With loving to sew my own dresses, when my brother’s wedding was coming up in the Fall of 2022, I decided to make time to sew a blue lace dress for the occasion.
I always do love long dresses, but I didn’t want to make a dress to wear one time when the style of dress I was creating could be one that I could wear afterwards to other events. I chose to create a short wedding guest dress that matched the couple’s color scheme. It consisted of two hues of blue that complement each other, a floral lace overlay, and some lace edging along the skirt and bodice.
Designing a Lace Dress
The colors were a dusty blue with a dark red. For the fabric, I chose a light cotton with a darker hue blue.
I didn’t have a pattern in mind. Actually I was a bit stuck on the design of dress I wanted to create. I sifted through my bins of patterns, trying to find something that would inspire me in my design.
This first pattern is something that I always want to use. I love the classy look with the design of the dress, as well as the touch of the lace.
When I draw my dress ideas, I use a template below. I don’t have the artistic skills, so I use what will help me in the designing process.
With this second pattern, I like the V-neck shape with the pleating on the bodice, but the midriff holds me back in wanting to use it some.
I originally thought I wanted to use this pattern with the blue lace dress. But, I change my mind once a saw a news reporter’s dress on tv. This other dress is completely lace, one color, and has lace edging along the sleeves, giving it a cap sleeve look.
Once I establish the pattern I need to use for the bodice, I work on tracing all the pieces. I didn’t always trace my patterns onto tracing paper, but after years of cutting patterns to one size, and then changing sizes, I find this keeps my patterns longer. A few years ago I bought a roll of this tracing paper off Amazon. I place it on top of the pattern, and trace my size with a pencil. It does help to hold it down with something heavy, such as the magnetic pin holder I have.
After tracing the pattern, I pin it to the fabric. The center front bodice piece is placed along the center fold, whereas the other pieces just need two cut. I have two layers of fabric under those pieces. Cut them out and lay them off to the side.
Check out the YouTube video on how I sewed this dress.
Fabric- Blue Lace and Cotton
Repeat with cutting the lace fabric. This is for the front and back bodice overlay. These pieces need to all face the same way. Do not have the one-piece horizontal while the other one is vertical. We don’t want to have a perpendicular pattern on our dress with some roses going up and down and other roses going left to right.
I know it may seem tedious, but iron out your pieces of fabric before you sew them. I had no idea where I put my ironing bench, so I used the opposite side of an extra quilt. It worked pretty well.
Sewing the Blue Bodice
When sewing the bodice piece, place the nice side of the fabric together. We want all the seams on the inside of the dress. When I first learned how to sew I messed this up a lot, so it just takes practice doing it correctly.
I know this zipper doesn’t match, but what I want to show is that I place a temporary zipper into the bodice piece for fitting.
Don’t skip the fitting step. It will be a pain in your rear while doing it, but it is how the dress will fit your form. Take in at the waist. Then take in at the bodice.
Anywhere I have taken in on the underlay bodice piece, I take in on the overlay bodice. Like I said, I pain in the rear. But the results are worth it!
Sewing the Skirt for the Lace Dress
Here we start preparing the lace fabric for the skirt. We need a straight edge at the top. I use the lines on my cutting board to follow to achieve this.
I then work on trimming off the lace edging to use for the neckline and the armholes.
The other sides of the lace edging I want to include on the skirt. I trim off the small threads that hold it to scrap edging.
Using the same length of fabric as the lace, I measure and cut the cotton fabric. Next, I want to stitch these two piece together at the top.
Here starts the complicated step of pleating. I don’t follow any patterns for sewing the skirts that are pleated or gathered. Instead, I base it off of the waistline from the bodice piece. First, I find center. I pin the bodice to the skirt. Then, I find the “off-centers” so this is where the front bodice piece attaches to the back bodice piece. I divide the skirt into fourths- one fourth for the left back, one fourth for the left front, another for the right front, and the last quarter will be for the right back. From there, I guestimate the size of the pleats.
I head back to my sewing machine, and I sew the pleats, so that they stay there while I work on the skirt. If I need to make any adjustments when sewing it to the bodice, I’ll use a seam ripper and redo the last pleat along the edge before attaching it to the bodice.
Lining the Dress
I don’t do anything fancy with lining. You can buy lining fabric which is thinner and made of polyester. For this blue lace dress, I use the same cotton fabric as the underlay fabric. And, any adjustments made during the fitting, need to be done when making the lining piece of the bodice. Place the right sides of the bodice and the lining together, line up the seams, and then begin sewing the top edge of the bodice.
This next step is done on quality dresses at the stores. This is where this stitch will hold the lining from ruffling its way up, while also not showing the stitch on the front. Open up the bodice and lining pieces. Both sets of the ½ inch of extra fabric at the seam should be placed together on top of the lining. Then about 1/8 to ¼ inch away from the seam, begin sewing.
Jumble the skirt fabric together, then attach the right sides of the bodice and the lining on their bottom edges together. This is going to be tight, but it will hide any fraying edging on the skirt. Starting at one end, begin to unravel the dress. Once out, the dress will be the right side out.
Last Touches
One last finishing touch, I sew the lace overlay to the top of bodice. If you would use boning, you wouldn’t need to do this. For me, it will help keep the underlay up while I wear the dress.
I do insert a zipper, sew the back of the dress together, and hem the underlay of the skirt. And throughout, I am trying on the blue lace dress, double checking the sizing and lengths of the bodice and the skirt. I made adjustments, and finished the dress with an eye and hook on back side of the bodice the day before we left for Nebraska for my brother’s wedding.
