Costs

How much does it cost to have a dress made?What dressmakers actually charge to make a dress from scratch, broken down by complexity, plus what drives the price up and how to get an accurate quote.Custom bridesmaid dressesPricing for made-to-measure bridesmaid dresses, how to keep six different bodies in one colour, and what to give your dressmaker.

How much fabric

How much fabric do I need for an A-line dress?Yardage for an A-line dress by length and fabric width, with the calculation explained and a calculator for your own measurements.How much fabric do I need for a ball gown?Yardage for a full-skirted floor-length gown, why the number is so much higher than other silhouettes, and what a petticoat adds.How much fabric do I need for a sheath dress?Yardage for a fitted sheath dress by length and bolt width, and why the fitted shapes need the least fabric but the most skill.Fabric width explainedWhat bolt width means, why the same dress needs wildly different yardage depending on it, and how to convert between the two.

Working with a maker

How to tell a tailor exactly what dress you wantThe words dressmakers use, what to bring to the first conversation, and how to describe a dress so you get the one in your head.How to measure yourself for a custom dressExactly which measurements a dressmaker needs, how to take each one accurately, and the mistakes that cause a garment to fit badly.Dressmaker, tailor or seamstressWhat the three terms actually mean, which trade to look for, and why your local alterations shop is probably the answer.What to ask a dressmaker before you commitThe questions that prevent expensive misunderstandings — pricing, fittings, timelines, and what happens if the dress does not fit.Hire someone to make your wedding dressWhat it really costs to have a wedding dress made instead of bought, how long it takes, and exactly what to give a dressmaker so they can quote it.What actually happened when I hired someone to make me clothesA first-hand account of commissioning custom trousers from a maker: what it cost, what went right, what I would do differently.

Fabric & occasions

Satin, crepe or chiffonHow the three most common dress fabrics behave, what they cost to sew, and which suits which silhouette.Is velvet hard to sew? What to know before you buy itWhy velvet costs more in fabric and labour, what nap means for yardage, and when it is worth the trouble.The best fabrics for a summer dressWhich fabrics actually stay cool, which look cool and are not, and what to choose for a summer wedding.Having a wedding guest dress madeWhy a made-to-measure wedding guest dress often costs about the same as retail, plus timing, colour rules and what to give your dressmaker.Custom dresses for petite womenWhy petite ranges still do not fit, which proportions actually need adjusting, and what to tell a dressmaker.

Design preview

Design summary

Fabric requiredEstimate

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Buy the fabric

Search this fabric Browse second source Estimate only — confirm the quantity with your maker, and order a swatch first.

Sewing labourEstimate

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Materials not included

TurnaroundTypical

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From an independent maker

Difficulty

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None of these are quotesThey are worked out from your choices using typical construction times, to give you a sense of scale before you walk in. What a dress actually costs depends on the maker, the city and the fabric, and varies a great deal. Ask two or three makers for a real quote.

These are estimatesYardage, price and timing are calculated from your choices as a starting point. Your dressmaker will confirm the final quantity and quote once they have measured you and seen the fabric — always check with them before ordering.

See it as a photograph

Your design, photographed

The drawing is the specification — accurate, and it updates as you change things. This turns the dress you have just designed into a photograph, so you can see how it would actually look.

Garment briefCustom dress · made to measure

Front

Back

Estimates, not a quoteThe figures below are calculated from the design choices and are a starting point for discussion. Final yardage depends on the cutting layout and the wearer's measurements; the price depends on the maker. Please confirm both before any fabric is bought or cut.

Fabric (est.)

Lining (est.)

Labour (est.)

Turnaround (typical)

Specification

Measurements

Construction notes

Agreed with tailor

Price agreed

Fitting date

Ready by

All figures on this sheet are estimates generated from the design choices above, not a quotation. Yardage is calculated for a solid fabric with no nap or one-way print and a standard cutting layout — add roughly 15% for stripes, plaids, velvet or directional prints. The actual quantity depends on the cutting layout, the pattern pieces and the wearer's measurements, and should be confirmed by the dressmaker before fabric is purchased. The labour figure is derived from the construction steps this design implies and a typical hourly rate for an independent maker. It is a rough scale, not a survey of what makers charge, and real quotes vary widely by city, by maker, by season and by fabric \u2014 differences of two or three times are normal. Turnaround assumes normal workload. The dressmaker determines the final yardage, price and timeline. Ask two or three makers, and agree yardage, price and timeline in writing before anything is cut.

Save this design

We will email you the brief as a link you can reopen, edit and reprint — useful when your tailor asks for a change. No account, and we do not share your address.

Design code:

Now find someone to sew it

Search your area for dressmakers, tailors and alterations shops. Most alterations shops will make a garment from scratch if you ask — a lot of them simply never get asked.

Alterations shopsThe one in every strip mall. Bring the brief and ask if they take from-scratch work.

Independent makersEtsy sellers listing made-to-measure dresses already work remotely from measurements.

Bridal specialistsEvery bridal shop has an alterations person, usually independent and quiet off-season.

Tailor-ready specs

Construction detail written the way a dressmaker reads it.

Perfectly you

Nine measurements, and the garment is cut to them.

Beautiful output

A spec sheet you would be glad to hand across a counter.

Every body

Drafted from your measurements. No size chart to squeeze into.

Everythingexplained