Bridal Shawl

I LOVE weddings . . . well I'm kinda obsessed by weddings . . . And I love altering bridal gowns . . . well most of them anyways . . . it's the ones that come to me who buy size 16 when they wear a 10 that just kill me - I may as well sew a new gown - those and the ones with the lace applique on them (I'll show you in the next gown).

But for this week I had a beautiful bride come to me who just needed her dress hemmed . . . so she thought . . . she's planned her wedding in a very short time frame and bought a dress that was "kinda" tight when she purchased but now it zips up fairly smoothly.  and for right now she could still lose about 6 more pounds (her words not mine) but was worried about how it was fitting on the top part.  Beautiful girl, hour glass shape (so teeny tiny waist) but the boobs were "kinda" lumping out the top.  So we decided to make her a netted shawl that would clip in to the dress for the ceremony and pictures and then she could wear her hair up for that; then clip it out for the dinner/dance and she could bring her hair down for that portion of the wedding.

Here is what I did for her (including hemming the dress).

Step One:  I took a piece of bridal veil netting 42"(L) X 60"(W) and put a running stitch along both ends (the 60" width) and gathered it up as tight as it would go.  You would use whatever length you would need to go from where you are putting it on your dress around your shoulders to the other side PLUS 1/2" on either side for placing the running stitch)

Step Two:  I used a piece of fabric (approximately 2" X 3") I'd cut off of the bottom of her dress when I hemmed it and made two square pockets for the ends to go in and sewed two snaps on each side.

Step three: I sewed two opposite ends of the snaps into the dress just on the outside of the centre seam for the bust. (NOTE - the placement of these snaps should be as far enough inside the dress so that only the netting shows on the other side NOT the fabric piece).

Voila!

This is on the Bride (Before)

This is (obviously) AFTER

Total Cost:  Alterations and Bridal Shawl $105.00
TOTAL TIME:  3 HOURS

I'll post pics of the bride after the wedding with her in the dress!

Here are some more professional shots!