How to Tailor Bridal Dresses
Many people are not lucky enough to find a wedding dress that fits them perfectly. Once you have found your bridal dress, you'll probably need to have it tailored to your specifications. Tailoring a bridal dress involves hiring the services of a skilled seamstress who can transform the dress to a design that you really want.
- Find a proficient seamstress to tailor your bridal dress. Ask people you know and get recommendations from them including family, friends, your bridal shop and local fabric stores. Request to examine samples before hiring a seamstress to work on your wedding dress. Find a seamstress that knows how to do alteration, fitting and tailoring bridal dresses. If possible, have your bridal dress tailored at the same shop you purchased it from.
- Have a timeline. Allow two to three months for gown tailoring and fittings. Let the seamstress know your deadline, and be sure to allow at least four weeks until the date of the wedding. That gives you enough time for any last-minute adjustments that may be needed.
- Go in to try your dress. Take your main accessories with you, so that you will be able to see how the dress will look with the accessories. Invite a few trusted friends and relatives to the fitting so they can offer their opinions. Bring the maid of honor when you go in for the final fitting so that she can see how things are working.
- Know what is involved. Tailoring can involve things as simple as installing all necessary buttons, zippers, hooks and corset eyelets or complex tasks like a complete redesign of the dress. Skilled seamstresses can usually revitalize or even modernize any dress. Keep in mind that depending on the style and fabric of your bridal dress, the tailoring process can be laborious and difficult, so take this into consideration when deciding how much time and money you're investing in this project.