There are two ways to hem a wedding dress: take the front up so it just kisses the ground and ease it out into the train, or take the train off altogether so the hem sits at one length the whole way around. Which one your gown gets is your decision — and we make it with the dress on you, in your shoes.
The two ways we hem a gown
There are only two, and the difference between them is what happens to the train.
- Hemmed to the train. The front of the gown is taken up so it is just kissing the ground, and that length is carried around to the side seams and then eased out into the train. The dress keeps its train, and the front is clean off the floor.
- Hemmed all the way round. The train comes off. The gown is hemmed so it kisses the floor at the front and stays at the same length the whole way around to the back. Brides choose this when they have a detachable train, when they want to wear the dress for longer than the ceremony, or simply because they do not want a train — and we can cut it off for them.
Where you are standing changes the length
We ask every bride where she is getting married, because the ground the gown will stand on changes how much comes off it. Grass, cobblestone, wood and concrete are not the same. The more the skirt is pushed into the ground, the more hem it needs taken off.
On something like concrete the gown can sit quite flush to the floor. On grass it cannot. Underneath all of it is one rule: we do not want your shoes showing.
There are exceptions and they are always deliberate — a bride with a shoe she wants seen, or a cropped, more vintage hem. What we will not do is let a hem end up short by accident.
Why a hem is rarely a quick chop
Brides often think of the hem as the small job on the list. It is usually the most technical thing we do to a gown.
A wedding dress has a minimum of two layers, and we have worked on gowns with 12 to 15. It is rarely just tulle either — there might be horsehair braid, glitter, sequins, beading and a lining in there, and you never know until it is on the table. Every layer is sewn differently, and every layer has to be cut to its own length.
We do not hem to a ratio. Some bridal places take the same proportion off every layer, and we disagree with that. Our theory is that all your top layers should sit exactly on par with each other, and the very under layer should be slightly shorter — because that is the layer that wraps around your feet while you are walking. On one gown that can mean ten different lengths coming off, so that the hem reads as a single line when you look at it straight on.
We also hem so that the side seam sits off the ground by the same amount as the centre front. That sounds obvious, but badly made gowns start easing into the train from far too far around the front, which leaves half the dress on the floor and makes the bustle impossible to do properly. We work multiple points the whole way around the front to make sure it is right.
Your shoes — and what if you have not chosen them
We do not touch a hem until the second fitting at the earliest. Any change to the bodice, the waist or the hips moves the hem length, so the hem waits until the fit above it is settled.
Bring your shoes to the first fitting anyway. Some gowns need nothing but a hem, in which case we need them on day one. If it turns out we do not, leave them in the car — you will remember them for the second fitting.
If you have not chosen your shoes yet, do not rush the decision to suit our calendar. Choose the shoes you actually want, and we will move your fitting to when they arrive. Brides do come to a second fitting and tell us the shoes are still in transit, and we simply move it. We do not guess, we do not work off measurements, and we do not hem to a heel height on paper. We work with the actual shoes on your feet.
What a badly hemmed dress looks like
We see plenty of gowns that have been hemmed somewhere else, and the same things go wrong:
- A hem that is not straight around the front — longer at the side seams than at the centre front. The train no longer sits right, and the bustle will not work correctly.
- Messy double-turn hems.
- Missing chain stitches between the layers, so the layers do not lie together the way they should.
- Waves in the hem, from pulling the horsehair braid — crinoline, some people call it — while sewing.
- Hemmed too short. The one thing that cannot be undone.
Is there anything we will not hem?
Our theory on length is simple: we can always take more off. So we err on the side of caution, because a hem usually springs up a little once the weight of the fabric comes off. Before you leave, we have you walk around the studio in your shoes, twirl, and dance if you want to — a wedding dress moves like nothing else you have ever worn, and the length has to be right while you are moving in it.
As for fabric, no. We have hemmed pleather, leather, tulle, organza, satin, spandex and jersey knit. There is genuinely nothing we will not touch; it is only ever a question of how we tackle it.
Some fabrics change the process rather than rule it out. A lace edging gets done in stages — we pin it, have you back in to check it is sitting correctly and that there is enough edging, and only then commit. Hand-stitching a lace edge back on is three to five hours of work, and we are not doing that twice at the wrong length.
Questions brides ask us.
There are two ways. Either the front is taken up so it just kisses the ground and that length is eased out into the train, or the train is removed altogether so the hem sits at one length the whole way around. Which one your gown gets is your preference, and we decide it with the dress on you in your shoes.
Yes. We do not guess and we do not work off measurements or heel heights on paper — we hem with the actual shoes on your feet. Bring them to the first fitting even if the hem will not be pinned until the second, because some gowns need nothing but a hem and we would need them on day one.
Do not rush the decision to suit our calendar. Choose the shoes you actually want, and we will move your fitting to when they arrive. Brides come to a second fitting and tell us the shoes are still in transit — we simply move the appointment.
At the second fitting at the earliest, usually around four weeks before the wedding. Any change to the bodice, waist or hips moves the hem length, so the hem waits until the fit above it is settled.
Yes. We hem the gown so it kisses the floor at the front and stays the same length the whole way around to the back. Brides choose this when they have a detachable train, want to wear the dress for longer than the ceremony, or simply do not want a train.
It does, which is why we ask where you are getting married. Grass, cobblestone, wood and concrete all sit differently under a gown — the more the skirt is pushed into the ground, the more hem needs to come off. On concrete a dress can sit quite flush to the floor; on grass it cannot.
A minimum of two, and we have worked on gowns with 12 to 15. Each layer is cut to its own length rather than to a set ratio, so one gown can have ten different lengths coming off it. The top layers sit exactly on par with each other and the very under layer sits slightly shorter, because that is the layer that wraps around your feet as you walk.
A hem that is longer at the side seams than the centre front, so the train does not sit right and the bustle will not work. Messy double-turn hems. Missing chain stitches between the layers. Waves in the hem from pulling the horsehair braid while sewing. And a hem cut too short, which is the one thing that cannot be undone.
No. We have hemmed pleather, leather, tulle, organza, satin, spandex and jersey knit. It is only ever a question of how we tackle it — a lace edging, for example, is pinned and checked in stages before anything is stitched, because hand-sewing a lace edge back on is three to five hours of work.
Your dress. Your fit. Your day.
Book your alterations consultation at the Sydenham studio — and see why brides travel from across the South Island to have their gowns finished here.