Toile Making - 2nd step - how to make a wedding dress

Why Every Bride Should Make a Toile (Test Garment)

Ok so you know the style of dress you want. You've got the fabric swatches or perhaps have bought the fabric. You've downloaded the pattern. You've drawn new size lines on your pattern pieces if/where required. The next step is to source a cheap fabric which is as close as possible in weight and handle: drape, to that of your chosen dress fabric, so that you can make the toile.

A toile, also called a muslin, is a practice or test version of your finished garment in inexpensive fabric. It enables you to practice all areas of the making up process from cutting out fabric to finishing seams - the detail in which you go into, depends on you. Once the toile has been constructed you can see how your garment fits and how you can make it fit better if required to do so. A toile is the secret weapon to achieving that perfect couture fit and finish on your wedding day.

If you are in two minds about making a toile: having a test run of your finished wedding dress, here are 4 points to change your mind.

1. Every Body Is Unique

Even the best-drafted patterns need a few tweaks to match your unique shape. Making a toile lets you:

• Adjust bust, waist, and hip proportions

• Perfect neckline depth and strap placement

• Test skirt length and flare

This ensures your final gown flatters you beautifully from every angle.

2. You’ll Build Confidence

Working with a digital pattern can feel intimidating, especially for such an important dress. A toile gives you a low-pressure way to:

• Get familiar with the construction steps

• Practice tricky techniques (like darts, zips, or boning)

• Confirm that the design truly suits your vision

By the time you cut into your final fabric, you’ll know exactly what to do.

3. You’ll Save Time and Fabric in the Long Run

Mistakes on expensive bridal fabric can be heartbreaking. A toile helps you catch fit or construction issues early, so your final version goes smoothly — no waste, no panic, just satisfaction.

4. It’s Part of the Couture Process

Professional bridal designers always make a toile. It’s the mark of a thoughtfully crafted gown. Toile making is a step we never skip in the studio - even for a pattern with which we are highly familiar. Making a toile turns your DIY project into a true couture experience.

Hot Tip

Write fitting notes and draw adjustment lines directly on the toile before adjusting your pattern - using a lighter shade of fabric for your toile will make this process easier.

So let's go back to Tip 3 and think about fabric. Using a toile fabric as close to your dress fabric choice will get you accustomed to sewing the real thing. Bridal fabrics (if that's your choice) are notoriously difficult to sew. As such, avoid slippery silks or chiffons until you feel more confident - or practise until perfect. High shine satins can also be incredibly unforgiving when it comes to a slightly puckered seam - so take heed. It's often better to start with stable, easy-to-handle fabrics like crepe, crepe back satin, satin-backed dupion or cotton sateen. Crepe fabrics often have a bit of 'give' so practise not stretching seams. Many silks and chiffons are not particularly slippy but they still need getting used to. Choose inexpensive synthetic alternatives for your toiles: practice runs. For fabrics which don't really stretch much when pulled - you can just use a plain cotton, preferably similar in weight to the chosen dress fabric. At college we used to use light and medium weight calico for toiles, although it's not that cheap these days.

Before sewing your toile, cut off a length of your toile fabric and practise sewing several parallel lines and see if the stitch lines look flat, even and not puckered. This procedure will familiarise you with several elements which when adjusted can give you the best sewing results. Firstly (a) Sewing Machine Tension, which is the balance between the top and bobbin threads, creating strong, neat stitches when equal. But causing loops, puckering and thread breakage when unequal. (b) Stitch Length, which can differ depending on weave or fabric plush for example. (c) Needle Size - remember the finer the fabric the smaller the needle. Too big a needle in a fine fabric can create a semblance of holes where the thread comes through. And finally, perhaps one of the more important elements is (d) Making Sure Seams Stay Together - notched - and not slip and slide out of position when sewing. Either via tacking/basting, pinning and/or using clips to secure multiple layers or secure tricky awkward seams - the choice is yours.

The pattern and garment familiarisation process via toile making and instruction following may need a little tweak here and there when undertaking the finished garment but in my experience after the practice run(s) is out of the way, the tweaks are often minimal. 

Once made you can try the toile on and check fit. Remember to wear underwear similar or the same to that which will be worn with the dress to give you a better idea of how the finished garment will fit and hang. In reality a wedding dress needs to fit as beautifully as you can get it to do so - remember it will be seen at crucial moments throughout the ceremony by the same people but from different angles. Indeed shaping and a flattering fit will separate your dress from something bought off the peg.

If this post sparked the dormant toile making sample machinist bridal designer within, I’d love to hear from you! Tell me in the comments below what part of making your own wedding dress excites (or scares!) you most. Be sure to hit like and subscribe — there’s plenty more modern bridal sewing inspiration coming soon. In fact take a look at the Toile Fitting: 3rd step to the perfect fit - to keep you satiated for the next couple of minutes and help you get this whole, measurement taking, test sewing, toile tweaking thing in the bag.