A Recent Survey of Women Who Sew for Tznius

↑ Dolly Welsh ↓

Mon, Jun 22 2015, 11:38 am

Marina, the point here was about money. Not tznius. The point was there are no sources of wearable wedding dresses for us at a low price. A hundred or two hundred dollars will get anybody a modern bathing-suit style wedding gown. But we like sleeves and a neckline. This simple need puts us in the desert: there are no such dresses at that price. And no patterns to sew one of your own either.

As wedding fabric isn't hard to obtain, I was hoping for a source of simple patterns. None are available anywhere at all; not that I could find.

Tznius Fashion is the only hope for an easily obtained, usable wedding dress pattern that doesn't require getting clever. We shouldn't have to start re-tooling and altering. We need a simple pattern we can give our seamstress or sister and start to cut. A few straight seams in beautiful fabric and we are on our way.

Women of means can and do have beautiful dresses; this was about people keeping it to, say, two hundred dollars or so.

As the fabric isn't expensive that seems possible.

My original question wasn't about a no-waist wedding gown; I don't hate a defined waist wedding gown, so I am to the left of Tznius Fashion, but if she can provide any pattern at all, she will be the only one who is bothering to fill our needs.

Anybody else is welcome to address this need for a simple FRUM wedding dress pattern, according to their own ideas.

In my day there were tons of modest used wedding gowns available. That was normal back then in any religion.

Well, not now. You can't find one. Anywhere.

Ruchel ↓

Mon, Jun 22 2015, 11:49 am

It's hard. Between modest-but-not-tsnius sites, mega expensive sites, sites where honestly there is nothing I would wear under 60 or at all (very large, "dowdy" cuts)...

I come from a clothes and shmattes family, my dad sews, my 2 grandfathers, my paternal grandma, my great grandmother etc etc etc... and I want my daughters to learn the basics (my oldest is interested and will iyh learn this summer with dh's cousin who is a frum seamstress). But. I don't want to teach you have to wear unfitted, no waist, undefined patterns. I don't see it as what rebbetzins wear around me, even.

I read on one of those sites that you must see no difference between breast and stomach. To me, that means I look constantly 9 month pregnant. Which I love. When I am 9 month pregnant.

Wedding gowns are a nightmare in Europe (possibly outside of places with good gmachs?) to find tznius. We need more affordable AND BEAUTIFUL gowns. Not the shiny, horrible, sweaty material you find in some low end shops... btdt.

Oh and yes, the zumba and shells links are hurtful. Seriously? Many shuls organize zumba classes! as for shells I'm hot in summer because I make the effort to wear them. sigh. I shouldn't have read, it has demotivated me to keep tzniuser.

↑ tzniutfashion ↓

Mon, Jun 22 2015, 12:50 pm

Dolly Welsh wrote:

Ah. Well, I am not telling you how to design a skirt. You seem to have some interesting skirt designs.

But I am staying with the wedding dress. No detours into day wear.

I leave it to you to present a flatteringly draped, not tight, long dress, in elegant fabric, that dazzles and confers magic, without showing the details of anatomy, which I agree are nobody's business.

There is precedent for this.

I think everybody here can agree we are not in favor of the corset, the extreme homage paid to the waist.

So waists, while nice on some, are not sacred things. We do not need to worship the small waist. A loose shift garment, done right, can be fine. I don't own a single belt. I privately hate waistlines. So I'm with you on that.

Neither am I much for showing the breasts. No.

I don't share your dislike of the defined arm. I love a mutton-chop, or puffy sleeve. But you are the designer.

The 1920s flapper had no waist.

In the evening, she wore a long loose dress that hung on her, made in a very dressy fabric.

As we are not flappers, we will do without her low neckline and feather boa.

But there is plenty to be done with a shift design.

A lot of us, with too-high waistlines, such as myself, will not miss a defined waist. Defined waists are nice if you have perfect proportions.

Tznius Fashion already has the bits and pieces that a seamstress can assemble and organize to craft a nice wedding dress.

The hard part is doing all that work. Tznius Fashion, please do it for us. Present a pattern for a wedding dress, already assembled and ready to go. Make it easy for us. Make a direct link that goes straight to it. There can be a few later, but start with one.

Your website is rich but confusing. Look at Suspenders Dot Com to see a very dense product line full of minuscule details and variations presented in wonderfully transparent clarity. Very easy to zero in on what you want and need, while seeing what's available you might think about some other day.

Marimekko made some excellent shifts back in the old days. Nobody sneered at THEM. The fabric was carrying the day there.

Yes, those would need adjustments for our use. But you see the point: a loose dress can be a terrific dress, done right. Those are classics.

Adding a sleeve might not daunt some. Maybe. But making a neckline higher? That's not so simple. Tznius Fashion, make it easy for us. We are not all geniuses out here.

Please. Thank you.

Thank you for your vote of confidence, Dolly. I just want to clarify that my software offers waisted, hi-waisted, lo-waisted options for dresses (for blouses, only waisted and hi-waisted). Hence, there is nothing wrong with having a waist in a garment for those who have a waist LOL. There just needs to be enough ease so that it is not a tight waist. That comes with Tznius Guidelines, go read Seams and Souls, as well as The Tznius Handbook and other Tznius-related guides. The defined arm came from the Gemara. I only follow the specs.

For those with mommy-tummys, I recommend a hi-waist. B'ezras Hashem, I hope to offer maternity styling soon so that the front garment length will provide adequate coverage.

Sorry for a confusing website. I try to organize the information as neatly and clearly as possible with mobile-ready devices as well as desktop devices. The front page is everything about my software -- faqs, links to tutorials, etc. I'll check out the links you mentioned, thanks.

