Wedding Dress Sewing Patterns That Won’t Take Forever to Sew

It’s only natural that wedding dress sewing patterns are floating around the zeitgeist this time of year.

Did you know that most engagements in the U.S. happen in December? And, when you look at metrics for Pinterest and Google, there’s an uptick in searches for “wedding” in January.

Kinda makes sense. You celebrate the holidays with a special someone and the fam. The question is popped, and wedding plans start in earnest in January.

This article about wedding dress sewing patterns will help:

• Nearlyweds who wish to sew their own attire

• Sewists who are generously sewing a wedding garment

We’re going to examine modern wedding dress patterns that (IMO) won’t take months and months to sew.

I feel like you hear A LOT about wedding attire that takes forever to sew, from multitudes of fittings to miles of hand sewing.

In this post, we’re exploring DIY formalwear that’s the equivalent of hitting the “easy” button but doesn’t skimp on style or luxury.

Because planning a wedding is hard enough. Let’s not make the dress a point of stress, too.

Each pattern will pass through an assessment of:

• Fitting

• Materials

• Techniques

I’ll also give each wedding dress sewing pattern a construction-time rating from no time at all (💍) to the most time (💍💍💍💍💍).

OK, let’s head to the chapel by way of the sewing machine.

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BurdaStyle Silk Wedding Dress 104 | 03/17

This hippie-boho-vibes dress features gathers, ruffles, and spaghetti straps that tie at the shoulders. The only big strike I have against it is the limited size range (bust circumferences from 31.5 inches to 37.75 inches).

That said, if you were larger of boob and had a pattern with great-fitting bust cups, this dress would be simple to reverse engineer.

💙 Fitting: The bust cups basically are the only fitting challenge. The bust shaping comes from the cup’s center seam and gathering.

💙 Materials: The dress calls for soft, drapey wovens — silk crêpe chiffon for the fashion fabric and silk crêpe de chine for lining.

💙 Techniques: There’s the challenge of working with lightweight fabric; I think this is a good candidate for starch. There’s an invisible zipper and gathers to sew. You also might want to consider adding a shelf bra for support.

💙 Construction Time: 💍💍

Friday Pattern Co. Heather-Chandler Suit Bundle

This is a combo of the Friday Pattern Co. Heather blazer and Untitled Thoughts Chandler trousers. I cannot get out of my head how cool this pair of patterns would look as a relaxed wedding suit.

Add a slinky cami underneath or a more modest button-up, and DANG! What a statement.

These patterns come in misses and plus size ranges.

💙 Fitting: Getting the shoulders hanging correctly on the body will be the blazer fitting challenge. As for the trousers, the crotch and bum frequently are hardest to fit. But, because they’re relaxed, there’s more ease to play with. (P.S. Check out this post for ideas on how to fit relaxed pants: Pattern Fitting Tips for Woven Jogger Pants (Pivot-and-Slide Method).

💙 Materials: Wovens with a bit of weight. I would practically DIE to see the Heather-Chandler suit in linen for a beach wedding. I also think Tencel twill would be great if you want a drapey, dramatic look.

💙 Techniques: The Chandler pants call for sewing a fly zipper. Getting the lapel/collar on the blazer *just right* will be a challenge.

💙 Construction Time: 💍💍💍💍💍 (maximum rings because it’s two garments to sew)

Shop Etsy for Weddings

Cashmerette Upton Dress and Skirt Mix and Match Expansion Pack

This potential wedding dress sewing pattern is classic style, perfected. At its most basic level, the Upton is a fitted bodice and flared skirt. But, with the expansion pack, you can play with sleeves, darts or seams in the bodice, and skirt lengths.

It also comes in two size ranges, 0-16 and 12-32, for the bodies of all nearlyweds. LOVE.

(P.S. The Cashmerette blog has an article about sewing Upton as a wedding dress. I swear I didn’t know about it when I picked this pattern, but it’s lucky for you!)

💙 Fitting: The bodice will take a bit of time to fit; that is the way of fitted bodices. Also, fitted sleeves may take some finesse. The skirt is pretty much fitting a waist.

💙 Materials: Woven fabrics, but a range of wovens may be used, from linen to double gauze to upholstery fabric. I think this would be gorgeous in a silk dupioni with some body and shine, so the seams could create interesting shadow play.

💙 Techniques: Sewing an invisible zipper.

💙 Construction Time: 💍💍💍💍

Simplicity S9453

This empire-waist dress features an A-line skirt and princess seams. Plus, there’s a full-sleeve option, high-neck option, and two skirt lengths. Also: You could sew it and live out a “Bridgerton” fantasy.

TBH I don’t understand the “visible lining” (?) of the short tulip sleeves, but the rest of the dress has such potential, it can be ignored.

One reviewer on PatternReview.com said of S9453:

“It is glorious and the pattern was easy to use for a wedding dress. This is a versatile style as it could be made more or less formal based on fabric choice.”

Accommodates busts 30.5 inches to 46 inches (sizes 6-24).

💙 Fitting: The bodice isn’t super-duper fitted; there’s still a bit of ease to it. Might need to fiddle with sleeve fit.

💙 Materials: Lots of opportunities here. Recommended fabrics include: brocade, cottons, linens, rayons, sateen, silk, velvet.

💙 Techniques: Sewing an invisible zipper and getting the neckline facing just so (for the low neckline) could be challenging.

💙 Construction Time: 💍💍

Mood Fabrics Luna Jumpsuit

A chic jumpsuit FOR SURE can become modern wedding wear. The Luna jumpsuit features a dreamy cowl neckline, wide legs, and strappy back.

And, it’s free! And, Mood’s blog has a step-by-step photographed tutorial for the Luna! And, it’s in sizes 00 (34-inch hip) to 32 (63.5-inch hip). You can’t lose.

💙 Fitting: I think the only place you’d have to worry about fitting is the booty and crotch, especially making sure there’s enough ease for the pockets to lie flat.

💙 Materials: The pattern calls for slinky, drapey KNITS, but in the comments, a Mood rep recommended sizing up if you’d like to try a woven. Make a muslin and see what happens. Guh, this would be jaw-dropping in silk charmeuse.

💙 Techniques: Maybe you’d want to sew in a shelf bra to help keep the cowl closer to the décolletage? Also, you have to insert elastic.

💙 Construction Time: 💍

Wild Card Idea: 2-Piece Set of Tried-and-True Patterns

Take a tried-and-true top sewing pattern and a tried-and-true skirt (or other bottom) sewing pattern and sew them in the same luxe fabric. Ta-da, you have a matching two-piece wedding ensemble!

Coordinating sets look upscale, and because you’d be using TNT patterns, you *should* be able to sew through them fast.

And, if you don’t have a TNT pattern that’s quite what you want, I suspect you may have something close enough that you could hack to satisfaction.

Final Thoughts on Wedding Dress Sewing Patterns

When I got married in 2003 (20 years this fall, yay!), I feel like there were way fewer choices for wedding wear and even what a wedding could look like.

Today, anything goes for nearlyweds, from looks to vows to ceremony sites to cuisine. It’s exciting, and I hope you draw inspo from these suggestions for modern wedding dress patterns.

Over to you: What is your fave fast-sewing formalwear pattern? Have any tips or resources for sewing a wedding dress? FYI, PatternReview.come has a Bridal and Formalwear Sewing forum. Please sound off in the comments.