Six Tips for Sewing your own Wedding Dress with Paige from Seams Electric // EP08
Listen to EP08
Close your eyes for a moment and imagine your dream sewing project.
That "maybe one day" project.
That project that's so big and exciting it scares you a little but you want to dig into it anyways.
For so many of us sewists, that dream project is a formal dress. A gorgeous gown decked out in couture worthy techniques, made in all the best fabrics, with all the little details your heart desires. Maybe it's a wedding dress, a prom dress, or a special occasion dress of another name, but the point is, there's a lot of sewists (myself included) that dream of sewing the unpractical.
Our guest today is Paige from Seams Electric, and she just finished sewing the most gorgeous couture-worthy wedding dress. I've been following along with her process on Instagram and just knew I needed to get her on the show to talk about the tips she's learnt along the way. Seeing her complete all the little details for her dress stirred up my love of couture sewing, and I know if you've got an interest in sewing up a gorgeously impractical formal gown one day you're going to love this episode.
Paige is going to share her top six tips for sewing a wedding dress with us today, but these tips can apply to any formal sewing project. Even if you don't have a gown in the works, I'm sure you'll pick up a tip or two that you can apply to your regular sewing projects to make them extra special - like underlining a garment with flannel to stabilize it, who knew?!
Before you jump into the episode, here are a five fast facts about Paige!
What/where would your dream home be?
Pre-1890 Italianate brick Victorian house (with third floor space for a sewing room) on ten or more acres. Country girl at heart!
Which style icon, dead or alive, would you like to have a coffee with?
Christian Dior - not quite a style icon exactly. But I’d love to hear his thoughts on shape, form, and the purpose of fashion.
What’s your dream sewing machine?
A true industrial sewing machine - or two. A walking foot machine, a straight stitch and zigzag machine, or possibly a post or cylinder bed machine.
What’s one of your dream sewing projects you haven’t tried yet?
Previously this was my wedding dress, but after that I’m very interested to get into the realm of outerwear. My two biggest projects would be a knee-length Pendleton wool coat and a fitted wool and silk lined leather jacket.
What are three things you MUST have in your dream sewing space?
Large open cutting table, the bigger the better. Wall mounted muslin and drafting paper, preferably over the cutting table. Space for at least two machines - serger and main machine (space for more is better as my collection of vintage machines is growing.)
Talking with Paige was so much fun and super informative! Truth be told, I felt a little dorky asking so many questions about the couture sewing process, but I learnt a LOT and I know you will too - like the name for that fancy polka-dotted tulle... turns out it's not just called polka-dotted-tulle.
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Until next time!
Rachel