Wedding Sewing 4: Sourcing Materials

With an initial design in mind, I can start sourcing! Unfortunately, I do not have a local fabric shop where I can source high quality fabric, so I had to turn to the internet. Online shopping means I can't see the real object and will need to buy samples prior to committing to a large quantity. It also means taking into account extra shipping time. The self-imposed May deadline was approximately 3 months away, and with the design evolving into a multi-piece ensemble, every second during the procurement phase was precious so I can maximize construction time. Because I’m making multiple pieces, I will also need more fabric and notions to finish each garment.

Main Fabric 

For the self-fabric, I looked all over the internet for a lavender/lilac color of linen or silk shantung. What I've learned is that different shops call different colors lavender and lilac - some more gray and some more pink or blue. I bought samples from a few shops, and compared the colors and drapes of both linen and silk shantung. Holding the samples against my skin, I also assessed the ideal lilac color I wanted. Then I also overlaid samples with silk organza and tulle to simulate the overlay dress effect for comparisons. Lastly, I compared both warm and cool-toned white laces to assess which color tone of lace I preferred. It was a lot of comparing! 

Comparing the different tones of lilac samples against my skintone

Comparing lace and lilac color samples against my skin

The color was really important here, and price played a part as well. But ultimately, I was looking for something that would wash well, work for a fitted bodice and skirt, and not wrinkle too badly. My silk shantung sample, for whatever reason, came out super wrinkly from the washer and that was really discouraging. My final pick was a handkerchief linen from NY Designer Fabrics (Not sponsored!).

Lilac handkerchief linen I picked!

For the overlay dress, I debated between a silk organza or tulle as the overlay, but ultimately decided that I needed silk organza so it can structurally hold up the lace and potential beading. The internet sewing hive mind seems to agree with that decision as well.

To evoke the ultimate ethereal vibe, I decided I want tulle early on. The bridal salon visit also confirmed that I need a glittery tulle to give it that sparkly magic I could not resist. However, if you have a partner who is very worried about small plastic particulates or just does not like glitter at all, I believe there's a different kind of sparkly tulle out there called shimmer tulle? Don't quote me on that, but definitely consider a sequined tulle as another option for all the sparkles and zero clean up. Lucky for me, Minerva was very generous and gifted me several yards of both glitter and regular tulle. I will admit trying to buy online without samples was really scary on this high stakes project. But it all turned out fine. Check out my Minerva Brand Ambassador post on the gifted tulle here.

Fabrics that no one sees

Next, I needed an underlining to help the linen wrinkle less. I've narrowed my choices to silk organza or cotton lawn, as those were the popular suggestions from the internet. A quick 20-second scrunch test with my linen sample against the underlining samples helped me decide that cotton lawn is the winner!

Underlining samples test. Linen placed over cotton lawn at top and silk organza in bottom

For the internal structure AKA corselette, I needed a strong but lightweight fabric. Thanks to my friend Ceci, @thesecretsewist, who suggested the use of cotton broadcloth as a cheaper alternative to coutil, which is traditionally used for corsets.

Embellishment

The most important piece of embellishment is the lace. I knew I wanted beaded lace for the ultimate “fancy” look. Using the knowledge that my bridal consultant gave me: that I liked viney and more delicate lace, I set off searching in that direction. After many hours on Etsy, I bought some samples, and picked out the laces that has matching “white” color. I made sure to buy extra yardage in case I needed it.

Assessing lace samples I bought

Other embellishments I bought were sequins and beads. Online shopping again made the process tricky. After deciding the beaded lace I wanted, I set out to find matching sequins and beads to ensure all embellishment elements come together coherently. Leaning into my sparkling self, I decided to also pick out some rhinestones to up the wow factor. I bought a small order enough for experiments and a small amount of embellishing while I decide if they will be included in the final design.

Two bags of silvery sequins and two vials of white beads

Notions 

I won’t list my used notions as I will mention them in the construction post for each ensemble component. However, I would recommend buying extra and alternative options. I suppose for my tight schedule, it was to my advantage to buy extra. But I did make last minute unplanned purchases for a few notions at the end of my journey.

That’s it for materials! It was a rush to make purchases, compare samples, and finalize my decisions, which was a bit overwhelming in hindsight. But I’m proud of myself for pushing through. At this point of my journey, I finally had samples of my final garment and got a glimpse of how the final look would be.

Lace and sequin samples layered on top of fabrics for a vision to the final look!

So, how much did I spend on materials? Adding up all the items I’ve purchased minus the gifted fabric, the total was about $600. However, I still have quite a bit of leftover fabric and supplies due to buying extra and alternative options for contingencies. In the next post, we are FINALLY getting into sewing. We’ll start with the patterning process and mockups.