Thread: Fitting a Melaya Dress

Hello everyone! I'm going to be doing a Melaya dance in July and just bought a costume off my teacher. Unfortunately, the dress is too big. I need to take in the sides without having to take off the beading.

Does anyone have an experience with fitting this kind of dress? I was thinking of sewing the sides (not in a straight line but following the original sewing line).

Thanks for any advice!

Originally Posted by jellytree

Hello everyone! I'm going to be doing a Melaya dance in July and just bought a costume off my teacher. Unfortunately, the dress is too big. I need to take in the sides without having to take off the beading.

Hello there!

So - when a customer comes to me with this sort of dilemma, I have them put the dress on and then hand stitch with 1" basting in contrasting color that really stands out. I contour the side seams with my stitches. When I have the dress off of my customer, if the beading is particularly thick, I hand sew the dress, using a thick upholstery thread and small stitches, knotting frequently.

Hire a friend to fit you - and if they cannot sew - use a pile of safety pins. Just follow the curves.

If the beading is sparse, you might be able to get away with stitching by machine.. but WEAR SAFETY GLASSES... as hitting a bead can cause the bead to break or worse, the needle to break. You do not want a needle tip in the eye..

GOOD LUCK!

~ Dawn Devine ~ Davina

Davina> Thanks! Actually I bought a much smaller dress since it would be too much work with so little time...

Although I have a question...

It`s about 4-5cm too short and you can see my boy cut underwear. I wanted to ask opinions. I the ruffle is transparent chiffon so would adding another ruffle (that`s sateen and not lycra) OK? And would adding a decoration to the one side of the dress be taboo? I was thinking of a chiffon flower (or bow) with draping so it covers the too short area.


What do you guys think?


And did you have to mention needle in the eye......? :( But very good advice! Thanks!

Originally Posted by jellytree

I the ruffle is transparent chiffon so would adding another ruffle (that`s sateen and not lycra) OK?

If the dress depends on stretch, you would want to be careful about adding non-stretch fabrics, but if it already has a non-stretch ruffle there, it should be okay.

And would adding a decoration to the one side of the dress be taboo? I was thinking of a chiffon flower (or bow) with draping so it covers the too short area.

Since the "ethnic basis" for this costume was Mahmoud Reda's imagination, there's a lot of leeway.

TourBeau> Thanks for the advice!