Anne's 52 Pick-me-up prompt this week, "Rococo" seemed like a good opportunity for me to show off one of my favorite sewing projects; my wedding dress. It's not quite as "frothy" as truly rococo gowns but close enough. Plus there's a good story to tell.
Originally my dress was going to be white brocade with a beautiful burgundy and gold embroidered ribbon as trim around the neck. I knew I didn't want white next to my face but thought I needed to stay within the convention of white for weddings. The ribbon would give me the color I wanted and needed against my skin.
So I bought the fabric and commissioned a seamstress to make the dress. This is where things started going wrong. At the first fitting I discovered that she had forgotten to put on a train and there wasn't enough fabric to re-cut the dress. Grumble! But life goes on and it wasn't really the end of the world, right? But seriously, what other occasion will I every have to wear a train? Then I took delivery of the dress and got it home and really looked at it. Stark white (why did I talk myself into that?), no train, and the neckline didn't fit the way I wanted it to. And then I discovered the the smudge. Seriously? Yup, the seamstress had managed to put a stain on the front of the dress.
Frustrated and slightly heartbroken I discussed the situation with my mom and Soon-to-be-Hubby and the decision was made that I really should go ahead and make the dress I really wanted. So with just 6 weeks left and limited funds, I was back at the fabric store. I was able to afford 5 yards of the tapestry plus the taffeta for the underskirt. Oh, and did I mention that I was still in college and finals were coming up? It is probably the most technically complicated thing I've ever made but I'm awfully proud of the end result. I mean look at how perfectly I lined up the stripes - chevrons for the win! So what if I was hemming it at my maid-of-honor's house the night before the wedding? It's a dress that I designed and made myself and it's exactly what I wanted.
Here's the entire wedding party. Geepers, we were young!
Thanks Anne, for the excuse to walk down memory lane!
Exquisite! You should rightfully still be chuffed with yourself! Lovely job and, yes, you do all look so young, but also so happy and so in love.
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What a creation and in six weeks, too! x
ReplyDeleteWow, what an amazing dress, I'm so pleased you were able to wear exactly what you wanted, even if it took a lot of work. I am outraged that the seamstress didn't make you a train and got a mark on your dress, that's really bad! This dress is way better than plain white though, so it worked out in the end. xxx
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