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Looking for advice on hemming a dress with pick ups

A friend of mine needs to have a bridesmaid dress hemmed that has pick ups. (This is the dress: http://www.davidsbridal.com/Product_Strapless-Satin-Ballgown-with-Pick-up-and-Sash-81123_Bridal-Party-Bridesmaids-All-Bridesmaid-Dresses)

Both David's Bridal and another alterations person were going to charge her almost as much as the dress cost for alterations. She came to me (since I'm one of the only people she knows that knows how to sew) asking if I could help. Otherwise, she was seriously planning to just hack off the bottom and safety pin it up (she's about 5 feet tall, so she'd need to hack off quite a bit). I figure I can at least do better than that.

I don't have any experience with pick ups though. Any advice? Will I need to move all of the pick ups further up the dress and then hem? Any other options to consider?

TIA, ladies!

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Lilypie Maternity tickers

Re: Looking for advice on hemming a dress with pick ups

  • I would probably take it up at the waist and at the hem and call it a day.  Or add pick ups above the top ones, let out the bottom ones and lop off/hem the bottom.

    Either way, you will get a similar overall look that is at least more proportional to your friend, and you won't have to remake the whole thing.

    Wedding and bridesmaids dresses are a pita.  The way they are made makes alterations difficult, which is why they can charge so much to so them.  We altered a wedding dress for the daughter of a friend, and wound up charging the same that the shop would have.  They said from the beginning that it was okay if we charged that much, that they would rather we got it than the shop, but we really tried to save them money and had to charge that much because of the time and how complicated it was.

  • Thank you, TheBridesMom.Both suggestions are helpful. Smile

    I haven't seen the dress in person yet (my friend is bringing it over tonight). Hopefully once I see the dress, and how it's constructed, it will help make my options clearer.


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    Lilypie Maternity tickers

  • It looks like the bottom of the dress is just a rolled hem. Nothing fancy, just cut of the bottom as needed and throw a new rolled hem on it. I seriously doubt that the look of the pick ups will be affected. They start fairly high up on the skirt with plenty of room for easy hemming. :) 
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  • imageadhdfashion:
    It looks like the bottom of the dress is just a rolled hem. Nothing fancy, just cut of the bottom as needed and throw a new rolled hem on it. I seriously doubt that the look of the pick ups will be affected. They start fairly high up on the skirt with plenty of room for easy hemming. :) 

    It may be an option, but my concern is that it might make the dress look way out of proportion (with the pick ups appearing to end way too low on her dress), particularly when she stands next to the other 8 bridesmaids (who are quite a few inches taller than her). I'll see how it looks, though. This would certainly be the easiest option!

     

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    Lilypie Maternity tickers

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