In 2015 I was trusted by my future daughter in law to be, to make her a wedding dress. The pressure was on. Of course I had made clothing before, such as dresses for parties and all day I can make bags, but this felt like a big step up and I really wanted to get it right for them both.
The good thing was we had plenty of time to create the dress, and if you are thinking of making your own wedding dress I recommend you do the same. What we did first was try on a few different styles within local wedding shops to make sure the style that Jo wanted would actually suit her. Dresses always fit and look different from the pictures, you have to find what looks best on you. Keeping an open mind will make sure you have the best experience when choosing or making your wedding dress.
After we had found the style that Jo likes (and one i was confident to make!), we then started to design the details. It was great fun doing this together which was in secret from all the boys.
Next on the list was finding the perfect material and colour, there are many shades of white for wedding dresses. Jo was actually visiting Malaysia during the build up to the wedding so she wanted to get and get some wedding material from here. Bringing it back from there had some risk because if it went wrong we didn’t have enough material to start over again and it was a bit expensive to fly back to Malaysia! However, the material was cheaper than most London stockists.
What did the wedding dress look like?
The wedding dress was made from lace which we embroidered with sequins and crystals which you can see in the image below.
I absolutely loved the detail on the dress and the sequins glistened in the sun which was beautiful, making any bride feel amazing.
The under dress was made in panels to fit but the lace was moulded and stitched in one piece.
During this project I cried at times in frustration, but overall I loved making it. It was a labour of love for my future daughter in law. She looked stunning on the day and I cant thank her enough for trusting me to create her dream dress. Video below shows you the dress:
Since then I have completed other wedding dresses mainly because I have loved the style that has been wanted and I tend to stick to family and friends. Its just so much pressure!
For the time being, I will stick to what I love best and thats making bags and teaching people to sew. You can view my handmade bag collection that is for sale or book yourself on one of my sewing classes.
No responses yet