Hemming a Formal Gown
I enjoy sewing formal gowns and wedding dresses, but one thing that can throw me into a cold sweat is to think I have to cut into an already made dress and alter or hem it ! But I have a little friend named Marie for whom I would do just about anything… and she needs a formal gown hemmed so she can wear it to a wedding.
I thought the information about cutting and hemming a formal gown might be helpful to someone so here it is.
This particular gown has three layers and all three have to be either hemmed or modified in some way. There is the gown proper or fashion fabric layer, the under skirt or lining and a crinoline.
This is the gown with the fashion fabric pushed up and the crinoline and underskirt showing.
The crinoline can simply be cut; no hemming required. The lining is made of polyester and is very thin and slick. It will have to be serged or zigzagged and then hemmed.
The gown itself is made of bridal satin. It already has a tiny rolled hemline. After Marie put the gown on and put on the shoes she will be wearing with the dress, I marked how much it needed to be hemmed. 3 inches! So, at that point I knew I would need to cut the dress.
The dress is also longer in the back than in the front. So I can’t just lay it down and cut all the layers at once to maintain the train or longer part in the back.
I started by doing my deep breathing exercises and having a cup of coffee.
Next, having decided that I needed a 1/2 inch hem all around, I measured up from the original hem 2 1/2 inches all around the fashion fabric. I marked 2 1/2 inches all around the bottom of the dress with a pencil. Cutting at 2 1/2 inches would leave me a 1/2 inch piece of fabric to use for the hem itself.
Measuring up 2 1/2 inches from the original hem.
The underskirt with the fashion fabric and crinoline pushed up
I did the same thing with the underskirt. I measured up 2 1/2 inches and marked it all around.
Next, I used a pencil and connected the marks I made that were 2 1/2 inches up from the original hem. This created a cutting line. I cut the dress on my penciled line. I did the same for the underskirt. For the crinoline, you could use a magic marker or other wet marker to draw your cutting line. I just eye balled it and cut it 3 inches up because I will not be hemming the crinoline.
Connecting the dots….
This morning I zigzagged the bottom of the fashion fabric, then turned it under and sewed it on the machine. The hem looks just like the original one.
The thing to watch out for with bridal satin is ruffling of the hem because you stretch it while hemming. So be very careful not to stretch while hemming. If you find you have some ruffling, you can usually steam press it out.
Ruffling…
After steam pressing…
Tomorrow I will zigzag and hem the underskirt and show you the finished product.
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Okay so now I have fainted dead away. Here, take this medal for extreme bravery. LOL!
I’m so glad to know that someone realizes what a stressful thing this is !! LOL!
)
ok so I am doing a hem on a thin nylon knit type fabric. How in the world do I do a rolled hem on this? Any ideas? it is a mother of the groom’s dress and I am thinking about taking it to a professional. I said I would do it, but maybe not!
Hi Tawnya
I don’t know of course without seeing the fabric, but for a thin nylon knit I would probably check out what kind of hem it has already and try to duplicate it. If it is rolled, you may or may not need to cut some of the length off, then hand roll it and pin it as you go. Then you would have to stitch it with a hem stitch or blind stitch.
Hope it works out for you!
It’s really quite fun isn’t it? We’re finding out how the same we all are. Guess blogging shows we have a lot more in common than we ever thought we did.
Hello Myrtie, thank you for visiting CHK. Yes, I think we are all the same in so many ways and I love learning about our differences as well!.
I hope you will enjoy yourself here.
Love
Sylvia