December wedding maid

Materials

Dress: French ribbon fabric- possibly cotton rayon blend, Silk organza, Cotton lining, pearl buttons, zip, Gutemann thread. Belt & flowers: Scraps of dress fabric & dupion silk, Silk velvet ribbon, Swarovski crystals & pearls, brooch pin.

What was your inspiration?

We had a bit of a Vintage 50's feel for our wedding, so I picked out 5 patterns from my collection that I thought would complement my dress.
Without having seen my dress, Emily chose a pattern that was virtually identical to mine!
I purchased the overlay fabric in the fabric district of Paris on my study tour last summer & the cornflower blue stripe really was the basis for the colour theme for the rest of the wedding. Once again it was purchased on a whim, not knowing what I would make.

What are you most proud of?

Making something that Emily loved, even though she never wears dresses.


Also It was only 45 euro($55) for the 3.5m piece of fabric, so pretty cheap for bridesmaid fabric. I already had the silk organza, buttons & velvet ribbon, so I only had to purchase a couple of metres of cream cotton for the lining & underskirt.

What advice would you give someone starting this project?

This is quite an easy pattern, but it's the finishing details that can really make it a stunner.
I made a toile of the under bodice to get the fit right, but the overlay was simple, & easy to tweak. I just hand tacked it to do a first fitting.
If using stripes, take the time to match your pattern correctly, it will make it a quality garment if they all line up. I was turning the skirt every which way to get them to match on the seams & then I still cut two right back skirts(even with 30 years sewing experience you still make silly mistakes). Luckily I had enough fabric to cut another back left skirt.
I also used less fullness in the ruffle as it was a folded piece of silk organza instead of a soft tulle.