18 Yards of Grey Silk Taffeta

If you have been reading this blog for the past few months, you may or may not remember me hinting ever-so-slightly at a big project I've been working on for the past six months.  (Here, for instance.)  Well, now that the H&M wedding has come and gone, all can be revealed...

I MADE THE BRIDESMAID DRESSES!!!

I told you it was big!  It all started with a little G-chat convo that went something like this:

12/8/2010

1:26 PM   Heidi:  i do have a question to ask you... you can say no.. and you can totally think about it.... and it wont hurt my feelings if you do say no. but i have been googling, and etsying, and i found one lady who could maybe do it, but i honestly feel like you could do a better job. i know it is a pretty big thing to ask you...but would you consider making the b-maid dresses?

1:27 PM   me: HECK TO THE YES

It's really hard to put into words how much it meant to me when she asked.  Just knowing that she believed in me enough that she knew I would be able to get this super important job done and get it done right was a huge boost in confidence.  When you have something you love to do and are passionate about and your friends support that - it's huge.  Of course I also wanted to help her out with her wedding in any way that I could, and especially since I was so far away and wouldn't be able to do any of the dress shopping, the decorations assembling, the looking at venues, etc., etc., I was so honored that this could be my contribution.

Obstacles like living thousands of miles away from the other bridesmaids, back problems, emergency room trips, broken zippers, and the extreme stubbornness of taffeta all tried to stand in our way, but the bride believe I could do it through it all, and by George, the job got done!

Each bridesmaid sent me a picture or two of an inspiration dress, and we worked together to tweak the details to be something that they really wanted.  Some stayed really true to the inspirations, and others only ended up resembling them, but here they are:

Dress #1
Bridesmaid:  M
Inspiration:  J Crew Wedding bridesmaid dress
Love how this dress turned out part cocktail dress, part Kelly Kapowski prom dress!

Dress #2
Bridesmaid:  A, Matron of Honor
Inspiration:  Simple Silhouettes Classic Bridesmaid collection
Sophisticated cut, and you can't see it very well, but this dress has a really cute pleating detail on the straps that I just adore.

Dress #3
Bridesmaid: K
Inspiration:  J Crew Wedding bridesmaid dress
So cute and sassy!  Plus K accessorized perfectly with a broach on the shoulder, which sadly you can't see either!

Dress #4
Bridesmaid:  P
Inspiration:  No clue where it came from, actually!
Loved the pleated waistband and the bust darts on this one.  Super flattering.

Dress #5
Bridesmaid:  C, Maid of Honor
Inspiration:  Again, don't know!  But I'm pretty sure it's actually a wedding dress
The V in the back is so classic, and the pleating on this skirt made it so full and fun.

Dress #6
Bridesmaid:  me
Inspiration:  I had one at one time, but the final result looked nothing like it!
My favorite part of mine actually was my belt, which I didn't even make!  Ha!  Cute straps in the back too.

None of us modeled our dresses with our hands in our pockets, but ALL the dresses had them!  A really cute pic from the professional photographer will eventually turn up that show them off :)

And here we are alllll together:

Whew!  I've spent so much of my sewing time the last 6 months on these dresses, I feel like I sort of made a little collection!  Can I count this as my first?  Now that it's all said and done, I'm definitely relieved I'm finally finished, but I also feel sort of amazed at myself when I look at this picture.  Like, I really did all that?!  Thank you so much for letting me do this for you, Heidi!

(And go visit C and K at Girls of the Wild Frontier!)