Last week, we finished our dress: hem complete, zipper inserted, lining in. You should have a perfectly fitting, nicely sewn dress to show for all your hard work! Today I have a round-up of a few ways to add a little something extra to your dress and really make your workmanship stand out.
First, I mentioned way back in the inspo week that I wanted to add some drama to this pretty simple prom dress pattern. Inspired by the fascinators worn to British weddings, I\’m adding an oversized bow to the shoulder to mimic a tie shoulder. I\’ve just cut a large rectangle of fabric and angled the short ends. To finish the edges, I\’m making a baby hem. You\’ll see this next week!
Then we move on to hand sewing a few last details: the hook and eye and bra strap carriers. At the back closure, at the top of the zipper, add a hook and eye to keep your dress firmly closed and your zip zipped up! You can look inside a store-bought dress to see an example, and there\’s a nice tutorial here on Made to Sew that will walk you through the steps.
I\’m adding bra strap carriers to my dress–it\’s so nice to have a formal dress with thick enough straps to wear a regular bra, might as well celebrate it with some nice carriers that will keep your straps in place! I\’m using this tutorial from Dixie DIY to add in strap holders, but hand sewing it all. Put your bra strap carriers wherever you think they\’re most likely to peek out–probably at the top of the strap.
Last but not least, if you have a label, add it in with a few hand stitches. Another fun option is to embroider yourself a label on a scrap piece of fabric and then add it in. Don\’t know how to embroider? My friend Maddie has a great lesson on beginner stitches that will have you all set for something simple like a label here.
You\’re done! Go do your hair and makeup, but on some heels, and coerce someone into taking glam photos of you. I can\’t wait for next week to see what you\’ve made! In the meantime… I have a special announcement! Head over to my instagram where I\’m hosting a mini contest in addition to the main Royal Wedding Sew Along Contest hosted by McCall Pattern Company and Simplicity. You can enter to win a copy of McCall\’s 7684 and several yards of the fabric I used–enough to make a twin dress! This fabric was a remnant and I don\’t know of anywhere else you can find it, so if you like it be sure to enter! All you need to do is follow me and leave a comment tagging the person you\’d invite as your plus one to the Royal Wedding on this post. Good luck!!
xoxo,