Another Vintage Re-Make

It seems to be my year for Vintage Re-makes! Here I will share with you about the second one of the year; although I started today on yet a third!

This gown is another 70's design, worn by the brides mother. You know the era - the full sleeves, high neck, gathered waist, lots of lace and ruffles around the neckline.

This dress will be unrecognizable when I am finished! The bride wants it totally re-made for her rehearsal dress. I will remove all that lace around the neck and bodice, remove the sleeves, take the skirt in, and shorten it. Then I will re-apply some of the lace around the now strapless bodice, and add thin sraps for support, as the dress has a pretty low back. Along the way I will need to add boning and a lining for structure. Whew! Right now it is a work in progress . . .  more to come!

Bead One, Sequin Two, Bead One, Sequin Two . . .

My bride wanted her mothers Vintage Gown re-made to look more modern for her May wedding. After removing the big puffy sleeves, reducing the volume of the skirt and adding a structured bodice lining, it was time to reattach the vintage lace and begin beading.

But first, It was necessary to sort through all my beads. She didn't want any silver or rhinestones, just clear, white and pearls. So I got busy . . .

Who knew there were so many different colors of pearls! I now have containers of white pearls, yellow pearls, ivory pearls, pink pearls, and even tan pearls!

After spending a good 5 or 6 hours sorting (yes, I had that many to go through with a tweezers, to separate), I finally got started beading the bodice. Here is what it looked like after 5 hours -

And here is another 5-6 hours later . . . .

FRONT BODICE

BACK BODICE

I just have to finish the beading on the front of the bodice and I will be done.  Probably another 6- 10 hours. The first few hours were killing my back, but I learned quickly to get up and stretch every 45 minutes or so! I am liking how it is turning out - I hope the bride does too!!

A Vintage Re-Make

Last fall a lovely bride came to me with her mother's wedding gown from, well, lets just say, a certain era. That one that some of us remember better than others. Those big skirts, the big sleeves, lots of lace, and of course, the big hair!

The dress fit her quite well. if you could get around the big sleeves and skirt. Mom and daughter both had a pretty good idea of what they were looking for; remove the sleeves and make it strapless, reduce some of the fullness from the full gathered skirt, remove the lace 'tail' at the back, and maybe add some beading.

I had my bride put it on, leaving the sleeves off, so we could get a picture of how it might look.

Notice the gathering at the waistline; it made her look pretty bulky (and she's not), and the gathers at the back were even worse!

The first thing I did was to remove the sleeves, them take the skirt in at the sides; removing all the gathers at the front, and exchanging gathers at the back for pleats.

At her next fitting, the skirt fit perfectly, and we were ready to go ahead with re-creating then bodice. Being that it was made back in the 70's, it was made with no lining. I have found that in many dresses made in that era, this was the norm. Fascinating . . . 

Now it was time to make a lining for the bodice, with structure for the new strapless design.

Next up - beading!!!

9 Months; 33 Years Ago

I know I haven't posted in a while, and I apologize. I can barely keep up with my sewing right now. Prom season is almost over, but wedding season is just now at it's peak.

So for the next little while anyway, the posts will be few and far betweeen.

But I wanted to share this special day with you -

Today marks my 33rd wedding anniversary to my soul mate!

We were married so very young. I was just 19, he was 20. But back then, you didn't wait.

We have been so very blessed over the years, and when I think of all God has given us, I am overwhelmed by His grace.

Today I will share just one photo with you. It symbolizes who I am and what I do.

And it is very much a part of this special day.

My wedding gown took me 9 months to make. It took 8 yards of satin, 8 yards of satin - faced organza, and 150 yards of hand crotched French lace. I used 5 different patterns to get just the look I wanted. All the lace had to be hand gathered and meticulously pinned and sewn to the skirt. I hung the dress from a hook over the round dining room table and spread it out all around, so my mother -in -law and I could get it positioned just right. She was a master seamstress and taught me so much! I made a hoop-style petticoat to wear under it, along with a crinoline. Going to the bathroom that day was a true challenge!
It was my dream dress, which I styled after a similar dress I had seen in a magazine for about $1500. I only spent about $175.00 on mine.

As much as I love my wedding gown, when I get it out and look at it now- I am appalled at my workmanship! The outside is still lovely, but when you look inside - OMG!!! It isn't even lined! There is no structure to it at all; which may be why the hoop was necessary.

So, on this special day, I may take the time to drag the dress out one more time. Just to look at it and remember. And be thankful, again, for what the Lord has brought me.