Bridal gowns, prom and bridesmaid dresses, evening wear– formal clothing can be some of the most expensive items your closet. It can also be hard to find a good fit or a true expression of one’s personal style. Sewing your own dress can be a way to save money, tailor the garment to your own shape, and create something truly unique… you just need to have a lot of patience with slippery fabrics and fiddly pattern pieces! Making a muslin or toile first out of old fabric (even an old sheet!) can help you to work out fit before you cut into pretty fabric. To get started, you can download a modern pattern–many are free–or find a lovely vintage pattern, and even shop for fabric and notions online as well. Ain’t the Internet grand?
FREE PATTERNS
PATTERNS $10 OR LESS
Ahem… we’ve got many nice dress patterns in our shop…
FABRIC
Fabric Mart is our all-time favorite online fabric store. So many great sales!
Gorgeous Fabrics has many beautiful, one-of-a-kind fabrics.
NOTIONS
Fabric.com has everything you need to get started in one handy package: Big EverSewn Sewing Starter Kit.
WAWAK is the best! Fast, reasonable shipping and lots of sales.
OTHER RESOURCES
So Vintage Patterns— Most of their patterns are pretty pricey, but they have an amazing selection of vintage patterns.
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