Custom Dressmaking Video

Here is my first ever video with Peer Canvas.  This video gives a little insight into what I do - bringing a dress from concept to creation.  I love what I do, and I'm honored to work with other artists who appreciate my work.  It is always a pleasure working with Marjorie and Brenton of Peer Canvas.  They understand the creative process and their pictures and videos show just how magical the experience of wearing a fairy tale gown can be.

The gown I am working on in this video is a chiffon a-line gown with hand - beaded detailing on the bodice.  My favorite part of making this gown was the bead work.  I hand drew the design and embroidered the "stems" of the design by machine.  I hand beaded the floral and leaf details using a combination of seed beads, pearls, and faceted beads in silver.  

The Shapely Form

My Gothic Queen gown was included in a beautiful Etsy treasury which celebrates the shapely form us women are fortunate enough to posess. Check out the link below for some lovely inspiration.

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/NzU5NDc2Mnw0NzIxMDg2NjI/the-shapely-form

A beautiful and inspiring treasury

My Gothic Queen gown was included in one of the best Etsy treasuries I've seen.  If you want to be truly inspired by some rockin' gowns check out the link below.

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4dc136ae71f96d91cc8a1b2f/gothic-evening-dresses-of-frills-and#4dc1bb5175dd8eefe446125b

The making of a dress - getting started

Are you ready to create a fabulous gown?  You might be wondering, where do I start?  Well, let's take this slow and explore all the options.  I will center this project around the idea of creating a bridal gown, but really, this process applies to any sewing project and certainly any dress design. 

Start by gathering pictures of gowns you like.  Whether you are inspired by the sleeve of one dress and the hem detail of another,  you should collect anything at all that interests you and make a clipping file.  This means compiling all of your ideas in one central location whether that is a fancy scrap book style page or just a spare folder.  It is so helpful to focus on what you like the most and to weed out any ideas that are lovely, but don't quite make the cut.  Review this file as many times as you wish, feel free to add any other ideas that come along and eliminate what no longer is in the running.

A great determining factor is the silhouette of gowns you are attracted to.  Silhouette refers to the shape the skirt takes in relation to how it falls on the body. 

Here are the basic silhouettes :


Ballgown  - A dress style with a very full skirt that flares out from the waist.

Aline - This style has a gradual flare that creates an "A" shape.

Straight - The skirt falls evenly around the body

Trumpet - The skirt flares from the upper thigh or the knee

Mermaid - The skirt flares at a lower point than the knee

These terms will come in helpful and are only guidelines as to dress silhouette styles.  There are many variations of these styles but this is a good foundation and will help you better communicate to the sales staff who will be trying to narrow down your search for you. 
Keep looking through those bridal magazines and have fun in the process!  Next we will discuss the pros and cons of a strapless gown.

The making of a dress - overview

When I was a young bride and planning my wedding, I wanted my dress to be really spectacular.  I had big plans and even bigger dreams - but I had to do it all on a very tight budget.  So I took inventory of what I had to work with.  Sewing skills - check, money - some, imagination - check, determination - double check!

Here is the result:

I designed my own gown based off the skills I was learning while earning my fashion design degree.  I took elements that were important to me in what I wanted in a gown and combined them.  I used my pattern drafting skills to create the pattern but there are a number of patterns on the market that can be altered into the style that suits you.  The biggest mistake I made was not giving myself enough time to feel calm in the process.  I think that is important.  You don't want any negative energy in the planning of your wedding.

So, am I recommending that a bride take on the extra job of creating her own bridal gown on top of everything else she has to do,  well - yes!  If you are even thinking that this is an option for you, and your wedding is well enough in the future,  it is atleast worth the time to research this option. In these tutorials I will be encouraging you to go out into the bridal shops and try dresses on to see what fits and flatters you best.  If, in the process you meet up with your dream dress - congratulations!  There are beautiful dresses available to purchase out there - you may even want to buy an already made gown and change things up a bit. Whatever you choose, I hope my advice can be found helpful.  You can save a lot of money and be extremely proud of the result. 

As complicated as making a bridal gown seems and admittedly can be, the whole process can be broken down and completed in steps.  Give yourself plenty of time and enjoy the journey.  You are gauranteed that no one else will ever have a dress like yours!

Satin

I've decided to share a picture of a gown I did as a custom piece for a beautiful bride.  This was a ballgown done in silk satin with a removeable train.  I created a custom embroidery and beadwork design for this gown.  It is truly one-of-a-kind.

Unintentional blog break

My apologies for a week or so off.  I had some emergency sewing to do for an event that my family was to attend and my daughter and I needed formal dresses.  So, I dove into my stash and cozied up to my sewing machine for a while.

Here are the results...


This is myself and my cutie daughter, Lily, in our new gowns. 

Lily's dress was made out of royal purple satin.  It had a criss cross back and a circular skirt with black crinoline underskirt.

My gown was done in purple tissue taffeta.  It has a sweetheart neckline and was embellished with vintage black chantilly lace. 
I am most proud of the fact that I did not purchase anything to make these dresses except for 1 zipper.  All the other materials I had left over from previous projects.  Yay for upcycling!

The Cha-Cha dress

I LOVE these shots! This was included in the summer photo shoot and I am very happy with the results!  This dress was made from repurposed satin from a forgotten bridesmaids gown and repurposed crinoline.

My fabulous brides

Here is one of my gorgeous clients, Channing, in her custom designed bridal gown.  Channings' gown was an aline style with a chapel train and empire waist.  Her bodice featured a modified sweetheart neckline and off the shoulder 3/4 length sleeves.  The dress was created in matte ivory satin and was embellished with hand stitched alencon lace with pearl beading.  A custom veil of ivory tulle trimmed in satin ribbon completed her bridal look.

Here are some more pictures of my recently finished gowns. 

Lyon lace detail on silk satin gown with tulle trumpet skirt

This is an example of lace done my own way. I purchased this lace in the yard, removed the sequins and pearls that I didn't care for, cut out each motif individually, and placed them on this gown as I saw fit. Then, I added some lovely vintage beads that were in my collection and made this gown truly one of a kind.

A fabulous week!

This week had me busy with preparations for a mini photo shoot. So much fun, with great pictures to follow! Here's a preview.......

The skirt on the new gown went well today. I underlined the satin and assembled the lining. All seams are finished. Now comes the business of redesigning the bodice. My original bodice plan was unsuccessful. Well, that is not unusual. I like to change things as I go along. I'm sketching a few bodice options now and I think I've settled on something that will utilize a lovely silver lace I've had waiting.

A Growing Collection of Bridal Gowns

New Gowns to come

2010 will be the year filled with many new designs and lots of inspirations. I've been very inspired by architecture and lacemaking recently - my gowns will reflect this in the beadwork and embellishments.

Sweet 16 gowns

Satin and Lace gown

Velvet Mermaid gown

A lovely bridal gown

A formal bridal gown