J. Crew Sascha gown reproduction

I'm always excited to share a new creation, and here's a really fun one!  Fans of the J. Crew wedding collection will recognize this design as a reproduction of the Sascha gown, a gorgeous and unique modified sweetheart dress in silk taffeta with intricate seaming details in the bodice and a dramatic taffeta flower at the waist.

A sweet bride named Bethany contacted me via Etsy several months ago looking for her own version of the Sascha dress in a less expensive fabric, and I was happy to oblige!  We found a really lovely champagne poly taffeta that looks so much like silk taffeta--we got super lucky.  The flash from the camera makes the taffeta look shiny, but it is soooo amazing in person...just light and lustrous and radiant.  Once the fabric was found, it was time to figure out the details. 

It was such fun to make this dress--I am in love with the seaming detail that adds shape and emphasis to the curves of the bodice.  And of course the gorgeous flower!  I may be a bit obsessed with making flowers now...Wouldn't corsages like this at the waist be so sweet for bridesmaids?  For that matter, I could totally see a shorter version of this dress as a bridesmaid dress as well!

Of course we had to have the delicate fabric-covered buttons up the back of the dress!  Just the perfect finishing touch.  This dress was a delight to make, and I'm hoping I'll have photos of the happy bride in her fabulous gown to share with all of you. :-)

Ewa's perfect spring skirt

Sometimes the simplest things are the most enjoyable!  My super-sweet client Ewa initially contacted me looking for a reproduction of a tailored pleated skirt she'd seen as part of a Talbot's dress; since she is teeny-tiny, she has a difficult time finding skirts that fit her waist and are the length she needs.  As we corresponded back and forth, she decided that rather than going with a beige color, she would embrace her favorite color: pink!  I found just the perfect shade of poplin to match a hat another Etsy artist was making for her, and voila! Absolute pink perfection--so adorable!  Here's what Ewa had to say about her new skirt:

Hello Rebecca, the skirt arrived today&is AMAZING in every way! From the color, to the lining, it is just lovely∧ so incredibly well made. Oh my!

I would love for you to make something else for me in the near future!
Sincerely, Ewa

Hooray, how awesome is that?  Thank you, Ewa! :-)

Ella photo shoot

Time for another adventure in solitary photography!  As you may have noticed, the model in my most of my dress photos bears a striking resemblance to...ahem...a certain independent designer/seamstress/craft dork/mom/lapsed grad student...namely me. :-)  There are a couple of reasons for this: first of all, I am conveniently available and low-cost, and second of all, because when I'm making dress samples it's easiest to make them to fit me.  (No one else is around to poke with pins at two in the morning.  Except the Husbeast and Annabel, and I shudder to think of the consequences there...)

My ivory cotton sateen deep-v neck bridal gown (the J. Crew Genevieve reproduction) has been one of my most popular dresses, and I'm often contacted with requests to see the dress "on a real person."  I've only made the bridal version for other people, and I've never been lucky enough to make one that was anywhere close to my size so that I could try it on and snap some photos.  (Plus, I would feel guilty trying on one of my dear clients' dresses--that seems wrong somehow.)  I am hoping for pics from the brides who have this dress so that I can post them on the blog, but until they arrive, I decided that it was time to take matters into my own hands!

I was working on a tea-length version of the dress for a super-sweet bride named Lauren, and since it's always easier to make two of the same dress at once, I just went ahead and whipped up a knee-length version for myself.  It fits like a dream, makes my waist look tiny, has the sweet fabric-covered buttons up the back and the gorgeous ivory cotton sateen fabric that I love so much...plus a bit of organza interlining in the skirt, and built-in cups in the bust so that I don't have to wear a bra.  Could there be a more perfect dress for a beach wedding, or any casual outdoor event for that matter?

Husbeast is my sometime-photographer--he doesn't have any skills or anything, and mostly he spends the whole time pretending to be Austin Powers in the photo shoot sequences in the original movie ("Yeah baby, yeah!  You're a tiger!  You're a squirrel!  You're an angry squirrel!  And, I'm spent.")  Which does at least result in some good smiles on my part, though not the most artistic fashion photography.  However, Husbeast is pretty busy with school these days, so I was on my own with this shoot.

I don't have a tripod, or a fancy camera, or any space in my workshop/apartment for artistic staging (man, I can't wait to have my own work space!); however, I do have an ironing board, a stack of books, and a digital camera with a timer.  I can improvise.  I waited for a sunny day, did the best I could with my hair and makeup, put on the dress and started to vogue.  (Okay, just kidding about that last part.)  The pretty pink flowers belong to Annabel--she was the flower girl in a wedding last summer, and she caught the toss bouquet. :-)

I've decided that instead of continuing to refer to this gown as the "ivory cotton sateen deep-v bridal gown"--which began its life as the J. Crew Genevieve reproduction, but is now, I think, my own take on that original beautiful design--I re-christened the short version "Ella."  It just seemed right--simple, romantic, modern and classic all at the same time.  I love how the light plays on the texture of the cotton sateen in these pictures--it reminds me of how pearls look in the light.  So gorgeous.  Stay tuned for more photo shoot pics...the bridal Emmeline is next up!