Making my wedding dress: adjusting the patterns
Welcome back to my wedding dress series, where I walk you through every single detail of sewing my own wedding dress. In this post, I will talk about adjusting the Sati Skirt pattern, and the struggles I had with attempting to adjust the Rose Cafe Bustier pattern.
Time: 1 hour
Materials:
paper scissors
muslin fabric - four yards
Adjusting the bustier pattern
First, we will be adjusting the bustier pattern. You can follow along with Daria Patternmaking’s video here.
To the front center piece, add 1cm to the center seam. The original pattern requires this piece to be cut on the fold, which we will not be doing. The center seam here will provide a channel to add boning to the center of the bustier, supporting your bust, and allowing us to work with a slippery fabric like silk.
Remember when I had you print out two copies of this pattern in the last post? Here’s where that will come in handy. Make sure you did step #1 for both copies. Then, for one copy only, add 1cm to the bottom edge of the bustier pieces. Leave the cup pieces alone for right now. When making the dress, we are going to be folding the lining under and attaching it to the skirt of the dress, so that all of our bustier seams are tucked safely inside.
Cut out all pattern pieces for the bustier, with modifications from steps #1 and #2. Label each lining piece, so that you don’t get confused when making your dress.
Do not cut lining fabric for the cup pieces. Instead, follow this Youtube tutorial, starting at 18:00, and cut the cup pieces out of foam. We bought enough foam for both a sample dress and the real deal, so don’t worry about not having enough.
Adding straps. The Rose Cafe Bustier pattern calls for ribbon or tie straps, and we want thin straps for our dress, so we’ll need to draft a quick strap pattern piece.
Measure from the top of your bust to the middle of your back, over your shoulder. For me, it was 48cm.
Add 2cm to your measurement from step #1, for seam allowance. For me, this would be 50cm.
On a piece of paper (you can use newspaper, printer paper taped together, or anything else that works for you), measure a rectangle that is 4cm x your measurement from step #2.
Cut out two of these rectangles from your muslin, and your straps are ready to be sewn.
And with that, we’re done with adjusting the bustier top! Pretty easy. Our next step is adjusting the skirt pattern, which does get a bit more difficult. Stay with me here, I’ll walk you through every step of the way.
Adjusting the Sati Skirt pattern
This next bit is going to get a little complicated, and you can follow along with my Tiktoks here and here. Basically, we need to make a few adjustments to the Sati Skirt before we cut it, so that the side seams and back darts will align with the bustier top’s seams. We will also be adding a center seam down the back of the skirt, so that we can add in a zipper.
Adding a back center seam
Our first step is to add a back center seam down the skirt. This will give us room to add a zipper and match up with the back center seam on our bustier.
Cut along the line down the center of the pattern. Then, tape some printer paper along the center seam edge.
Once you have the printer paper taped to the center edge, add 1cm to the center seam. This will make it so that you have room to add in the zipper. Cut along your new center seam.
Moving the dart
Next, we need to move the dart so that it matches up with the back seam of the bustier.
Measure the width of the dart at its widest point. For my size, it was 4.5cm. Divide this number by two, and then save it for later. For me, it was 2.25cm.
Then, measure the bottom edge of the back bodice center piece from the bustier, subtracting 1cm for the seam allowance connecting the back center and back side pieces. For me, it was 12.75cm. Our goal is to have this measurement be the same as the width from the back center of the skirt to the center of the dart, minus the number from step #1 (for me, 2.25cm).
Measure the width between your skirt’s back center and the center of the dart, and subtract the number from step #1. For my skirt, the original width from the back center seam of the skirt to the center of the dart, minus the number above, was 11.25cm.
If the width from step #2 and step #3 is not the same, you will need to move the dart. We want the dart to match up with the seam connecting the bustier’s center back and side back pieces.
For me, there was a difference of 1.5cm between where the dart was, and where the dart needed to be. This meant I needed to move the dart 1.5cm towards the side seam in order for the dart’s seam to match with the bustier’s seam. Make sure when moving the dart to mark all lines and dots, so that we can transfer them to our skirt when it’s time to sew.
Moving the side seam
Next, we are going to extend the back side seam, so that it matches up with the side seam of our bustier. Hang onto that number from step #1 in moving the dart, because we will continue using it here.
Measure the back bodice side piece, subtracting 1cm for the seam allowance between the a. back center and back side pieces For me, this measurement was 10.75cm.
Measure from the center of your new dart to the side seam of the skirt pattern, and subtract the same number from step #1 in “moving the dart” (for me, 2.25cm) For me, this measurement was 7.25cm.
If your numbers from steps #1 and #2 are not the same, you will need to extend the side seam so that it matches up with the side seam from the bustier. For my side seam, I added on 3.5cm.
With that, you are finished modifying the back of the skirt! This is by far the most complicated modification we’re making, so give yourself a pat on the back for a job well done. However, we aren’t quite done - we still need to modify the front of the skirt to match up with the front of our bustier.
Modifying the skirt front
The back skirt piece was by far the most confusing part, but we will also have to do some small modifications to the skirt’s front piece. While the back of the skirt needed to increase in size to accommodate the bustier pattern, the front of the skirt will need to decrease.
Measure the front bodice side piece and the front bodice center piece from the bustier pattern. Add these two numbers together, and subtract three centimeters to account for the seam allowances. For me, this number was 21.5cm.
Subtracting 1cm for the center front seam (the skirt doesn’t have a center front seam), and 2cm for the seam between the front bodice side piece and front bodice center piece.
Measure the width between the center front of the skirt pattern, and the side seam.
If your numbers from step #1 and step #2 are not the same, you will need to move the front side seam. For my skirt, the width of step #1 was less than the width from step #2, so I had to subtract a few centimeters from the front side seam.
Make sure to add the modifications from step #3 to both side seams of your skirt. Since the fabric is cut on the bias, you are just cutting it as one giant piece.
My struggles
When I envisioned this dress originally, I dreamed of having a low, sexy back. After six failed sample versions, I could not make the low back work. I have a larger bust, and it was not giving me the support I needed. If you are motivated, I encourage you to try and adjust the pattern for a low back, especially if you have a smaller bust. By the time I had a bustier pattern that fit me (I’m detailing my struggles with finding the right bustier cup size in the next post), I was less than one month from the wedding without my final dress started, so I gave up on the idea of a low back.
Finishing up
Ok! That was a lot of work - go ahead and cut your final pattern pieces (with modifications), and you’re ready to cut your fabric. You can follow the cutting instructions that came with the pattern for bias lines, how many pieces to cut of each pattern piece, etc.
Once you have all your pattern pieces cut out, and you’ve assembled the rest of the materials listed above, you are ready to start sewing the test dress!
In the next post, we will go over gathering the materials that you will need to start sewing the test dress.