Attaching embroidery to wedding dress
 

I have been asked to add some embroidery to a wedding dress bought from a charity shop. The bride to be does not want a traditional white dress (why she bought this particular dress I know not - perhaps it was cheap). She has chosen an open design of flowers and leaves. The design is very delicate and is about 12" long. I had intended sewing it out on organza with soluable stabaliser. What I am not sure of is how to attach it to the dress. Should I use bondaweb? How would I get round the stickiness on the open fretwork of the design? I have to add about 5 or 6 designs to this dress. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Can you not embroider the designs directly onto the dress? Otherwise, I think I would hand sew/tack it in place. Sounds like you have a challenge ahead.

You could embroidery it directly on the dress or you could embroidery the organza and stitch it on with invisable thread. I am a former bridal seamstress and have done it both ways. Embroidering the dress is the easiest way and looks the best in the end.

Thanks for your suggestions. I realise that embroidering the dress itself is the easiest option, but I am a little scared in case something goes wrong, i.e. the design goes on squint or I damage the dress in the process. I just wish I was nearer to Iowa and then I could get some personal tuition on tackling bridalware. This will be the first and last.

I have done many embroidery laces on wedding gowns. I sew them out on fine tulle,using a water soluable stabalizer.
Trim the edges and sew on by hand. (I love aquamagic) It is a lot of work but the results are spectacular. I had one bride that LOVED Big Bird and wanted him included in her lace. I sewed him out in white and combined him with the lace that included roses. The bride loved it and had her "hidden" big bird on her wedding gown LOL.

I hope this helps!

If the dress can be washed or dry cleaned, maybe the easiest way would be to use spray baste to attach the design and then sew it down by hand. Some spray baste goes away after a few days. Sulky is one like that, but although I was told it would hold only for 5 days, it hung around longer than that. It probably depends on how much you use and maybe factors related to climate conditions. Sulky and 505 are re-positionable for a time, so there's little risk, unlike bonding web, which would have to be reheated and would leave residue. I think I would spray the back of the applique rather than the dress itself, and if part of the design is going to extend into the neckline or whatever, you can mask that off with paper before spraying. I'd love to see a picture of the finished dress, if you get the chance to post it.

I would definitely embroider directly on the dress. That way, if you want to add sequins or pearls, you can put them directly on the embroidery. I really don't think I'd try at attach it someway. If it messes up, you can always embroider over it, or slap on a few more sequins!

what ever you decided put it in writing that you are not respondsable for damages to a used old dress, just for you,re safety