DRASTIC 1980’s Wedding Dress Makeover - that I kinda messed up...

[@swolerabbit]

“she didn’t want a professional, she needed a cosplayer” is so fucking iconic actually

[@xingcat]

You know I've watched too much sewing content when I, who doesn't sew a stitch with a machine ever, heard "organza," and said, "Oh no!"

[@ahhh4117]

As a sewist I've never felt so seen

[@MusicWisp]

Organza is a bitch. I have like 10 yards of it. Started using it. Went N O P E and now it’s hiding in my closet

[@scarlett453]

I think you mean you've seen exactly enough sewing content

[@haleyjanes8059]

THE DRESS TURNED OUT PERFECT ♡♡♡ Thank you so much again for all your hard work! You are incredible! ♡♡♡ Most beautiful garment I've ever worn UwU

[@JasperisCasper]

Your vision for the dress was AMAZING, Haley! It turned out so beautiful (and you looked beautiful!).

[@haleyjanes8059]

@@JasperisCasper thank you so much!!! I definitely could not have executed it myself 😅

[@jynx_jams]

You are absolutely gorgeous in that dress! Definitely subbing to you lol

[@moonflower8525]

I really like the little head wing things. You look like a fantasy queen

[@lesleyharris525]

You look so beautiful. ❤

[@confuzedgraphite]

As the daughter of a man who has made or modified 6-10 wedding dresses, despite NO formal training, THIS LOOKS AMAZING. I'm gonna show this to him ASAP

[@RedCloudfield]

May I ask for his reaction?

[@starrycharacter]

What did he say about it?

[@ChiblingProps]

I'm a cosplayer with a background as a professional bridal seamstress and let me tell you, you had a LOT working against you, what with the polyester and strange construction and I'm impressed you got it to where it ended up! I also love that the bride really leaned into her uniqueness as a person :)

[@moshy2931]

My question as someone who's training to be a seamstress/costume maker is how would you have dealt with the plunging neckline issue? Putting mesh in the middle or a wire structure ?

[@sunshinesmiles5386]

​@@moshy2931 I dabble in alterations/formal dressmaking, everything that I've seen or done would suggest illusion mesh!

[@pruittlondra]

​@moshy2931 maybe invisible elastic?

[@animechow3]

I'm a craftsmanship cosplayer who dabbled in professional alterations and I did my own wedding dress alterations this year. It was a fascinating experience and my dress also had the side seams and it makes a lot of sense since i think most alts are taking in the side tops etc

[@nathandittemore6769]

I'm a professional theatre customer; THIS. HIT. ME. HARD. So many times, I've had folks ask for help with things like this, and it always breaks my heart to say no. There are just skills that ACTUAL garments need that I don't have because I work strictly in stage wear. But you are AMAZING for still taking the project on! We only know what we are capable of once we get our hands dirty!

[@blueisasomedancer]

I'm hoping to start a theater production program in the next year or so! You have my dream job

[@Kouddii]

18:05 SO. MUCH. MONEY. My mom was a costume designer + a theatre kid back in college, and she would literally DIE to see someone give her dress a transformation 😭😭😭

[@xgrimesreaper]

same! i don’t even have a family heirloom dress, but i would love to do this to a thrift store find for my own wedding 💖

[@andyyoung4726]

Even if the construction wasn't perfect, the final dress looked so stunning and that's what really counts! What a beautiful wedding! 😍😍😍

[@pinaproser5509]

My guess why the dress was made flat linned and bag linned is that this way it was fairly easy to alter it to the body of the bride (because it was bought from a store, not completly made from scratch from her measurements?) but also looks as nice as possible from the inside. I hope this makes sense, I am not a native english speaker, greetings from Germany :)

[@SenshiSunPower]

That was my guess too! I've heard that wedding dresses and formal dresses have extra room in the seams so that they can be let out.

[@esthermcafee5293]

I agree with you! Almost every wedding dress needs alterations - either for the bride wearing it now, or the daughter/granddaughter who wears it in the future.

[@Libby-Phantom]

your English is great and I hope you have lovely weather over there (sincerely a brit)

[@sophiesong8937]

Correct!

[@devioustofu]

As a cosplayer that worked as a bridal seamstress for a couple of years it’s SO weird going from making your own cosplays and not caring about the finishes to being forced to makes everything look clean and beautiful for someone else! The dress turned out beautiful and seeing the client happy with your work truly is the best feeling!

