(Update! 8/18) '50s Style Wedding Dress Help! :) (and crafty tips for you!)

[LISAWshesSOcrafty]

I was browsing the internet shortly after getting engaged when I came across this image:

sighhhh!!!


Here's another pic i found of it:


aaaaand I'm in love! I really love the tea-length 50s style shape and am determined to have this as by wedding gown! Soooo I have been researching ways to re-create this look. I've found a lot of good resources for making this reality

Some Info on making the petticoat: (I want it to have tons of poof!)
http://www.pettipond.com/lon.htm
I also read to get a pattern for square-dancing petticoats, because they are similar to the full 50s ones.

Great looking tut for how to make the circle skirt:
http://www.zilltech.com/FAQCostumeCS.html

I love these skirts these lovely craftsters made:
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=251557.0
http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=193708.0

  Soooo, what I REAAAALLY need help with is the top part. I really like the way the boob part is gathered and crosses in front of itself.


Does anyone know how I can create the ruching like that and still make the correct form fitting shape? Ay suggesttions would be GREAT as I have no idea where to begin.

THANKS!!


UPDATE! It's coming along!!

I posted my first attempt a bit ago when I was struggling with the top part:



Well, I still am struggling but...I was looking at it and thought something was off about the skirt part. It didnt look at all like i was imagining. I wanted the skirt to be gathered. SOOOO...I researched vintage patterns online and realized it would be WAY easier than I thought!

Before, I was making a circle skirt with 3 pieces that looked like this:



I sewed them together on the straight sides. Looked funny...see pic above. THEN I found this pattern:



Look at the skirt pattern piece! A rectangle! duh, so simple. So my fabric for the new skirt looked something like this:



a loooooooong rectangle. all I had to do was gather it at the waist. PLUS I discovered a REALLY EASY WAY OF GATHERING. As illustrated in the photo above, I used the widest zig zag stitch and stitched over a piece of string along the entire waist. The you just pull the fabric along the string to get something like that last picture. EASY! (I failed doing it the hard way first...lame)

SOOO...I ended up coming out with something looking like this:



I looks so much more like what i want! (I also used a cute fabric for practice cause it was in the $1.50/yd clearance at walmart! score! I might actually wear this!)

I also learned that you need a LOT of fabric for this. You cant tell but the dress form is bare in the behind. For this one i used 4 times my waist measurement, so i'll probly use at least 6 times maybe even more. Anyone know of a magic formula for gathering?

More updates to come! I'm making a new petticoat soon for practice, but the real one will be MULTICOLORED! YAY! See my inspiration:  


Which comes my next dilemma: Should i use tulle or search for some multicolored netting? Do you think tulle will be enough? I was thinking like 6 or 7 tulle petticoats each a different color.

It's done!!!


Here's the finished piece. I loOOOoove it!! I've got a full post here: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=317727.msg3660096#msg3660096

I've also got a post on my blog: http://lisawelge.com/blog/2009/08/our-wedding-the-dress/

[Alyzen]

Congrats on your engagement!
The bodice of Vogue 8150 is similar (you’d have to omit the straps and shorten the bodice)
http://www.voguepatterns.com/item/V8150.htm??tab=evening_bridal_includes_designer&page=4

The bodice of Butterick 4918 is also similar
http://www.butterick.com/item/B4918.htm??tab=evening_prom_bridal&page=2

I hope that helped, I'd love to see posted pics when you have it finished.
Happy sewing

[crafty_cat_529]

sorry, i won't be able to help, but I just wanted to say, that dress is GOOOORRRGEOUS!

[olive_juice]

that dress is GORGEOUS! I want one too!

It looks like that top would be most easily created by draping, if you have a dressform. That way you could get the little pleat things just right. Other than that, I would agree on that vogue pattern Alyzen posted and just sew it underneath the waistband rather than on top as that one does (and obviously shorten it quite a bit).

[zoster.i]

i would want the inside of the bodice to be a well fitted corset. if it fits perfectly, it keeps everything exactly where it should be all night - including the dress -- it would be a pain to have to hike up the dress all night!

[just_gemz]

Simplicity 2959!
http://sewing.patternreview.com/cgi-bin/patterns/sewingpatterns.pl?patternid=17977

The blue one they made is kind of.. ugly but the picture especially the pink dotty one is really cute

[LISAWshesSOcrafty]

Update!

I finally got to work on my practice dress (ie. clearance walmart fabric!)



the skirt part will ultimately be lower and much poofier! Any suggestion on how to get the "pleats" to stay in place on the bodice?

[Alatarial]

I don't really have suggestions on how to keep the pleats in, but the practice dress looks gorgeous!! You might want to add some boning in the final dress to help hold up all the weight of the poofy skirt

[ScotSkipper402]

Any suggestion on how to get the "pleats" to stay in place on the bodice?

Make a simple underbodice, and tack the pleats in place on it.

Pretty!

[LISAWshesSOcrafty]

i made a corset style under bodice, then gathered the fabric on the side and draped it across, pinning everything in place. Where would I tack the fabric? in between the pleats and then just iron it down?