In my book Clothing Alteration Secrets Revealed, I cover taking up Long Dresses, gowns and skirts.  This may seem like an easy exercise and it should be, but it is important to pin all the way around measuring from the floor up as per my technique in my book.  Let me tell you a story about what happened at my nieces wedding.

I live in the Gold Coast, and I drove down to Sydney (about 1,000 kilometers) for her wedding.  Her younger sister met me when I arrived and told me that she was very concerned about how the alterations to the dresses would be.  Now this niece worked with me for many years, and knew all about gowns and what was required.  She told me that at the fitting, she had asked the lady to please measure all the way around on each of the girls.  Apparently the ladies response was, ‘I know what I’m doing.  I’m a professional.’   Well the “professional” put one pin in the front for the hem - and that was it.  She put one or two pins in the side of my niece’s bridesmaid dress, and pinned the straps up.  On the other two girls she did the same with the hems, and put a few pins in the side where they needed to come in.

So here we are, it’s Friday night and the wedding is 4.30 pm the following day.  I asked if everyone could come around and try on their dresses.  (Even though they had been purchased months before, they were not available for pickup until the Thursday)

So here is the scenario……….

All three dresses had one side of the hem touching the ground, and other sections were 7 cm (3 in) off the ground.  They had the wonkiest hem I have ever seen.  But on top of that my young niece’s dress was so tight she could hardly breathe, and the straps had been taken up too much.  The other two bridesmaids’ dresses were too loose.

On top of all this the workmanship was bad.  The hems had been turned twice, but the frayed edges were showing.

‘I think I better try on my wedding dress,’ whispered my niece.  ‘I think that would be a good idea,’ I said.  As soon as she took it out of the plastic carry bag, I could tell we had problems.  The back had been taken in through the zip, but it looked like a 5 year old had done the work.  The tulle was pulling away from the dress, the fabric had been cut and zig zagged, not overlocked.  And there was no hook and eye at the top of the zip.  I knew my niece would want to keep her wedding dress, so I wanted to have it looking brand new.  I unpicked the zip; stay stitched the tulle to the fabric and overlocked the edge.  Then I reattached the zip correctly.  Finally I put a hook and eye at the top of the zipper, which is an absolute must at the top of any zipper.

Next problem was the bridesmaids’ dresses.  By releasing the sides and straps for the gown that was too tight, it became a little longer; I then took in the sides for the other two.  There were 18 people staying on the farm, so all the women got together and unpicked the hems, including the lining, then once the hems had been ironed flat, the girls stood on a small table (shoes on) and I straightened the hem as best as possible.  Because I wanted them to be as long as possible, I borrowed an over locker and changed it to a rolled hem.  The dresses were pink, so I put an embroidery thread in the middle spool which gave a nice finish.  The last dress was finished half an hour before the girls were taken to the reception area.

Conclusion:-

1.  Almost every gown (bar none) MUST be pinned all the way around to ensure that the hem will be the same measurement from the floor up.

2.  When taking in a garment, it is imperative to use a technique that ensures WHERE YOU PIN IS WHERE YOU SEW.

Happy sewing

Judith aka genie