[@basementdwellercosplay]

I study historical fashion and im all for revamping dresses like this! After the 60 and 70s era dresses, i dont personal care what people do with their heirloom dress as long as the former wearer is cool with it. We have so many dresses after that period so unless you want to keep the dress in original form, for one reason or another, I'd much rather reuse old dress than throw it in a box for a while before someone eventually throws it away. My aunt gave me her first wedding dress from the early 80s and told me to hack it how ever i please and so many projects have different fabrics from that dress.

[@mirandajoschossler1064]

*me the cosplaying bridesmaid who pinned the lace to her tatas* 😂 No this dress Sarah was so perfect. Haley was so beautiful and I’m sitting here crying all over again. She was literally ETHEREAL. When people found out it was her mom’s dress everyone was even more in love. It’s special and unique and something she’s never going to forget and no one else will ever have 💜

[@samvaru7113]

PLS I DONT KNOW HAELY BUT I WAS CRYING WENT SHE FIRST TRY THE DRESS, SHE LOOKED SO STUNNING ON IT, AND THE DRESS??? OMG ITS SO BEAUTIFUL:((((( ITS LIKE THATS HER MOMS DRESS AND NOW ITS HERS AND ITS HER DRRAM DRESS AUEUUEUEUEUEUUUE

[@birdsnestcreations]

Hey!! I’m not sure if you will actually read this, but I’m a huge fan of your channel and I actually do alts on wedding gowns! You did a very good job on it. One thing you can do as far as the organza layer is steam it. That will at least help it relax. We always do a baby hem on those types of fabrics as well as chiffons. But it turned out absolutely amazing! You should be proud!!

[@Molly-Pop]

I JUST finished my Lust cosplay a few weeks ago and I, too, was dealing with the hell of adding a boned bodice and a plunging neckline. Heck of a first project I chose 😅 (and stretch velvet is THE DEVIL) The end result is so gorgeous, what an incredible and ethereal bride 🥺🥺

[@SewingGoblin]

As someone who is in college who wants to do professional bridal tailoring as a career, this video truly shows the time, skill, and patience needed to create such a dress. Good job Sarah because what you did was amazing and the bride obviously loved it. Can't wait for your next video❤

[@uninvincibleete]

ok i actually loved the original because i'm a sucker for those old puff sleeve back button dresses, but the new dress looks stunning!!

[@MrKaffiend]

Your experience mirrors my own in altering a wedding dress and a formal dress for friends. I'm a self-taught amateur tailor, but I've learned a lot over the past 15+ years and consider myself handy with a sewing machine and a quick learner--and I always practice with scraps before I attempt anything new with a garment lol. A friend asked me to help alter her (non-heirloom, inexpensive) wedding dress, so I gladly agreed. I did the skirt hem (almost 20 ft long) all with a slip stitch by hand like you did, and boy howdy did it take forever. I also needed to take in the off-the-shoulder sleeves, and I painstakingly freed them from the seams in the bodice and back and had to reattach lace and it was a lot of work. But so so satisfying to see the bride's face when she tried it on and it fit her. I also altered a formal dress for a friend that included taking it up about 6 inches because they're very short lol. The interior had a sheer layer with a rolled hem, and I tried and tried and tried on three different sewing machines before I finally just pulled it off with my tried and true, basic ass sewing machine just with the tension of how I held the fabric. I had so many scraps of attempts before I touched the actual dress... It was really fun seeing you going through some of the same steps and stress as I felt with my projects! Thanks for sharing! And the dress turned out INCREDIBLE.

[@kweenkitten6207]

It doesn’t matter how “professional” or “unprofessional” it was done! It was her dream come to life! And those pictures will last forever! ❤❤❤

[@pmeal8800]

This really made me cry, the dress is so beautiful, you're friend is so cute, and the vision from paper to real life is so amazing.

[@CharredFibers]

OMG Sarah!!! That turned out beautiful ❤️❤️❤️❤️ that's at the very least $2000 worth of work. I can't wait to see what you find for your own dress. 😊

[@SamUndomiel]

I'm in that wedding planning / dress shopping stage and this legit made me cry. your friend looks gorgeous and happy and the dress was lovely (even if there's things you would do differently). this is making me look at my mother's dress suspiciously but she was a tiny thing when she got married and I'm much more substantial lol

[@Pixielocks]

YAY omg um I am so sat for this 🫡💗💒💕

[@Xinkienool]

This video means so much to me... I discovered you randomly on KZbin one day in my wild mix of anime and video game media. I didn't know a singular thing about sewing nor had ever considered it. But your strawberry Miku cosplay intrigued me so much that I continued to watch your videos and even started sewing ! I thought about designing and making wedding dresses through this fun little rabbit hole, and to see my biggest inspiration tackle that challenge first... Its like a sign from whatever divine being exists 💛

[@marymacdonald805]

My sisters mother in law took our mom’s wedding dress (it was a tea length dress) and made a baptismal dress for my oldest niece. My mom, sister and I were in tears over the wonderful gift her mother in law gave us all!

