https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUTp7ia5uVc

Hi guys, bonjour, this is Romy. Welcome for this new video dedicated to helping you make a great wedding on a budget. Today is the fourth and final part of our wedding dress tutorial inspired by Meghan Markle. We are going to sew the lining to the dress and make all the finishes. If you haven't seen the previous parts yet, the dress that we're creating is a simplified version of Meghan's design as it's meant to be beginners friendly, budget friendly, busy schedule friendly and transport friendly. But we're trying to keep the spirit of the simple yet sophisticated dress designed by Clara White Keller for the house of Givenchy. So let's start with hand sewing the lining to the zipper inside the dress. Make sure that it is well aligned and not too close from the would catch the fabric. We are going to start sewing at the bottom at about one centimeter below the end of the zipper opening. So let's make a row of invisible stitches and it is very important not to catch the main fabric of the dress especially since we are very proud of our invisible zipper. So I catch a little bit of the zipper fabric with my needle and then I insert it in the lining for about seven millimeters. A little stitch in the zipper, just one thread and then inside the lining. Now you know how to create an invisible zipper. There are several techniques to do that but I really like this one. Let's check again that we didn't catch some of the main fabric of the dress and when we are done with this side let's do the other one and both armholes as well using the same technique. For the armholes I suggest that you make the invisible stitches smaller like three four millimeters. When we are done with the zipper and the armholes we're going to go to the waist. In the previous episode we saw how to align and pin both the dress and the lining together. We need now to baste the waistline catching both the dress and the lining fabric with a long and quick basting stitch. Once this step is completed you can go ahead, lift the lining up and catch both the sewing allowance of the dress and the sewing allowance of the lining together. We will attach them together with a row of basing hand stitches. Make sure to use white thread since this will not be removed. I hope this technique is clear for you. I apologize for not thinking of zooming in while explaining this step. Anyway when this is done you can remove the basting thread and I'll show you how to finish the end of the zipper part now. So I pin temporarily both back pieces of my lining together like so. Then I turn them inside out and I'm going to keep pinning them in place together down to the hem of the skirt. We are going to close these two back together permanently with a sewing machine or with a serger if you own one. If you are using a serger I'm going to show you a great technique to finish your threads and prevent any future hand stitches. So I am going to thread a big needle with the four or six threads of your serger and I insert it between the sewing and the fabric for about four to five centimeters. Then you just need to cut the excess and voila! Safe! Now to the sleeves. We're going to do an invisible hem and to do that you need to fold the fabric at about five millimeters and then fold it again at another five millimeters. Pin your hem in place before threading your needle with a white thread. By the way if you don't feel like hand stitching use your sewing machine now. You have perhaps noticed that I didn't follow the length line of my sleeve. I decided to make them a little longer in the last minute. You can also get rid of the grain line and start your invisible stitches. Don't make them too tight if you're working with a fabric that has some elasticity in it like mine. You would lose this elasticity and your stitches could break once putting on the dress. Okay let's get started. I let you have a look at the screen to see how to make the invisible stitches. It will be better than my explanations. Now let's do the same on the other side and then when it is done we're going to take care of the neckline. First we will need to cut the lining at about two to three millimeters from our basting line using fine scissors if possible or your regular one of course but just be extra cautious not to cut the main fabric of the dress at the same time. An easy option would be to just fold and sew the fabric directly on the lining and again without catching the fabric of the dress itself of course. Or if you want a perfect and professional finish that gives the dress more structure we can use a white bias. Place your bias on the main fabric of the dress, right sides together, open it and pin it all the way at about five or six millimeters from the edge depending on the side of your bias. Then we need to sew a row of straight stitches right in the crease of the bias. I'm going to do it by hand just because I have a little baby sleeping in the room nearby and I wouldn't want him to wake up but of course you can use the sewing machine. For the final look of our boat neck and the polish of its finish it's really important to place the bias parallelly to the neckline and that the sewing I'm doing now be very straight. Then we will fold the bias on the edge of the fabric before folding the fabric itself on the lining following the neckline basting as a guide. Two little things first be careful not to fold the corner too close to the teeth of the zipper it would be eaten and secondly it's possible if you feel that it's necessary to cut a little bit of the fabric inside the bias at the corner to make it a little bit more flat. We are going to pin like that all the way making sure once again that we fold our fabric following the neck basting line. I cannot stress enough how important that is if you want your boat neck to have a smooth and beautiful line. At the end I cut the excess fabric and fold the corner making sure again to stay away from the path of the zipper. Once everything is pinned in place it's time to perform our magic invisible stitches. But before and I know I'm getting boring make sure that your neckline is perfect and that you like the shape of it. The bias we have attached to finish the edge of the fabric will make the finish more polished obviously but it will also strengthen the neck that could otherwise have a tendency to fall off our shoulders especially since we used a stretchy fabric. Now be careful to sew the bias to the lining and the lining only. Don't catch a single thread of the main fabric of the dress that would create little hollows you know little unsightly shadows at the neck. On the other end when we reach the shoulder parts that have no lining you will have to catch the fabric of the dress. Just catch as little as possible like half a thread on the inside. And for the end the corners I mean good luck no I'm kidding do stitches as small and as invisible as possible. We don't want any thread to be apparent since it could be caught in the zipper and that would prevent it to close properly. I should really be using a thimble here it's a lot of layers and quite hard on our hands. If you are happy with your neck go ahead and unstitch the red basting thread and get mentally ready to tackle the gazillion kilometers of hemming that we have to do for the bottom of the dress. Use the same technique that you used for the sleeves. Now to hem the lining let's fold the fabric at about five to seven millimeters and fold it again. To be sure check how much sewing allowance you left and to be careful that the length of the lining doesn't exceed the length of the dress. It should be slightly shorter. I'm going to use my beloved top stitching presser foot as you know it is my favorite. I would buy it again in a blink if it got lost since that precious baby is giving me top-notch results whatever the mood I'm in. We are going to sew at one to two millimeters from the folded edge making sure to be as even as possible if you don't own this magic presser foot. I have a couple friends who do that perfectly just with the regular presser foot and I'm always green with envy. By the way it's a good idea to pin the whole hem before going to the sewing machine since it might be a challenge to hem something round for the first time. Don't fret about the little waves that have a tendency to form. A good steaming will do the trick on such a tender fabric. Voila we are done with the finishes we are done with the dress well almost there is still something left to do and that's the most important. Yep you guessed it we need to iron the dress. It is really a must it will enhance the quality of your work and make it look more professional and more polished. First let's have a look at the inside of the dress the armhole the waist that's impeccable and icing of the cake the zipper is working. Now let's have a look at the hem we can see here that the dress is in desperate need of a good ironing session so let's get to it. Can you tell that the fabric of my sleeve board is overtired? If I keep postponing taking care of that it will stain my fabrics at some point. I think I will make a quick tutorial on how to make a new cover for your ironing board oh and look at the little waves steam steam and it's gone. Now let's be clear that I need to iron properly and for roughly the whole dress and the few shots that you just saw aren't enough so I'll be back with the dress when it is done. Oh and big surprise the Royal British family sent me a beautiful diamond necklace from the Queen's private collection. You know just for the sake of this tutorial it will be absolutely stunning with our wedding gown inspired by Meghan Markle the lovely bride of Prince Harry and let's take this opportunity to congratulate them both for the birth of Archie their little baby boy. Bye bye à bientôt