Any dressmakers our there - advice needed!

[MrsWembley]

I'm having my dress made for me as I couldn't find what was in my head in the shops and didn't want to pay an extra fortune for alterations. She's been brilliant and seemed to understand everything that I was after.
Had one fitting where the bodice and skirt were still in two pieces but I could use my imagination and all to see how it would be.

Just had my second fitting and something's not right but I put it down to my mood at the time. This is the first time since Mum died that I've really thought about her missing all this. Shit

But thinking on it, I was expecting something and something else has been done and I don't know what to do. On the one hand, it's beautiful and fits and suits me and everything, but on the other, it's expensive and a one-off and I want the picture in my head.

The change I want might mean a whole load of extra lace being needed but she's unstitching the bodice and skirt anyway to make another change, so should I say anything, or leave it? I don't want to piss her off, she's lovely!

Anyone? Help!!

Tell her. She will want to get it right for you. Without knowing all the ins and out it's impossible to say how much extra work is needed.

Well, it's lace over satin, and I didn't think of it before but I was expecting one complete layer of lace from top to bottom but it's in two separate pieces, you know with the seam around the waist. It just changes the feel of it

What’s the shape of the dress? Unless it’s a very simple shift it will be very difficult to make from one continuous piece of lace.

I’m sorry you feel this way, but I suppose you should have said something at the first fitting.

Please tell her. If you're going to all this trouble, it needs to be right and I'm sure she'd feel the same.

I think ThanksItHasPockets is right. Unless is a very simple up-down shape its never going to sit right as a single piece of fabric. Would a narrow belt or sash around your waist detract from the seam and improve things for you?
I'd definitely discuss it with the dress maker, but ultimately I'd have to respect her advice in terms of what will work.

Most fabric is about 140cm wide so you’ll struggle to never had a waist seam. It would also be tougher to fit without that seam.

OP, do you have a picture or sketch of what you want? I’m concerned that you’ve envisioned something which may not be possible.

Did she make a toile OP?

Thank-you, all

Yes, she did make a toile (or hessian sack as I've been calling it coz I couldn't remember the proper name), but that was for shape and length.

It's a fifties twirl sort of thing, with a scoop neckline. I don't want anything around my waist for exactly the same reasons that I was hoping I wouldn't have the seam around my waist.
Can it really not be done? What happens when it's a satin dress with no waistline? Surely that's a continuous piece of material? I'm expecting a side seam, by the way, just not the horizontal one cutting me in two!

Sort of like this? If so, I’m afraid a waist seam is inevitable. The bodice and the skirt are constructed separately.

I was hoping for more like this...

As I said, completely not bothered about the satin underneath but I was hoping that the lace would just sweep over it.

Speak to her - and also note woman in photo is nipping in waistline by hand on waist.

I am not a dressmaker but I would agree with other posters if you want a fifties "swing" type thing - that could be v hard to do without a seam round the waist - an audrey hepburn type shift - possibly easier.

Ok. Google ‘princess seam dress’ and see if that is more the shape you wanted. It means having at least two vertical seams but the seamstress should pattern-match the lace so that they aren’t obvious at a distance. It will be quite a lot more work as it’s a different construction to the satin and it will need quite a bit more lace as the pieces she’s already cut will be redundant. I’d suggest raising it with her and asking how much it will cost to cover the new materials and labour.

I don't think the dress you want can be done without the waist seam. You cannot get the fulness of the skirt without it.

If its in two pieces to put on, there's going to be a join somewhere, but see below.

If it's in one piece to put on, then it depends on construction, but 50's swing dresses with the floofy underskirts need the waist seam to support the full 'circle' skirt that they really should have.

If you try for that shape without that, on a princess seam or side seam only, you end up fighting the both fabric and basic geometry to get a good fit, fall and finish. It never quite looks or moves right imo.

With option 1, what you might be able to do, and depending on the lace, is extend the lace on the top down into the skirt and sort of make sure it merges. It'd be an optic illusion, but (some) laces are ace for this.

With option two, it might be possible to cut the lace overlay with a continuous front panel, but you'd likely then be looking at panels in the skirt and the sides etc, which might be tricky to do and (again depending on your lace) might also not look great. It probably will, as others have said, mean more time and material.

Talk to her, and take pictures. The last thing she will want is you unhappy, but look to work with her.

I think even in the picture you have posted, there is a seam.

To get a full skirt with a fitted bodice, the lace is going to look v odd to sweep down with no seam and then need loads of godets in it to get the fullness in the skirt. Given this isn't how the skirt is done, it will look weird - unless you have the whole thing completely restyled, skirt included.

However I think done this way the lace will never sit right at the waist and always crinkle up into something that looks like a seam, or just look strange.

It’s hard to tell without a very high-res image but I’m also not convinced that there isn’t a waist seam in that picture, concealed by very clever pattern-matching of the lace to give the illusion of a continuous piece.

OP where is that image from please? I cant reverse search on my phone. Thanks.

Found it.

That dress has a definite seam at the waist. You can see it in the back view in the link Thanks has posted.
I agree with most posters - to get that style of dress to hang properly, the bodice and skirt need to be constructed separately and joined at the waist.

Oh.

So if I talk to her about some sort of decoration around the waist in terms of hiding the seam rather than emphasising the waistband, then would that make sense?

I was feeling so low yesterday Still don't know if seeing the dress sparked that off or if it was noting the seam that just sent me into a spiral! Thanks to all of you for helping

Hope it works out OP, it seems you have set your heart on something that's technically not possible. The dress you linked to has a waist seam as well, you can see the white line on the photo.

A belt might help?

Good luck.