Silk seersucker simplicity

I'm so excited to be able to share a few photos of one of my favorite bridal gowns of the past wedding season - Joana's gorgeous silk seersucker Lydia gown!  Joana contacted me via Etsy nearly a year ago, knowing that she wanted a version of the Lydia gown but unsure of which fabric would be the best choice for her.  She loved the look of seersucker, but wanted something just a bit fancier.  Luckily, I had just seen (and fallen in love with) this GORGEOUS silk seersucker on one of my favorite fabric suppliers' websites.  After seeing the fabric for herself, Joana was as much in love with it as I was.  The texture and sheen of the silk fabric is just breathtaking!

 

As you can see, the dress came out beautifully - just perfect for an intimate family ceremony.  What more could you ask for?  Congrats and best wishes, lovebirds! :-)

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. :-)

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!

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! :-)

Blue belle

You know the saying: "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue--and a penny in my shoe!"  My brilliant customer Laura came up with a gorgeous concept for her wedding gown that incorporates the "something blue" in a unique and absolutely lovely way: she found a white cotton eyelet fabric with the most delicate hint of sky blue in the embroidery.  The result?  One of my new favorite dress designs!

Laura's original dress design concept was inspired by a dress she found on a site that I absolutely love, Thread.  The Thread design aesthetic--simple, feminine dresses in high quality fabrics at reasonable prices--hits very close to my heart!  And I have to say I love their use of seersucker--but I digress. :-)  Laura fell in love with a strapless full-length gown with a tiered ruffled skirt, but wanted the dress made in a more mermaid-style silhouette with graduated length ruffles--and of course in her size and with her sweet blue and white eyelet fabric!  I was up for the challenge.

 

Laura's finished gown came out even better than I could have expected!  We lowered the starting point of the ruffles and made the skirt a bit more fitted in order to gain the fit-and-flare shape that a mermaid gown must have.  The gown has a built-in bustier--comfortable and secure, and so much more convenient than wearing a separate strapless bra!  I ended up doing an interlining in the skirt and organza underlining in the ruffles to achieve the mermaid shape at the bottom of the skirt.  Sooooo pretty!  Laura tells me that she's having a little blue shrug sweater made to match the dress, which will be just the perfect accent to this sweet dress.  I can't wait to see the whole ensemble all put together!  Congratulations and best wishes, Laura!