SPECIAL FINISHINGS
Before the satin lining & interlining were stitched together, special finishes needed to be completed to each one. For the satin lining: were dress hanger positions with their loop holders & a personal wedding label; for the interlining, the hook & eye fastening needed finishing.
Hanging loops
The satin lining was hung on a dedicated wooden hanger - this being much stronger than the first plastic one (below left) used for just the satin lining. Lengths of ribbon (one at each of back & front + one at each side) were then cut to exact sizes so the dress could hang at exactly the specific height. (It was essential for the dress to have these ribbbons as by just hanging on a hanger, the dress' weight through the neckline could easily cause distort &/or change the openings shape.)
Double thickness & positioned at just below waistline, they were twice the distance to their relevant part of the hanger (i.e.. around the hanging hook for the centre back & front; over the shoulder indent on the hanger for the sides).
The ends of the ribbon were stitched to the satin lining (at below waist) & appx. 8"/20m up from this point (just below underarm) then small ‘guide loop carriers' were made (see above) above them.
For hanging, the ribbons were threaded through these loops to ensure they remained in position to hold the bodice firm & upright on the hanger. In wear, the longer ribbons were folded back & held on the loops with a tiny safety pin. Below shos the finished dress perfectly balanced on its final wooden hanger.
Personalised wedding label
A personal finishing touch for a wedding dress is a personalised label - for this wedding I chose the wedding date as being suitable & for K’s dress, thought a simple machine-embroidered one would be ideal. It could be made on a short length of satin ribbon & stitched to the dress after.
However, once completed, it had to be disguised (until the dress was totally finished) under a small strip of fabric. Tacked to the dress when asked what it was I answered “just one of my special reminders to myself as what still needs to be done!”
Fastenings: a) Corsetry hook & eyes
On the interlining, the fastening was to be kept separate since it relied on the boned bodice to support the fitting & weight of the dress. By fastening the bodice first, the rest of the dress would easily lay over the top of it especially if the dress zip was not attached to the linings.
With this in mind, the hook & eye closure was the corsetry type obtainable as a continual length. It was pinned into position (see image above):
then securely machine stitched on to the interlining in 2 places along its edges.
Once the satin lining was joined to the interlining, it was machine stitched to the hook & eye edge too. (Hand-stitching the satin lining to the hook & eye closure was not an option because of the tightness of the bodice & the polyester fabrics being used.)
Fastenings: b) Zip
An overlapped zip was inserted in the back seam of the main dress ...
... so that the linings remained separate from it (below shows the hook & eye closure as seen when the upper zip is open).
Pot-pourri fragrance bag
The finished dress was delivered to K in a purchased wedding gown carrier - also in black. A final finishing touch was the making of a decorative black net pot-pourri bag to hang on the hanger.
Basically a small square of fabric with potpourri inside, was encased in a net square outer.
Tied with satin ribbon, it had a machine-embroidered rose attached (above).