How to Take in a Wedding Dress Bust

Try on your dress, inside out if possible. The easiest way to mark new seam lines will be on the lining of your dress.

Enlist a friend to pin the new stitching line with straight pins while you are wearing the dress. They should pay particular attention to keeping the center front and center back of your dress on a straight line.

Remove the dress carefully, making sure not to disturb any of the pins. If you find this impossible, make light lines with a pencil on the pinning line of those pins you must remove.

Mark the remaining pins with water soluble pen or tailor's chalk. Remember to mark them on both sides of the seam.

Remove the pins and unstitch the existing seams. You can use a seam ripper or a sharp penknife to do so, but be careful not to rip the fabric or injure yourself. Blood is difficult to remove from silk!

Place bodice on top of a sheet of transfer paper, folded along the new stitching lines on either side of the center front or center back and use a rotary wheel to tracing the new seam lines onto the opposite side.

Even up the new seam lines after tracing both sides. You can split the difference between the two traced lines to create a more even bust seam.

Re-pin your wedding dress bodice along the new seam lines to take in the bust and stitch the layers together on your sewing machine.

Try on your dress on right side out to confirm that the bust fits correctly. Any puckers in the fabric should be pressed out or restitched to create a smooth line.