6 Tricks for Refitting Wedding Dresses for Weight Gain/Loss

Since wedding dresses are custom-made, it isn’t possible to simply buy a bigger size of the same dress when you gain weight. When you find your wedding dress doesn’t fit, don’t be discouraged. Here are some tricks for refitting a wedding dress after weight loss or weight gain.

Taking Measurements Before Resizing the Wedding Dresses

All wedding dresses refitting projects require accurate measurements of your body. This way, when you cut any fabric off or add any fabric on, it will fit perfectly with the rest of your body. You can do this by going into a bridal store and letting them take measurements of your body.

Bust

Measure the bust of your dress where it will be most full, generally around the fullest part of your breasts and over the nipple line. If you’re wearing a bra or other undergarments, take off that piece of clothing before measuring.

Waist

Measure around your waist at its narrowest point, generally just above or below your belly button. If you want an empire waistline on your gown, measure from the widest part of your bust down through the smallest part of your waist and then up to meet the bottom of the bust measurement. This is where you’ll want both sides of your bodice to meet in the back.

Hips

Your hips are probably going to change more than any other part of your body when you gain or lose weight — especially if you’re going from being overweight to having a healthy body weight. Make sure that any alterations of designer wedding dresses account for this change in size so that your hips are still covered up by your skirt.

Tricks You Can Apply

Here are tricks you can use to ensure that your wedding dress fits you well.

1. Pulling a Seam

Pulling a seam is a trick used to make a wedding dress in Columbus, Ohio fit after weight loss or gain. Pulling a seam is when you take in the sides of the dress using pins and pulling them in to create a smaller waistline. The trick is to only pull the fabric until you get rid of excess fabric around your waist, but not so much that it creates bulges on either side of your body.

You need to find the stitching that attaches the fabric to itself along your waistline or other seam lines and cut it with scissors or thread-basting stitches. Then you need to remove some of the fabric using either your hands or a pair of shears/scissors. Once this is done, you can use either needle and thread or an overlock sewing machine with a zigzag stitch to reattach the two pieces together, so they are once again connected by stitching.

2. Replace the Buttons

When you replace the buttons on wedding dresses, you change out the existing buttonholes and buttons on your custom wedding dress with new ones that are sized to fit your current size. This gives you more flexibility in how you wear your dress because you can choose whether to wear a bra and still have it fit perfectly.

While it might seem like an easy fix at first glance, replacing the buttons on your custom wedding dress can actually be quite difficult. You’ll need to take apart most of your dress so that you can access all the buttonholes (this is why it’s best to do this before the day of your wedding). The other option would be to have someone else do it for you, but this could cost quite a bit of money (especially if they need extra materials).

3. Replacing Zippers

Replacing a zipper is a great way to ensure wedding dresses in Columbus fit perfectly. If you’ve gained or lost weight since purchasing your wedding dress, this will be one of the best ways for you to ensure that you can wear it on your big day. Most dresses come with an invisible zipper on the back of the dress, but some dresses have side or front zippers, as well. Regardless of where your zipper is located, it is possible to replace it with a zipper that creates or reduces the dress size. To replace a zipper, you’ll need to remove the old one and attach the new one in exactly the same place. There are two ways to do this:

The sewing method involves sewing the new zipper by hand. This is a great option if you’re not comfortable working with a sewing machine or if your dress has delicate fabric or lace where you don’t want to risk accidentally making a mistake with your machine.

The machine method uses an invisible zipper foot attachment on your sewing machine to sew in the new zipper without having to worry about hiding any visible stitching from sight. This method is especially useful if you have heavy fabric like velvet or heavy lace because it allows you to sew more quickly than with hand-sewing methods.

4. Add Fabric to a Seam

If you need to add fabric, you can simply cut out extra material and sew it into the seam. Make sure the fabric is wide enough so that it doesn’t show through when the dress is on.

Adding fabric helps to keep the shape of your dress intact. This ensures that your wedding gown still fits as well as it did when you first tried it on and also keeps it from being too tight. This way, there’s no risk of having to make major alterations before your big day.

Depending on how much material you need to add, adding fabric to a seam can be tricky. You’ll need to make sure that it all fits in without causing any bunches or wrinkles while still maintaining its shape and structure.

5. Hemming a Train

Hemming a train is the process of altering the hemline of wedding dresses to fit your body size. This is usually done after a bride has gained or lost weight, but it can also be done to create a different look for your wedding day.

The hemline of your wedding dress should be tailored to fit your height and shape. When you gain or lose weight, this can make it difficult for you to wear some dresses that were originally fitted perfectly for you. Hemming makes it possible for you to continue wearing these dresses even if they don’t fit anymore.

Hemming works especially well when you have gained weight since it can be done without making any visible changes in appearance on the outside of the dress.

6. Taking in the Bodice of a Wedding Dress

Taking in the bodice of a designer wedding dress is one of the easiest ways to alter your wedding gown. The process consists of taking out stitches from one side of the dress, then sewing them back on from the other side. This will make your gown fit better around your bust area, making it more comfortable to wear throughout your big day. You will need to do this with both straps so that they are even as well. This can be done by hand or with an electric machine if you choose to go that route instead.

In summation, there are numerous things you can do to refashion your wedding dress so that it fits the way you wish. There are some challenges here and there, but they are by no means insurmountable. Depending on the degree of your weight loss or gain, your alterations may have to be more extensive than others. But with enough time and patience, a seamstress should be able to refit your wedding dress for any body type you desire.