If you download a demo copy of my software, you can actually print a basic blouse and dress sloper already. It comes with various garment openings. They are all FREE. The dress sloper in the demo currently comes with a 22.5-degree flair from the waist down. But the full-version software has the ability to adjust that. For those who sew, I invite you to try it out.

There are many variations of patterns that can be generated from my software, both custom and standard sizing. For those who want a custom size pattern only, contact me after you've tried the demo. One can also make patterns for men (coats, kittels, jackets, simple shirts, etc.), it's very versatile. But this original thread is not about my software, but about women who sew for tznius, kol hakavod to those who sew for tznius. I also offer free sewing classes at an online Jewish girls magazine for those who are interested, when I'm not busy with everything else.

As soon as I finish my custom customer deliverables I'll work on the wedding gown pattern suggestions, bli neder, b'ezras Hashem.

↑ Dolly Welsh ↓

Mon, Jun 22 2015, 1:06 pm

OK, I look forward to your thread entitled Wedding Gown Patterns. It's June now. Wedding month. It's the moment right now.

WHAT IS the web address of your "online Jewish girls' magazine" where you offer free sewing classes? The direct link to your own page there, please.

If anybody here has influence at the big pattern publishers, make them start a Kosher Modest Patterns section. We only need a handful of patterns.

This could be an eBay Store. Or Etsy. No physical merchandise getting shipped: you pay a small fee to download your customized pattern.

Wait a minute. Tznius Fashion, how do you lay out a pattern on a cutting table that was printed on letter sized paper? Our printers only handle this size.

A few dollars spent on wedding fabrics and tulles could start one off. The fabric inspires the garment.

This is not new science: people only have two arms and always have.

↑ tzniutfashion ↓

Mon, Jun 22 2015, 1:13 pm

Dolly Welsh wrote:

Can you write to me directly, so that I can give you links? Use the contact us page on my website and I'll answer all your questions. Depending on the pattern you purchase from me, the paper pattern assembly will be different. The older patterns are generated from a different software than the one I'm offering. The one I'm offering has very easy pattern assembly, by aligning the edges of the paper, that's it. The older patterns I sell require overlapping the margins.

Please write to me directly, Dolly. I look forward to hearing from you.

↑ Dolly Welsh ↓

Mon, Jun 22 2015, 1:37 pm

Thank you. But I am not buying, or making, a gown. I am thinking of the community here.

We all have to engage these problems. There are a lot of women here, and each one takes something different away from a public discussion, and uses it in her own particular way, that suits her.

We are modest in an immodest world. It must be easier to be modest.

We couldn't eat kosher if it were as hard as it is to be modest.

So I prefer to discuss your role in helping us forward in public here, not in private messages.

Not to create rivals for you, but I am also calling for other people to fill this need, also. Everybody's approach doesn't have to be exactly the same. There can be OU. Not everybody needs Heimisch hechshers.

A website with modest patterns on a spectrum scale: leftish at one end and right-wing at the other end, would be useful. We don't all have to look the same, but we all need to look like dignified women. This has become too hard. It's not good.

People here are dressing growing daughters. They have a hard time with skirts. It doesn't have to be this hard.

And we want and need to look GOOOOOOOD.

Judaism isn't about looking icky. We are not an ascetic religion.

There's a way to look organized and modest, and with-it, up to date, classy, and knowledgeable - and comfortable - at the same time. And with few or no dry cleaning bills. This is a task for the designers.

Since they won't make decent clothes for us (we are two or three percent of the population, and our women are only half of that) we have to do some work ourselves to maintain our lives the way we like them.

Especially on wedding day.

Even Vera Wang hates strapless wedding gowns. She only makes them because the clients insist and what can she do.

↑ tzniutfashion ↓

Mon, Jun 22 2015, 2:19 pm

Dolly Welsh wrote:

Not to create rivals for you, but I am also calling for other people to fill this need, also. Everybody's approach doesn't have to be exactly the same. There can be OU. Not everybody needs Heimisch hechshers.

A website with modest patterns on a spectrum scale: leftish at one end and right-wing at the other end, would be useful. We don't all have to look the same, but we all need to look like dignified women. This has become too hard. It's not good.

People here are dressing growing daughters. They have a hard time with skirts. It doesn't have to be this hard.

You can easily obtain leftish modest patterns today at the regular pattern store. That's what we used to do before my pattern making project. Many of us would take a leftish modest pattern, raise the neckline, extend the length, add longer sleeve, add ease, etc.

Skirts are the easiest to make. You can make a no-pattern modest skirt on this link on imamother.
http://www.imamother.com/forum.....ight=

There is no more excuse for not wearing a modest skirt below the knee if you can't find one in the store since it's so easy to make.

↑ tzniutfashion

Mon, Jun 22 2015, 7:29 pm

The Happy Wife wrote:

Is that the right link? Ot looks like that skirt requires a pattern, but I would love to try and make an easy skirt.

Yes, it is the right link. This article has been featured in more than one place. I'm happy that the modest gentile world like it as well to have it featured and shared. I wrote it originally for Jewish girls on Yehudis Magazine.

That skirt requires no pattern, just a rectangular piece (or two) based on your waist girth and length. Nobody will sell you a pattern based on this skirt. It's too easy and nobody will buy a pattern that's this easy that you can cut it right out of your fabric.

This skirt looks great on all types of lightweight fabric, perfect for summer, including fabric with allover pattern, plaid, stripes, border-print, lined with lace overlay, or solid color with embroidery or trimmings. It's the perfect beginner skirt you'll find in any how-to-learn-to-sew course. Plus, you can make your own half slip with it too. I use to sew this skirt for my babies with matching mother-daughter theme.

Post some pictures here if you like and share how easy it is with everyone.