Trains

This is probably the only time in your life when you will wear a gown with a train. Dealing with it is sometimes a big concern. Depending on the situation of your wedding ceremony you may like to change the train in some way.

added July 2008

Hello,
 
I'm altering a wedding dress for a friend.  She's having a garden wedding and prefers no train on her dress.  I'm in the process of prepping the dress for the 'big hem' but I have a few questions before cutting.  My instincts tell me the hem is the same length from the waist line all around the dress.  However, now I'm wondering if there is some sort of 'sewing rule' that suggests the back should be slightly longer than the front in order for the dress to be the same distance from the floor all around.
 
Does this question make any sense? 
 
FYI: the bride is petite.  The dress is full with two layers of crinoline. 
 
Thanks so much,
 
Yvette  

When removing a train you have to cut off some of the train fabric. This has to be done because the weight of that fabric makes the skirt hang toward the back. When gone the skirt will shift towards the front. Then you need to measure the hem with the bride in the dress. I do a hem 1" off the floor. What ever that ends up being for your bride is where it needs to go. You may find that this does end up looking longer in the back when on a hanger, but it can also end up looking longer from one side to the other. Most people don't have perfect posture and their bodies are not symmetrical. So, you can't simply do the hem the same measurement as the front of the dress or guess at how much to do it longer. You have to have the bride stand in the dress and let you pin it.

added January 2008

Hi Leanna,

So I just purchased a Maggie Sottero "Emmaline" wedding gown. It is beautiful! But the one thing I didn't want was poof or a train. We are getting married on the beach and I didn't see the point of a train, and I wanted a little more "simple." I couldn't say no to this dress at the price I paid. :)

So, would it be a poor decision to cut off the train, to make it one length all the way around, or maybe a tiny train in the back? I was thinking of using the organza lace to make the veil. Cutting off the train would take off the beading at the bottom in the back of the dress, but that beading does not go all around the bottom of the dress.

As for the poof, there is one layer of horse hair (?) (the scratchy material to make the poof), and then another layer about a foot long at the bottom. I was wanting to remove the long layer of horse hair as it gives the dress a little bit of a poof, and if I don't like it I can always put the horse hair back in, correct?

As for the stitching at the bottom of the lace (this dress has organza lace over satin), I'm not sure how it is stitched, but it looks like a very thin flat trim stitched or ironed flat. Can they redo that same stitching all over when hemming the dress? I will need the dress hemmed about 3 inches at least in the front.

Thanks for your advice and wisdom! :) Shelby

I did a search for Emmaline to get a look at the gown. This can be a good solution for you. You will be loosing the back beading but that will not take anything away from the gown. You can hem it all the way around.

The stuff making the poof is netting. Horse hair is a plastic braiding, 1" to 2", that is found in hems of gown that are usually satin type fabric. You can remove the netting layers to get less poof, but you must do this before you hem the dress. You can put it back but that will cost you more than removing it.

If the special stitching you are describing is a napkin edge, I have the special machine that is needed to replace the special stitching you are describing. You need a serger to do it. You'll need to ask the person doing the alteration if they have a serger. Many alteration people don't. If the edge is a rolled hem than any regular machine can do it. Again, you'll need to ask the person doing your alteration if they can do this edge. It is a little tricky and some seamstresses can't do it well.

Another option for you is to have the gown permanently bustled. I think a French bustle would look great. It would let you keep the beading on the train and add a neat design element to the back of the gown.

added June2006

Hi Leanna,
This is a great site and helpful too. I have a Jade Daniel Style#2009. I love it it's almost as if it walked out of my dream. Except I wanted a ballgown with no train and a corset back and it has neither. I don't want to wear it with a train, but there's a swirl of Swarovski crystals above the hem so it can't be cut and hemmed to be changed into a ballgown. I would like an "Over Bustle/ Ballroom Bustle" but I want it to look like this is a ballgown. I'd like to make the bustle just look like it's just a gathered waste as opposed to seeing buttons holding up parts of the train. Do you have any suggestions that won't cost a fortune? Any help would be great.
Thank you. Joanne

You can actually open up the back waist seam and shorten the train there, but it will cost quite a bit to do it. I doubt I would be charging less than $200 for such an operation and I might go higher once I saw the gown and how the seams are constructed.

Is sounds like you know what you want. You have to understand that it often costs much to get exactly that. You may be able to find a seamstress who will ask for much less, but this is a good indicator that she is not very experienced. Do you really want to risk your precious gown to a cut-rate seamstress?

Wow that was fast! Thank you so much! I thought it would cost more to have it done that way or it would be too much work. I guess I'd really have to trust the seamstress' abilities to shorten it at the waist. Do you think there's a nice way to still over do a bustle to get it to look more "natural" by using hooks and eyes or something along those lines? I just really dislike visible buttons on a wedding gown, just my wedding gown quirk I guess! LOL! :O) The store I purchased it at wants $600 to do all the alterations I wanted (with a bustle), do you think that is reasonable for all of that or not? It's just that I paid $800 dollars and it seems wrong to spend $600 on alterations. I wish you were in Canada to do it it for me! Thanks again for taking the time to help. I really appreciate it.

What can I say - I'm a night owl.

Bridal salon prices are usually more than independent sewist like me. I work out of my home and don't have employees to pay insurance for. Also you are in Canada - that $600 would be less in US dollars. So, yes I think that's a reasonable price considering you are asking for a big job here.

My bustles are very subtle. They really do look quite natural. I know you have an aversion to the buttons showing, many brides do, but guests at your wedding will not notice them, honest. There has to be something to hold the fabric of the dress up and that something is going to show. The only way for you to get the "Natural" look you are wanting it to do it "Naturally", that is Sew It!