A Dream Dress Becomes A Reality

Normally I wait until the bride takes possession of her dress before I post about it. But this time I simply can't wait! I won't post her name, though!

 

This bride came to me almost a year ago with the idea of a very simple dress for her beach wedding. Basically just a dressed up t-shirt dress. But she had another idea, and brought me a picture, of a gown that was her true dream dress. How much would it cost? Could I make it with just a couple changes? Absolutely! The biggest difference was that she wanted the main satin layers in a soft pink.

Initially, we talked about the over - blouse and skirt being done in white organza -

Front

 

Back

 

After the first fitting we decided to nix the organza and go with a mesh for the top, and tulle and Point d' Esprit for the skirt.

But there was still something missing, so we added the magic touch -

  A pink satin sash and bow.

 

It's not finished yet; still need to do some fitting on the top, add buttons at the back, and the hem. But my client is so excited, and so am I! I so love this dress! Can't wait to show you the final fitting! 

 

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!

A Vintage Re-Make; Revisited

Several months ago I posted about a 1970 vintage wedding gown I was re-doing for a bride. Her mother had worn it and now she wanted it redone so she could wear it to her own wedding.

In working with these older dresses, I have found that they don't make dresses like they used to! A lot less structure, a lot less finishing. In remaking this dress, I first had to remove the sleeves and the lace ruffles on the bodice. I added a structured lining:

 I took the skirt in to create a more a-lined look, taking the gathers out of the back and replacing them with pleats. The lace was all replaced, and the beading began. Several days and many hours later, the bodice was beaded, front and back. Here is a veiw of the front, partially beaded:

And here is the back veiw:

After finishing, with adding buttons at the back, and straps (a last minute addition; they came over the shoulder and made a 'V' at the back.), and a traditional bustle, she finally picked it up a couple weeks ago. And - I simply cannot believe these are the only pictures I got! Mom and bride promised me pictures later, of both mom in the dress in the 70's, and the current bride in the same dress. I will not only post them here, but I will also be framing them and putting them in my sewing studio!

Beautiful Nightmare

Prom season. That kind of says it all, doesn't it?

This year it's large jeweled beading, lots of chiffon and bright colors.
A new dress shop has opened in the area and has brought me more Prom business than ever! Which is good - I can't complain! In fact,I will soon be turning people away for the April Proms, as I simply have too many dresses and haven't room or time for  any more!

Today was one of those days - working on a prom dress - that I hate. Now, usually I love my work. Most of the time I love my work! But today . . .

I met with a very sweet and mature young lady yesterday, who brought me her prom dress that  she had paid for herself (and spent a very pretty penny on). Her prom is one of the earliest this year, in March. So, I knew I had to get it done quickly, to stay on schedule with all the other lovely ladies waiting in storage. I gave her a quote on the price and sent her on her way. I got the dress out this morning, planning to spend most of the day on it. Lots of that jeweled beading at the bodice, where it needed taking in, and lots of layered chiffon at the hem.

4 hours later I was still working on the beading. 

Once I started on the hem I got another surprise. I knew there was 3 layers; one of a lining, 2 chiffon. First, the lining. 6 yards around. 2 hours. Next, the first chiffon layer. 3 hours, 9 yards around. Last layer (finally!) of chiffon. Almost 4 hours - 15 yards!!! One layer - 15 yards!!!
I ran out of pins in working on it, had to raid another dress hanging in storage for more!

When all was said and done I spent over 12 hours on this dress, that I fully expected to take no more than 6.

A Beautiful Nightmare.

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!!!

Aplologies and A New Start!

Apologies, apologies, apologies. I had no idea it had been THAT long since I've posted a blog entry. All I can say in my defense is that 2012 was a VERY busy year! I usually have a month in the summer and atleast one more in the fall/winter that I can play catch - up and relax a bit. Never happened in 2012. I forgot how to relax, I forgot what I did in my spare time. If I wasn't sewing, I was trying to keep up with cleaning and laundry and just living. But no more! It is a new year and I have made a resolution to be more active on my blogging, and in my social life!

And on that little note, stay tuned for more blogging!