Bridesmaid Ready

I finally finished working on my bridesmaid's dress!

It's pretty rare that I'll follow sewing instructions. 

It doesn't always make for a perfect finish, but I like to learn what works and what doesn't work on my own. 

The tough part about this dress was matching the fabric I needed. 

My husband was sweet enough to go with me to the fabric store and hold roll after roll of nude and lace fabrics. 

Trying to match fabrics and patterns that were originally created by a huge brand is definitely not the easiest thing but, we did our best.

Now, you may be wondering why I had to alter such a cute dress. 

Well, I mentioned at the end of this post that I had to make it Married Mormon Modest. 

It's not always the easiest finding dresses appropriate enough to cover my religious under clothing, so I took it upon myself to make something work.

I don't think I'll be able to make this into a tutorial post because I was learning all on my own and my steps were definitely all over the place. 

[My stitch-picker always comes in handy on these new projects]

I took a few pictures during my process to help give an idea of my "process".

First, I had to sew the lining into the sleeves. 

I then decided to hem the sleeves up a bit. 

I couldn't quite figure out what length they were going for when it was designed, but having it rub just above my wrist wasn't gonna work for me.

So, I cut off about 4 inches and hemmed it for a nice 3/4 length sleeve. 

I kept the lining shorter than my lace to accentuate the pretty lace design.

Last was the dress-extender. 

I wish I didn't have to add anything to the bottom of the dress but again, it wasn't covering up what needed to be covered - man do I miss my cute college sorority dresses right about now lol.

I've seen these extenders all over the internet and figured I could just wing it on my own for much less.

 Again, another learning curve because I have a hard time with sewing instructions lol.

My mom had an old slip she wasn't wearing anymore so I cut off about a foot or so and added the nude and lace material I had so fervently tried to match with the dress fabric.

I love that the sleeves have some lace still peeking out so I did the same with the extender, leaving about 3 inches on the bottom to be seen below the fabric.

And P.S. I'm totally okay not having to sew with lace again. 

It's just one of those fabrics I don't have a lot of patience with since it likes to do its own thing; 

not to mention it messes with your eyes half the time because you can't tell where it begins and where it ends when its all gathered. 

I definitely learned some good tips for next time that will make things so much easier, but for now, I'm happy sticking with my new project - the flaws give it character and a personal homemade touch :).

BEFORE...

... AFTER 

Now I just need to add some tan legs to this bad boy and I'm golden for the wedding in just two short weeks.

Feel free to email me with any questions or comments on this project!