Tuesday Tales: The tale of my wedding dress

I am the mother of 4 beautiful daughters and an aunt to a good number of nieces. I love to sew clothing so as these girls grew I constructed twirly dresses for when they were little. During their teen years I constructed stylish little dresses for them to wear to church. Once they hit high school I began my career of constructing formal gowns so they could wear them to the school dances. It was a journey, in which I was constantly improving my sewing skills. I took one tailoring class during these years, but other than that I’m pretty much self taught.

When my oldest daughter got married I never even thought of making her wedding dress, she had already picked one out in a bridal magazine. When we tried it on her at the store she looked so sweet in it that we just bought it. My second daughter was so tiny that we couldn’t find a dress for her. I had decided to try to make her a wedding dress, but I was pretty nervous about it. Luckily we did find a dress that could be made just for her before shipping from the factory. It took a few months, but it when it arrived it fit her tiny frame. It was a gorgeous gown and she looked lovely in it.

After that experience where I actually thought about making a wedding dress I decided I might like to give it a try. I had a couple of friends that had made all of their daughter’s dresses, so I was inspired. Daughter #3 started dating her boyfriend about 2 ½ years ago. He was just getting ready to leave on a 2 year mission for our church (January 2007). A few months after he left, my daughter was still faithfully writing to him twice a week—so I asked her if she thought it would be all right if I made her wedding dress while he was gone. She thought about it for a while, wrote to her boyfriend and between the three of us we decided to go ahead.

The first thing I have to do before beginning any project is get a book and read about it. I ordered two very good books. I started by making a prom dress for daughter #4 (November 2007). I combined 3 dress patterns and applied my newly discovered knowledge into the construction of the gown. It turned out lovely. I was very happy with it. Next I went through the steps again by sewing a linen dress for daughter #2. It is honestly the best constructed article of clothing I have ever made. I was pleased with the fit and form of the dress. My third practice attempt was another formal for daughter #4. I decided that I was ready to try the wedding gown.

The manager of our closest David’s Bridal was also a seamstress who had made many of her daughter’s dresses. I had talked with her and she gave me some good tips on where to look for fabric and supplies. She suggested bringing my daughter in to try on wedding gowns so she could decide on the style of the dress. We made an appointment and the consultant was wonderful with her. After a couple of hours we finally selected our “inspiration” dress. The style was A-line with princess seams, a wrap around apron and royal train. My daughter loves to embroider and wanted an embroidered dress. (November 2007)

the inspiration dress

I found three dress patterns with the design elements we wanted. The next step was combining the pieces and fitting the pattern. I made a muslin mock-up of the dress and tweaked it until I felt good about the design and the fit. (January 2008)

Our next challenge was to find some-one to embroider the dress. We finally located a man in Ogden, Utah; Roger Johns of Peppermint Threads. He is a retired gentleman and does machine embroidery as a business to fill the hours of his retirement. Once I knew we had somebody to embroider I ordered the Satin.

I ordered 20 yards of Brilliant White Satin from Hancock’s Fabrics, I also ordered organza to serve as the underlining to give shape and form to the Satin. And I ordered the most buttery soft lining I’ve ever felt to line the dress. I also ordered the sundry items that go into making a good foundation, boning, ribbon for a waistline stay, horsehair for the hem, ball point needles, silk thread, hem clips, new ironing board covers (that were clean), hem clips and a wonderful little item I discovered for the first time-stay tape.

To prepare the dress for embroidery I had to lay each piece out on the Satin and hand stitch the outline so Mr. Johns would be able to see the piece he was working on. I also had to cut them into panels and apply 14” wide muslin strips around the outer edges to allow enough room for hooping and to help prevent fraying of the Satin. My daughter also had to select embroidery patterns and then make a paper mock-up of the design so Mr. Johns could reference it as he embroidered. This actually took quite a bit of time as my daughter played with the design. I think we finally took everything to him in May of 2008.

 

front

laying out the paper embroidery patterns on the muslin mock-up

back

He returned it to us in October of 2008. He was very proud of his accomplishment; it was his first “gigantic” embroidery project. He said he had put in ¼ of a million stitches. He also had to move from his regular work room into the garage to make room for manipulating the long panels. My daughter and I were both very pleased with the results.

 Mr. Roger Johns of Pepperming Threads the embroidery expert

Unfortunately the holidays were upon us and I knew I would not have time to sew. I baby sit for my girls daily so my time is pretty much consumed by the little ones. As an offering my daughters promised to leave me alone during Christmas break and let me sew.

here I am cutting out the embroidered panels

Which I did, I sewed like I was running a marathon—by the end of the two weeks I had the dress nearly finished. I had the hem and the bustling left to do. I also had made a couple of errors that I didn’t know how to fix and were really bugging me. So at that point I was glad Christmas break was over and I could put the dress away and do some thinking about the difficulties.


My daughter’s boyfriend came home at the end of January 2009, we decided it would be best if all sign of the dress were cleared away until he was used to being home again and he actually proposed. As soon as he proposed I had the dress out and finished it up over Spring Break. I fixed all but one of my errors—it was beyond me. I won’t say what it is because if I don’t point it out it’s unlikely that anyone will really pick up on it.


The dress is far from perfect, but for a first try it’s not too bad. I had never seen it from a distance. All of the rooms I had fitted her in were too small for me to back up and have a good look at it. So I was a little nervous for pictures. But once again I was happy. The Satin behaved beautifully and the fit was perfect. My daughter will be a stunning bride, on her important day.


It’s been a grand adventure. I feel like I’ve been going to school the past two years and sewing the wedding gown was my final. Maybe I wouldn’t get an A—but I’ll settle for a B+. My daughter loves it and that’s the most important thing. When we were taking pictures over the weekend a few women asked her where she had gotten her dress. She grinned a great big grin and replied, “My mom made it for me”. Suddenly it was all worth it.

the bride in her dress

details of the front


embroidery details on the apron


embroidery details on the side back skirt


top medallion center back on the train


embroidery detail of the train
(sorry for the quality of the picture)

  the back of the dress





Another shot of the Bride in her dress
the dress looked brilliantly white outside in the sunshine

I was featured in a sewing series by
Kelly at the Misadventures of Kelly and Kelly

you can read about the wedding here