Emmeline in the Emerald City

I may be just a little bit obsessed with this dress.  I love emerald green in general, and I'd been wanting to make the Emmeline in a gorgeous silk fabric...then along came Kate, who asked for exactly what I'd been wanting to make!

Kate is a girl who plans ahead--she commissioned this amazing dress to wear for holiday parties this year.  She even chose the fabrics herself--the dress is lined in the most adorable white lawn with tiny green polka dots!

As Kate said: "Too cha-cha-cha!"  I even did a little Hong Kong finish on the hem of the skirt to tie it in with the lining.  I think that if I get to make another one of these, I might add a double row of ruffles on the underskirt to be even MORE cha-cha-cha...

Wouldn't this be fabulous in cherry red?  Oh my gosh, I want one for myself.  When Kate sends me a picture or two, you can be sure I'll post them!

Lisa and Billy's retro fabulous wedding

Sometimes this crazy dress business of mine brings me into contact with the most amazing folks.  Lisa is one of those people that I'm so glad I got to meet--she's sweet and hilarious and SO incredibly talented.  And her new husband, Billy, is just adorable.  :-)

Lisa first found me on Etsy, after noticing that I was a fellow resident of the 'Burgh, and contacted me about making a custom wedding dress for her.  Lisa's original concept was something along the lines of the Emmeline, in the lovely ivory cotton sateen that I ADORE and use all the time, but with the addition of silk charmeuse ruffles on the bodice.  As we talked and thought about it more, we added darling elbow-length sleeves with a matching charmeuse ruffle at the sleeve hem.

Did I forget to mention that Lisa and I soon discovered that we were getting married on THE EXACT SAME DAY??  What a crazy coincidence!  Lisa is the most calm and organized bride I have ever met, and once she discovered how little planning I'd had time for, she quickly put me in touch with April at Mocha Rose Floral - who was generous enough to agree to do two weddings on the same day.  Hooray!

As the dress came together, Lisa had the inspired idea of adding a multi-colored crinoline for a little extra vintage cha-cha-cha! The crinoline was ivory, green and black to coordinate with the wedding color palette.  With the black satin sash she wore and her gorgeous anemone fascinator, nothing could have been more perfect.

Look at how happy these two lovebirds are! 

But that's not all!  Lisa wore her fabulous wedding dress to participate in the Diamond Dash, a scavenger-hunt kind of thing for a great big honkin' diamond engagement ring that took place all over Pittsburgh.  A photo of Lisa in her wedding dress riding her bike was posted on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette website! :-)  (Photo courtesy of Joane Bartone Photography)

 Congratulations and best wishes to Lisa and Billy--I'm so glad that our shared wedding planning brought us together.

First wedding of the season!

My absolute favorite thing about making dresses for people is seeing the people wearing them!  And that's especially true when it comes to wedding dresses.  Every bride imbues what I make with her own personal style and special touches--I just love to see how it all comes together!  And then when I get pics of the happy couple, it's just like the best thing ever. :-)

Look at how adorable these two are!  Danica, the lovely bride, added her own touch to the bridal Emmeline by changing the sleeves to cap sleeves, and then totally played up the retro-fabulous style by adding a gorgeous black lace sash, the perfect black shrug and a glamorous black floral fascinator.  Too perfect for words!  Thank you to Danica and her handsome new hubster for sharing these fantastic pics.  Congratulations and best wishes to you both! :-)