Becky's Wedding : Fabric Shopping

This is usually the most fun part of any job as well as being the point of no return on the dress. Fabric shopping is left until this point to leave as much time as possible to make decisions about the dress. Also if it is left until after the dress is drafted i know how much needs to be bought, instead of estimating it and risking buying too much (wasting your money) or not buying enough (and being unable to get more of the same fabric).

When planning a wedding dress, it's important not to underestimate how much fabric can cost. Depending where you shop and the quality of the materials the prices can vary dramatically from as little as £10 per metre for Silk dupion to £90 per metre (or even more!) for embroidered fabrics. Lace and beaded tulle routinely cost over £100 per metre.

(These are just examples of typical bridle fabrics based on a small sampling to give an idea, please don't quote them)

Though quality will push the price up, you get what you pay for and the better quality of the fabrics will improve the drape and look of the dress. And if there's one outfit you don't want to skimp on, it's this one.

When fabric shopping you should always pull the fabrics out and see them against your skin as they can look different off the roll, particularly embellished fabrics.

In Becky's case the lovely people at the Silk Society pulled out a full length mirror and a drop cloth (a sheet on the floor to protect the fabrics) to drape the fabrics properly. This gave us a much better idea of what the fabrics would look like as a full length dress. This is an advantage of going to fabric stores that are used to bridal shoppers.

We quickly decided on a satin for the base fabric and began looking at some embellished laces and tulles to add some detail to the bodice. We went through quite a few options, taking swatches of fabrics she liked. Some shops will charge for these so try to only collect fabrics that are viable options, but with any sample they will also give you a record of the price and roll width, they should also tell you if it is a one off roll or regular shock. If you come across something you really like make sure you ask, just in case you can't get more of the same.

We started looking at beaded tulles and Becky instantly fell in love the scolloped edge around the hip line as you can see in this picture. It reminded us of one of my first designs with a black lace bodice.

So with several fabric swatches me, Becky and the mother of the bride Kay retired to a near-by pub, where a bottle of wine helped us make the final decisions.

I needed 9m of satin, 1.5m of embroidered and beaded tulle, 13 spiral bones, 2m of popplin for backing the bodice and nearly 10m of net for the petticoat.

Never buy the fabric on a whim and never buy the first you find....even if you end up going back to the same shop you started in. Usually the choices for fabrics are huge and can be a little overwhelming so always sleep on your decision even if it is only for a night.