[@gianb2585]

This turned out so beautifully, and their reactions nearly brought me to tears! I'm getting married in a year, and I'm fully gearing up in the ultimate display of Sewist's Hubris by deciding that I can totally make 2 tailored, elaborately embellished suit jackets for myself and my husband.

[@MariGuriVT]

Wow even if you’re not super proud of it, I think it ended up looking very beautiful! Actually coincidentally I started my yearly rabbit hole dive into say yes to the dress videos last week, so seeing a wedding dress video from you was a welcome surprise!

[@julyanalamia2357]

Sarah, seriously, i enjoy your videos SO much, i love the humor, the telling, the visuals, everything! i could watch your videos all day

[@MusicWisp]

I’m crying oh my god. It’s beautiful. This is a true wedding dress remake. It keeps the old dress and showcases parts of it. So many dresses are absolutely ruined (in my opinion) to make them have no personality. The dress is amazing. Honestly I don’t know what my mom’s dress look like. But I have a goodwill wedding dress I’ve been taking stains out of and planning to do something with.

[@Yorea]

It's not even my wedding dress and I cried a little. That's so beautiful and I'm so glad you were willing to do that for even though it's definitely very stressful and hard.

[@flo-llama]

GORGEOUS DRESS! Strategically placed double-sided body tape may have helped. It's my understanding that good wedding planners carry a stash of it in a small bag of "in case of emergency" supplies like needle & thread, bobby pins, spot remover, etc. Looking forward to seeing your dress. Will you be thrifting for some of your supplies?

[@Purplecheese132]

I’m so happy that Sarah posted ❤ What is your favourite cosplay? 👇

[@fiendwithglasses1118]

The motivation this gave me to make my own wedding dress despite being both single and ace lmao. love this so much, especially the princess serenity inspo

[@annapepple477]

I wish my mom had worn a wedding dress I even wanted to rework into something I liked… she wore an aqua blue bridesmaid dress that was tea length, had large shoulders and short sleeves and instead of a veil, she wore a bonnet made from the same fabric as the dress. The early 90s was a wild time…

[@sweetheart_cosplays]

Bag lining is actually seen a modern and less expensive because it's such a fast way of finishing a garment, as opposed to flat lining and felling the seams or other method of hand finishing

[@thecutekiller3532]

A trick I found for this type of organza not to melt was using parchement paper (one sheet or two) and it workshop quite well if you don't stay too long on the seam

[@sketchyladybug]

I’m wearing my mom’s dress I’m December, and I’m so excited, this video is perfect timing and made me cry 😭 😍💙

[@Kaalokalawaia]

No joke. I got a little teary. She looked beautiful in that dress. You did amazing

[@netherstarbuild]

I bet a cut piece of sheet steel on the front of the neckline would have given it enough structure for tighter lacing to keep it to the body more and maintain mobility, never the less, you did an incredible job : )

[@Bo-kq8tn]

this was so sweet omg, and the wedding was beautiful! I honestly love you swiped your unfinished serenity ribbon tails for this dress, that honestly makes this wedding dress MORE magical

[@Kyliexo_kiss]

all the work you put into it was so worth it at the end to see her smile at the end 🥺

[@maren5140]

little tip for sewing hems: fold your hem once and sew 1mm in by the fold. then cut away excess fabric and fold it again, and sew on top of the first seam. no ironing needed during the process, you can create hems as tiny as a few mm in width

[@mika.7691]

this video made me sob omg that is so sweet and amazing to do for your friend and it looks amazing aww

[@Partylegs666]

Have you ever looked into using Ban-Rol for tiny hems on formal wear/slippery fabrics?? It makes a stunning finish and is much more stable to sew on!

[@tigerpunk1996]

As far as I know, wedding dresses are sewed flat lined on the sides for easy alterations. For anyone attempting a neckline like this, they have a proper fully boned corset underneath with a seperate closure. The bodice is then hand stiched on. You usually put the bodice on, then close the corset part, then do the dress bodice closure.

[@Lunar_Muffin]

I found your channel this week and I am HOOKED! Proud to be a new sub and patron, keep up the good work ❤

[@ViktorErikFade]

Man....this makes me so excited to either start sewing cosplay eventually And also Making pokemon fashion cosplay because oh my gosh this reminds me of a few ideas

[@fardareismai4495]

My mom has always been adamant that she doesn't want me to get married in her dress, I don't know where the idea comes from (her and my dad are a textbook amazing couple) but she thinks it'd be bad luck if I wore it. But I am allowed to use it for cosplay and that's such an honour!

