On most beaded and lace gowns the appliqué is laid over the seam so the seam disappears underneath it. Altering that seam therefore means unpicking the lace, taking the dress in, and hand-sewing every piece back on. It takes three to five times as long as plain fabric, and none of it touches a machine.
What happens when a seam runs through lace or beading
There are two ways a beaded or lace gown can be put together, and they lead to two very different alterations.
- Everything sewn into the seam. Nothing sits on top of it — you can see a stitch line running down the side seam or the bust seam. A gown made this way alters like any other dress, and there is nothing special about it. It is also a rare occasion.
- Appliqué applied over the seam. The lace is laid on top so that the seam looks as though it is not there. This is how most gowns are made. It means that every time we alter that seam, the entire piece of lace comes off first, the dress is taken in, and every piece is hand-sewn back on before the gown leaves the studio.
Three to five times the work
Depending on how much beading and how much appliqué a gown carries, that unpick-alter-relay process runs three to five times longer than the same alteration in plain fabric. It is the single biggest reason a beaded gown is quoted differently from a plain one.
We pin it and check it before any final stitching goes in, because we do not want to do the work twice if the alteration is not quite right.
Every bead and every piece of embroidery is sewn back on by hand. We do not believe it should ever be done by machine — that is lazy sewing, and we are not a factory. You are paying for handmade, bespoke alterations, and this is what handmade means.
Your beads and offcuts come home with you
We keep every bead and every offcut, and we give them back to you. Partly that is about keeping our waste down. Mostly it is because they are yours.
You get your hem back too. Brides have used it to tie around their flowers, to make a scrunchie, or to add a detail to a christening outfit years later. We do not know what you will want it for — we would simply rather it was in your hands than in our bin.
Appliqué over an alteration line
The place we most often do this is a low back. Taking in a low back opening usually needs darts so that it does not gape, and a dart leaves a seam line where there was not one before. We lay appliqué over the top to cover it.
That means a lot of unpicking and replacing, and the entire point of it is to look organic — as though the appliqué had always been placed that way and we had never touched the dress to begin with. It is time-consuming, detailed hand work, and there is no shortcut through it.
What cannot be saved
Mesh is the one. Where there is no appliqué and a lot of mesh, holes in that mesh cannot really be fixed — we can sew it together, but it will not be beautiful, and we would rather tell you that than hand you something we are not happy with.
Where there is appliqué, it is a different story. Most damage and most flaws can simply be covered with appliqué so that it reads as though nothing was ever there.
Repairs, including after the wedding
Yes, we repair damaged beading and detailing after the wedding, and we do a great deal of it — particularly on heirloom and family gowns.
Two things make it go well. Book it in the off season, when we have proper time to give to it. And bring the dress in after it has been dry cleaned rather than before, because dry cleaning often reveals more damage than you knew about, simply from the dirt coming out. We would rather do it all in one go.
Where lace has been damaged beyond a certain point we cannot recreate it, and we will tell you that honestly rather than take the work on.
Questions brides ask us.
Yes. On most gowns the appliqué is laid over the seam so the seam disappears, which means the whole piece of lace is unpicked first, the dress is taken in, and every piece is hand-sewn back on before the gown leaves the studio.
Three to five times longer than the same alteration in plain fabric, depending on how much beading and appliqué the gown carries. It is the main reason a beaded gown is quoted differently from a plain one.
By hand, always. We do not believe beading should ever be done by machine — we are not a factory, and you are paying for handmade, bespoke alterations. All beading and embroidery in the studio is hand work.
Yes. We keep every bead and every offcut and give them back to you, along with your hem. Brides have used theirs to tie around their flowers, make a scrunchie, or add a detail to a christening outfit later on.
That is exactly what we use it for. The most common case is a low back — taking in a low back opening usually needs darts so it does not gape, and appliqué is laid over the top so the dart disappears and the gown looks as though it was never touched.
Yes, and we do a lot of it. Book it in the off season when we have proper time for it, and bring the dress in after it has been dry cleaned — cleaning often reveals more damage than you knew about, and we would rather do it all in one go.
Yes. Dry cleaning frequently brings more damage to light simply from the dirt coming out, so having it cleaned first means we can see everything that needs doing and fix it in a single pass.
Holes in mesh, where there is no appliqué to work with. We can sew it together but it will not be beautiful, and we would rather say so. Lace damaged beyond a certain point cannot be recreated either. Where there is appliqué, most damage can be covered so it reads as though it was never there.
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.