If you want to know how to shorten a wedding dress with a train, try this simplified two-step tutorial. We will also teach you steps on doing a partial hem if the adjustment is not drastic.
For more sewing tips, read how to alter a wedding dress yourself. If you have a sewing machine and you’re confident with your sewing skills, there’s no reason that you can’t do the modifications and adjustments yourself.
Beginner’s Guide On How To Shorten A Wedding Dress With A Train
Step 1. Preparation
- Try the wedding dress on, so you’ll know how short you want it; make sure that you are wearing the shoes and undergarments you intend to have on the wedding day to get the accurate length
- Mark the front of the dress with pins according to where you want it to touch the floor
- Take off the dress and lay it on a table, smoothening the hem
- Determine the seam or the amount you need to take up
- Mark a straight line on the wrong side of the wedding dress skirt according to where you need to cut
- Remove the pins and cut the fabric slowly and carefully
Step 2. Serging the hem to finish
- Prepare a serger to secure the hem of where you cut the wedding dress; if you don’t have this device, read our tutorial on how to serge with a sewing machine
- Use the same color of wedding dress to your thread and test the stitches on a scrap fabric like the one you just cut off to know how they’ll look like on the particular dress fabric you have
- Serge the hem entirely and press the sewn area all around to finish
How To Shorten A Wedding Dress But Keep The Train Length
You might be already happy with the train length of your wedding dress, so you don’t need to sew the hem all-around when you shorten it. However, this type of alteration will be slightly different to ensure that you keep the train length, and the dress will still look proportional after shortening.
You will focus on hemming the entire front side of the wedding dress to retain the train length. Here is the step by step tutorial:
- Wear the wedding dress with the shoes and undergarments you’ll wear on the wedding
- Pin the front side of the wedding dress to know how short it would get
- Shortening the front of the wedding dress to be an inch off the floor is the most ideal so the transition will look smooth to the train; it is also short enough to help the bride move much easier
- Have the side seams tapering back to the train, almost touching the floor to keep the dress proportional all around
- Measure two inches from the side seams toward the wedding dress train and remove the stitches; this will allow you to fold the material back along the new hemline
- Press the hem and remove the pins
- Ideally, copy the type of finish that the dress already has (e.g., zigzag stitches, overlocking stitches, rolled hem)
- Trim off the excess material and finish the raw edge with zigzag stitches or serger
- Fold over the finished edge and topstitch from the right side of the hem
Can You Shorten A Dress With A Train?
It’s possible to shorten a dress with a train, especially if you need better clearance, and avoid tripping on a very long wedding dress. Depending on how much is needed to be taken up, you can consider doing a partial hem or hemming all around the dress.
Of course, if the wedding dress needs to be taken up for more than two inches, you need to hem all around, or the transition with the train will look unnatural. On the other hand, slight alterations can be done only on the front edge of the wedding dress.
How Do You Shorten A Wedding Dress Train?
Compared to creating a new hem when shortening a wedding dress, shortening the dress’s train will be different. You don’t want to lose the design on the train, and it will look awkward when you take it up.
Instead, you will bustle the wedding dress, which is a method of using buttons, hooks, or ribbons, to “hide” the train and transition the wedding dress into something that looks trainless.
To learn more, here is a tutorial on how to bustle a wedding dress.
How Long Are Wedding Dresses Supposed To Be?
There are no rules regarding the length of the wedding dress, but ideally, the front edge should be at least an inch off the floor. The shoes are still showing, and you can walk comfortably.
How Long Is The Average Train On A Wedding Dress?
The most common wedding dress train is the chapel train, which is 12 inches long. It is favored because it’s not too tricky to walk with but still provides a dramatic effect.
To know more about the reason behind having a wedding dress train, we a have a more in-depth discussion about why do wedding dresses have trains.
Conclusion
Was this tutorial helpful? We just learned how to shorten a wedding dress with a train, essentially taking the hem back.
However, you must decide if you’ll do a partial hem or an entire hem so the new length will still be proportional to the train behind the dress. And if you have more questions, leave them below.