[@ameliegonissen7154]

As soon as you explained your plan for the neckline I was thinking you’d need some strong illusion mesh to hold that deep V-shape in place. I’m really glad they had some lace to keep everything in place. Regarding the “weird” construction of the bodice, some wedding dresses are made with your exact measurements, you’re not expected to get them altered. Some wedding dresses come premade in different sizes and they do alterations to make them fit you perfectly. In that case the priority might be not to make the alteration crue’s life completely miserable. Having those two side seams accessible makes it quick and easy to take in the bodice.

[@BabyShenanigans]

omg what a gorgeous outcome, even if it wasn't 100% perfect.

[@sonicfreak04]

You did amazing, I can't wait to see your wedding dress I know itll be amazing.

[@spoiledvamp27]

The commissions burnout is so real. I have so much burnout on my OWN cosplays, that I have sprinted away from commissions for friends and acquaintances despite quite a lot of requests.

[@amandahodgins4705]

The clip of Haley’s first fitting made me cry. 🥲

[@anani2751]

My mom's wedding dresses ended up in the drama department at my school and I wore one for My fair lady. I think this, even with its flaws, is amazing and could have been awesome to do with one of them

[@Laedde]

I bought my wedding dress and got it tailored by pros, and it still slipped on the day, needing a bra. You did amazing!

[@notniless]

It came out so beautifully Sarah omg 😭💖

[@goldencrowned]

i assume the unusual construction of the bodice is for ease of altering- since basically everyone gets their wedding dresses altered to fit them perfectly, it makes sense the off-the-rack garments would be sewn with that in mind

[@TealCheetah]

Both dresses are beautiful! That angel wing head dress is perfect!

[@SpeciesXCV]

So little tips and tricks with working with devil fabrics such as organza, you want your stitch size and stitch tension to be as loose and wide as you can, the worst part is having the organza fibes getting literally clogged in the machine and that usually happens when the needle pierces the fabric too many times in very close proximity. As well use scotchtape under your footpedal and it will better grip the slippy fabric. Final tip is never use an iron directly on that fabric because as mentioned in the video, it will melt buuut if you put a thin towel in between or another fabric that you dont care about in between the iron and the organza, you will still be able to get the crisp folds for hemming, remember to test the fabric on these techniques, specially if it's expensive. Cut out a small square and use that to play around with stitch tension and ironing techniques.

[@hamsterjello]

I did not intend to keep my wedding dress for future family, but I decided to keep it once the seamstress who tailored it for me told me that it was the most well-made wedding dress she had ever worked on! She had been working on dresses for like 30 years but she was impressed by the dress and she also did a really good job with the tailoring. I think the design and the quality of the dress make it worth to keep just in case my daughter wants to use even part of it for herself one day! I wouldn't be upset if she completely took it apart XD

[@SailorMya]

"Make the skirt like Princess Serenity's" can I marry your friend! LOL This turned out beautifully even if you still see all the flaws!

[@BejadedF]

this was amazing! you did a great job overall and it is beautiful! I was asked to make a best friends wedding dress but that entire situation was a disaster, and a hint to how it went, we are no longer friends but that was a positive change for me. anyway lol, I would love a dress transformation like this and I would pay literally any amount, that transformation was magical!

[@lesleyharris525]

You are such a good friend and she looks so beautiful and happy. ❤

[@22kuroivi21]

This is wild. I just thought about watching your video yesterday, and poof! You uploaded a new video! 🥰🥰

[@berdeng]

unrelated sorry, and i know you probably already have a treasure trove of video ideas lined up, but i wanted to suggest a video on washing and maintaining cosplays ! i've always been unsure of how to wash and store styled wigs after a day of sweating and perhaps you have figured out a method to the madness ;0;

[@abrilquintana4]

It was such a beatiful dress, usually I don´t find old dresses so cute, but this was classy and femenine. Also I don usually like when old weding dresses are modify, because normally are bad surprises for the owners, and the results are so moders and dont look good, it hurt me that one piece of history and memories is destroyed. but this was a cute plan, with consent of the original owner and the result is cute

[@sleepygothgirl]

That was worth $17,000, easily. You did a great job, even professionally made wedding dresses miss things like modesty panels.

[@prom6750]

Wow I’m actually in love with the original dress.

