Wedding Dress (Original Design)
Debuted: My wedding, August 2008
Awards: N/A
As any bride knows, your wedding day won’t be perfect until you have the perfect attire. In my case I needed the perfect dress, and after shopping at David’s Bridal for three days and trying on nearly 30 different styles and colors, I had a smart idea of what I was looking for in my wedding dress. My mom told me to pick the one that my heart felt was it, no matter the price, but my heart felt broken after all those dresses were on and off again--none of them were what I wanted.
How I Made It
Being a knowledgeable seamstress by now, I had the crazy idea to hand-sew my own gown. After all the fabric was purchased and ready, I sketched out the dress I wanted and set to work at my parents house to prevent my other half from seeing it before the big day. I used no patterns as I cut my top for this dress (it had boning to make it more of a corset) and after that one was done I realized it wasn’t what I wanted, so I scrapped it and started over from scratch, creating a halter top that was elegant and a better fit.
The dress is made from a slightly heavy satin fabric, with multiple layers of light tulle to cover the skirt and make it more A-line. I added a shiny, silk ribbon to the base of the dress, which went up the back of the skirt as well. The ends of the ribbon were covered by a corset bow made of Japanese silk that graced the back of the halter top. Detailed wedding lace was cut into patterns I liked, and hand-stitched to the top of the dress, making it sparkle with pearls and sequins.
The skirt portion was left long for a train (3’ long) with one layer of tulle on top that had a simple piece of wedding lace at the very end. Under the skirt I attached the bustle pieces of hook and eye closers that blended into the dress. After the ceremony they were used to hold the dress up and make the skirt full, round, and hide the train. These hooks were spaced out well, keeping the dress from being too heavy once all of the train had been hidden.
The veil is an exact replica of the one I nearly bought at David’s Bridal for $250. I made mine with a layer of tulle that reached my elbows, which I scalloped the ends of. I sewed a silver thread through the scalloped portion and hung Swarovski crystals along this thread. I bunched the entire veil at the top and hand-sewed it to a 4" clear comb. The entire veil only cost me $30. and 3 hours of work! I am most proud of this piece.
Images taken by Ashley Lojko
