Sunday, September 20, 2009

Saved from a zipper catastrophe

I may be short but I have a long torso. During the muslin alterations for my wedding gown (Vogue 2979), I added almost 2 inches to the length of the bodice to place the waistline in the proper place. I also cut the bodice lengthwise to add width. I didn't actually make a full muslin because the skirt has about 7 yards of fabric in it and I didn't feel that it was necessary. Failing to make the muslin skirt caused 2 problems for me:
  1. The skirt seam lines no longer matched the bodice seam lines (due to the addition to bodice width). I don't have a picture of this because I promptly ripped the skirt off when I saw the mistake. The bodice front darts should match up with the seams on the front skirt, which has a center front panel joined to 2 side front panels. It's not a huge problem but it looks sloppy.
  2. The bodice length addition caused me to run out of zipper. Now this is a big problem. I used an 22-inch invisible zipper. Thanks to my adjustments, I needed a 24-inch zipper which you can't find in a local fabric store. I needed this dress finished yesterday, not after I spend a week waiting for a special order zipper to arrive in the mail. I compensated by shifting the zipper down one inch and will add a 2nd hook and eye closure to the neckline. It's a decent fix but I can barely get the skirt over my hips when I put the gown on. Please note: this fix only works on this gown because the neck is high in the back with a scalloped lace edge. The lace neck looks better with a shorter zipper, I think. (I will post a photo after I finish applying the lace edge.)
I posted a link to an online invisible zipper tutorial yesterday. The tutorial helped me put in my best looking zipper yet. No bunches, and it is straight. I highly recommend basting your zipper in place first as a shifted zipper will look sloppy.

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Just my opinion....

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