From Dream to Dress: How a Custom Sewn Piece is Created
It has been both a pleasure and a privilege to help many of our clients produce one-of-a-kind pieces over the past year. While each one was unique and made specifically with its wearer in mind, there are a few steps to custom sewn piece creation that are essential no matter what you are making. Today we will explore a few of the key steps we take to ensure that your bespoke article is well-crafted and fits you perfectly. For purposes of simplicity and clarity, each step below will imagine a custom dress as the piece being created.
1) Design
The design process is the storyboarding of the tale your dress will tell. Is it daring, elegant, classic, layered, or even outrageous? That’s for you to decide and us to sketch out through concept drawings that help to give substance and style to your vision. We offer numerous fabric swatch options to help give you the best possible variety to choose from, with a huge selection of colors, patterns, and fabric types to suit any need. Since everything hinges on the quality of the initial design, we emphasize communication and feedback with our clients to ensure we get things right from the very beginning.
2) Patternmaking
Just as many fantastic novels throughout history have been translated so that people all over the world may enjoy them, so must a design sketch be translated into a pattern so that it can be made real. The patterning process takes the sketch, converts it into its constitutent pieces, and shows all of the unique customizations in terms of angles, measurements, and cuts that must be undertaken to later turn the two-dimensional pattern into a three-dimensional dress.
3) Muslin/Fitting
The “rough draft” of the dress, a muslin is created to determine what changes will be needed prior to the actual dressmaking. Muslin is a special and versatile type of cotton fabric that is perfect for getting an idea of how to improve the look and fit of the dress without having to waste any of the attractive (and more expensive) fabric that the actual dress will later utilize. Once the muslin pieces are cut using the pattern, they are sewn together just like the dress will be. After the muslin is complete and checked for accuracy, the first fitting takes place. Fitting is an essential feedback tool we use to make the proper pattern changes that will ensure the final dress looks and feels like the perfect custom fit that you deserve. Once those edits have been made and the pattern is perfect, it is now time for the actual dress to take shape!
4) Making the Piece/Final Fitting
This is the home stretch, and also the place where accuracy and attention to detail matter the most. Now that all the measurements have been found to be precise and accurate, the beautiful fabric you selected for your dress is cut into the pieces that the refined pattern defines. Those pieces are then sewn according to the design and finished appropriately depending on the trim, the addition of any notions (like zippers or buttons), and any special sewing considerations like gathers or decorative topstitching. After every element is brought together and any required hand-finishing is undertaken, it is time for the ultimate test the dress must pass: the final fitting. In this case, that test-giver is you! When you try on your custom dress in our Studio, it is both a time of celebration for you and a time of attentiveness for us as we ensure everything is as it should be. Finally, we make any small changes needed to truly give you precisely what you want and the confidence in the quality of your one-of-a-kind dress.
Not every piece we make will use these exact steps in this particular order, though most will, and all are given our utmost attention and the benefit of our numerous experiences in bringing custom designs from the drawing board to the drawing room (or wherever you decide to show off your new dress!) While the number of designs, muslins, fittings, and other parts of the process might vary depending on the project, the quality of your final dress will always astound you and those fortunate enough to see you in it. If creating a custom dress or other design sounds like an exciting journey you would like to embark on, reach out to us and we will gladly speak with you in greater detail about how to take your concept from dream to dress. It’s all in the details!
