Category Archives: wedding dress

Finished Project: Jenn’s Wedding Reception Dress

Posted on by

I broke my usual code of not sewing for other people!

That’s right, I made another wedding dress.  I thought I’d be laid off for a month, and a lovely friend was getting married and could not find anyone to make her dress, so I volunteered.  Jenn wanted a 1930′s dance dress Ginger Rogers would be proud of.  We shared images, brainstormed, and finally came up with a design by cobbling together odds and ends of various vintage patterns to get together a dream dress for their 1930′s themed wedding on Catalina island in the glorious Art Deco ballroom.  Unfortunately I’m a big wuss and don’t like boat travel, so wasn’t able to attend.  Many thanks to Nicole of Paper Moon Vintage who took these photos and sent them to me of Jenn looking fabulous in her dress!  Jenn’s makeup was by the talented Katharina of GoForKat makeup.

Jenn’s reception dress was made of Italian imported silk organza and Italian imported Alencon lace.  We added horsehair to the hem to give it “swish” when dancing, and she’s wearing a vintage slip underneath.  Something old, something new.  The lace was appliqued on and cut away from behind on the bodice front and back to create a neat illusion of a lower front and back than the dress actually had.  The motifs were carried across onto the bottom of the skirt gores to tie it all in.

This dress just happened to be finished just in time to tie in with the schedule of the Sew Fortnightly “Embellish” project.  I know we’re supposed to say time, cost, etc for the Sew Fortnightly, but I don’t want to even think of how long it took.  Jenn’s mom bought the fabric for the dress, and I was paid for my estimated cost of time it would take to make the dress.  Part of the cost of the dress, since I grossly underestimated time, was a wedding and bridal shower gift for the happy newlyweds.  So it worked out for both of us.

Many congrats to Jenn and Benny! Yay!! Welcome to married bliss :)

Thus ends was my brief foray into custom dressmaking again.  Love my friends and “fans”, but I’ve got other eggs in my basket, so I’m passing the custom work so that those who are more talented at it, and love it more than I do.  I’m now retired from custom dressmaking… got enough between regular work and my patterns and life stuff to keep me busy!

Hope your week is much blessed!

Lauren

>And They Lived Happily Ever After…

Posted on by

>This past Saturday one of my very best friends got married!  Introducing Mr and Mrs Randy Hude!

You might recognize Addi as the beautiful model on the cover of the Bathing Beauty Swimsuit pattern, and shortly before she was engaged she was the bride at the fashion show I did last year.
She is a stunning classic beauty and her wedding had all the charm, uniqueness, and creativity you would expect from her- she is a sculptor, painter, and artist!

 Addi is a huge Phantom of the Opera fan, so for getting ready for her wedding what would be better than Christine’s dressing gown? She draped and sewed this gown for herself based on the dressing gown from the Broadway musical.

 I made her wedding gown and bolero for her based on a dress worn by the Andrews sisters in the movie Moonlight and Cactus.  We took our own take on it and made it from white silk taffeta with an outer layer of chiffon and wing “sleeves” appliqued with lace. As a rule I don’t do custom sewing but for Addi I made an exception.  This was the last of my custom sewing creations.

Addi’s going away outfit was a beautiful vintage suit with a matching jacket made in charcoal gray wool with bronze satin accents.  I love her matching shoes and the darling train case she carried with vintage luggage stickers decorating it!  Don’t they make a darling couple? And now off to relax in Hawaii and start their new lives together.
I  thought you’d all enjoy pictures of Addi- isn’t she a beautiful and stylish vintage bride?

>Wedding Dress Pictures

Posted on by

>Wedding dress pictures!
I just spent the last few hours taking pictures and detaching the overdress from the under dress so I can get it cleaned this weekend. Renee just about fell over- she says she likes it even more than the other dress I was going to try to copy- and she says my dad’s not allowed to see it until the wedding day! I need silk chiffon, duchesse silk (I want it to have more body than the current fabric, which I believe is like charmeuse), and to make a new collar- I’m going to be on the lookout at Costume College for the lady with the antique laces to get one for a new collar.










Here are the parts that need to be redone

The underdress- it’s funny how much it resembles 1930′s evening gowns. The top is too tight across my ribcage, and I found it’s from the lame that is there. If I make it larger right in that area the lace has enough room to meet at Center Back. I’m also thinking of possibly doing a chiffon sash that trails, but I want to see how it all looks together first.



And here’s the lace on top of the undergarments. You can just tell in the pictures how much better the condition is than the rest of the dress. I have a few places where I need to mend the bridges in the lace, but not that many. It seems remarkably strong, and even when I lifted my arms I felt no tension, which is a very good sign!


There she is! I am ecstatic!