to use the sheath dress pattern and modify it into a sweetheart style. I didn't make a muslin ( I was brave) and cut the peach color lace fabric as the main dress and silk satin as the lining.

For this dress, I used five pieces of the main dress pattern (front bodice, back bodice, front skirt, back skirt and sleeve) and four pieces of the lining (front bodice sweetheart style, back bodice, front skirt and back skirt). The dress finished with an invisible zipper at the center back and finished the neckline with a bias tape band from the same silk fabric. 

The sewing progress started in the usual manner, I worked with the front bodice sweetheart style lining and attached it to the main front bodice dress. Basted the two fabrics together, sewed the darts and hand-sewed the lining and the main dress together.

I sewed all the pieces together and the invisible zipper as well. I decided to make the skirt lining shorter than the main skirt, I sewed the hemline of the skirt lining first before I sew the sides of the dress. 

And then, I tried the dress and it was loose 😔 I reduced the sides, 0.75 cm at the bodice and 2.5 cm at the skirt bottom, as shown in the picture below. The fit is better after this.

After the dress sides were adjusted, I sewed the neckband into the neckline, I used the sewing machine to sew the band and the neckline right sides together and then hand sewing the inner neckline and the band together. In this case, I used a 0.50 cm seam allowance.

Also, the sleeve was a little long for my liking, I folded 2 cm total and sewed it around. I prefer the folding method to save time instead of removing the sleeve and sewing it again.

That's it enough for today, I will be working on another lace dress with a princess seam style and a little flare skirt. Also, I'd love to make the inner dress neater than this peach lace dress. 

Another thing that I see after I put this dress on, I think the peach color doesn't suit my skin. And the sweetheart style is invisible under the lace, I will use a darker color lining fabric next time I make this type of dress again.

Happy sewing friends 💗