The Wedding Dress

The wedding dress has been a year in the making.  Becca asked me to make her wedding dress in January.  She brought me a picture for a place to start.  She is not a fluffy-frilly kind of girl so the dress has simple lines.  We re-designed things as we went.  It has been an educational and fun creative project.  I am learning that period sewing techniques are not that far off from modern couture.  I used Wild Ginger software to make the pattern.  The lace came heavily beaded and sequined.  It was beautifully elegant and the highlight of the dress.  Although I only spent a little over a month actually sewing, the dress has been on my mind almost constantly.  It has been mostly handsewn because I have learned that sometimes you have more control over where your needle goes in at if you stitch it by hand.  I have learned to love the creative process of hand sewing. 

The back closure of the dress is button loops with a zipper behind it.  I learned that a button loop closure is very weak and that most dresses made with a button closure are actually closed with a hidden zipper not to be confused with an invisable zipper which is also weak closure.  The last thing the bride needs on her wedding day is a wardrobe malfunction!  The buttons instead of being fabric covered were a shell looking shank button.  I have to admit that I did cheat on the button looping.  Maybe someday I will make a dress with fabric button loops but they made me nervous so I used a prepared tape with elasticized loops.  The back bodice comes to a point about hip level.  Initially, the front was to have the same point but when we got it finished, it just wasn't what the bride or her mother wanted so we changed it to a straight across the front with a slightly dropped waist.

The neckline is a sweetheart shaped with piping.  The sleeves are a satin cap sleeve with an elbow length lace overlay.  The lace overlay is continued in the skirt with the satin ending eight inches above the lace so that the lace detail really stands out. The skirt went through a few transitions as well, we started at tea length like the inspiration picture, then we tried floor length and then back to tea length.

The lining of the dress has been completely hand stitched.  The fabrics are an antique white bridal satin, a nylon beaded and sequined lace and a cotton lining. 

All photos of Becca were produced by Neil D. Johnson Photography .