[@ResaChiic]

there's this awful reality TV show that i've never watched (but i've seen clips of it) where the hosts completely ruin someone's vintage wedding dress to turn it into some ugly "modern" monstrosity. i'm always worried about vintage wedding dress transformations bc of this. i'm feeling some ouchy watching this tbh xD but it turned out so gorgeous in the end! and holy crap that head dress/veil is stunning!

[@Peachy_axolotl]

It turned out so pretty!

[@ZaphkielYodBet]

i recently made acorset with you tutoral and it came out amazing thanks to you

[@MelaniezMelodiez]

Omg watching this and I so would not have put in this much work. I would have legit just tacked the top to a plunge bra adding interface above if needed. Maybe add some fishing line. Paint some sort of holographic spray (possibly something for fabric, possibly something for hair) under the chiffon and just lifted the top lace a bit where it meets the skirt and tacked the chiffon under it to add the top layer to the skirt. I would have said no to the showing holo fabric but do the sleeves essentially the same. And add extra lace to anything that looks wonky. 😂 kudos to you for putting in all the extra work.

[@tristandean7915]

You ate that dress up it looked so good 🤩🤩🤩🤩

[@Rani1597]

I am my mom’s only daughter and I also got engaged recently, so I dont think I could put a price on how much id be willing to spend to alter her dress into my dream dress

[@SuperJJx]

OMG, STUNNING!! A bit of nude mesh would have been an easy save for the neckline or a looot of boobtape. Learning experience for sure! 😆

[@itsawetrain]

I used very similar organza for my costuming finale in the spring and I couldn't finish it because it kept ripping and fraying 😭 I'm going to go back in and try to finish it with some hot glue

[@jaybee4118]

My mum’s wedding dress was a 1972 micro mini, so hardly enough fabric to make my style of dress I would want a pair of sleeves 😂 good job I never wanted to wear her dress… or get married!

[@Isla_TwT]

that looks AMAZING :O also CONGRATULATIONS ON GETTING ENGAGED! >_

[@braingelz]

it came out beautiful & you did an amazing job

[@TLlittletrink]

I would pay a lot, I cant wait to have a daughter and we can cut it up and make it into something she wants to wear :) you did a great job I got teary eyed :)

[@geovannitrainfan80]

I actually dreamt of making my own wedding dress for my dream Halloween wedding.

[@powderknits]

I think it would be fun to gather some thrifted dresses and make a special new one. I would let someone cut up a family heirloom only if I knew their work and I personally knew them.

[@SylviasStuff]

I'm no expert, but when I was shopping for wedding dresses I remember that every single plunging neckline had a bit of mesh in the middle, which helped give it more structure I guess.

[@Eraina]

That was definitely a difficult commision. Good job! ❤

[@SpringStarFangirl]

When I heard the first notes of Pachelbel's Canon in D Major I absolutely lost it.

[@takyume]

god i love these kinda of videos

[@goodamy1]

love how it still had the integrity of the original dress

[@MeTalkPrettyOneDay]

Yeah, plunging necklines are HARD. Best shot is wire and/or flesh colored mesh. Even then, I still haven't managed to pull one off well.

[@reflection_oftea]

YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THIS IS SO SLAY!!

[@Groovygrace365]

COCONUT TIIIIIIME! Love you Sarah!

[@Oatymeal]

“she didn’t want a professional, she needed a cosplayer”

[@Sailor1088]

Hailieys head peice kinda made it tbh! She looks like an elven princess!!!

[@pwhite2579]

beautiful work!

[@bobcatred]

I mean… considering that wedding dresses are kind of notoriously the most awful things the alter, and the 80’s in particular were an explosion of terrible synthetic materials, you did a pretty great job re-architecting that dress. The major thing I think you needed was some translucent mesh to keep the plunge exactly as plunge-y as she wanted. I think even with boning it’d be hard to keep a split that goes more that halfway down the top from trying to open up without some kind of illusion material to keep the structure

[@DanaEleanor1]

It's so pretty!

[@elizereirving6215]

honestly that irridescent fabric should be treated like a ribbon fabric imo. like you need to not hem the edges but melt the edge. would be a super pain but the only thing i can think to actually work without fraying or an obvious seam

[@spo0kykatt_334]

10:02 Thats WHAT PRESS CLOTHS ARE FORRRRRR

[@finkyou]

I have worked with that Organza, super pretty, but I feel your pain

[@liav4102]

I have a 70s wedding dress sitting behind me that I was supposed to be remaking for my sister, my skills are not exactly adequate to the task. Fortunately for me but unfortunately for them they broke up and now I’m off the dress alteration hook

[@1Bennett1]

You did a great job omg!! Its so pretty 🤩🤩