Let's draft together the pattern of this vintage bridal dress.
It gives its best if reproduced in a stiff fabric, as silk mikado, duchesse or taffeta. I would also suggest to insert horsehair braid in the hem, for extra support to the flare.
Of course you could decide to make a shorter version, and it would be an amazing cocktail dress!
It features a shaped high waist, almost an empire cut at the front, a kimono sleeve with gusset and a flared skirt.
You can learn our method for drafting perfectly made to measure basic blocks (contoured ones, and the ones with wearing ease) and for fitting them in our basic blocks course/module 1. You will learn in depth also how to manipulate darts, add volumes and a lot of pattern transformations that will take your pattern making skills to a higher level.
Start from a basic block with darts and appropriate ease allowance.
On center front, lower 8-10cm and start drawing the line that will separate bodice and skirt. Keep it slanted, slightly rounded until you come on the side seam a couple of cm above the waist.
On the back, finish drawing the line from the same point on the side seam merging to the natural waist around the dart.
Square down from the apex of the darts and divide the skirt with slash lines to -later- add volume.
Extend the basic block with the length from the waist to the ground.
Then extend the center back by the length of the train (we suggest around 40cm, but it’s totally up to you), and draw the bottom curve without changing the length of center front. According to how long your train is, you might need to extend the side seam a bit – as you see here.
Separate the bodices and the skirts by cutting through the new waist/underbust line.
Get the bodices and a matching sleeve. The armhole and sleeve cap measurements must be identical.
Cut the sleeve in its center.
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