Bridesmaid Dress Collection: Karen

Last fall when I was still pregnant, I was sewing up a storm of bridesmaid dresses, and here's one more collection I haven't documented yet!

Karen wanted a black dress similar to this David's Bridal dress but liked the idea of having the dresses custom-made for each girl instead, which is where I stepped in, of course!

The prettiest feature of these dresses are definitely the neckline.  I based them on Sewaholic's Lonsdale Pattern but created a loop for the strap (which I also thickened by a few inches) to thread through instead of having the straps tie at the neck.

The other features - the cummerbund waistband and the pleated skirt - I created my own pattern for and then pieced it altogether. 

Since these dresses are made from black satin (basically the most classic bridesmaid fabric of all time, right?), they are (hopefully) timeless (let's check back in 10 years and see if they look obviously out-of-date!), and I loved the elegance the neckline added to an otherwise fairly simple dress!

Here's a pic I very creepily stole from Facebook - looked like a very fun group of gals!

Bridesmaid Dress Collection: Catherine

I have yet another collection of bridesmaids I made for a wedding this fall!  These beauties were for Catherine's October wedding, and how perfect is this shade of red for an autumn wedding?!

Catherine had several details in mind that she knew she wanted included in the dress - the rounded square neckline, a wide, cummerbund-like waistband, and box pleats on the skirt.  We worked together to combine them all together into one dress, and these are the result!

Classy AND classic - I just loved the way these turned out and how gorgeous they look on every girl.  I have to admit:  these are possibly my favorite bridesmaid dresses I've made yet!

Bridesmaids Dress Collection: Alex

Alex's black and white wedding was the perfect picture of elegance.  We collaborated on this dress design for something timeless and classic.  I have truly no idea what possessed me to not take any other pictures of this dress besides the one below (silly me!), but the base of the dress was satin with an organza overlay, and also had a thin fabric belt with a fabric flower attached.  The end result was more put together than this single photo I have appears!

I also must mention that these dresses were quite the adventure/sewing lesson/patience tester in working with a delicate fabric like organza (uh, fellow sewists, rolled hems?  The worst).  As usual, though, all was worth it in the end for this pretty result!

Bridesmaids Dress Collection: Julia

Months and months ago, I hinted at this bridesmaid dress collection I made for a wedding in May.  So happy to be catching up over here and revealing it now!

Julia had a specific vision in mind for her bridesmaid dresses that would use a cotton print she had already fallen in love with.  We designed the rest of the dress around using that print for both the waistband and a band around the bottom.  The neutral grey of the main fabric allowed the print to be the star of the proverbial show, and I love how flattering the cut of this dress ended up looking on each and every girl.

It looks like it was such a happy, happy day, and what an honor to play a very small part in those memories!

Bridesmaid Dress Collection: For Hannah!

I had the absolute honor of making the bridesmaid dresses for a wedding this summer (last summer, I made Heidi's!).  The new Mr. and Mrs. Lesley (you know Hannah from her blog heart to heart) got married in an outdoor ceremony on a beach last month, and it was g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s, to say the least.


Hannah chose deep purple for the dress color and sent me an inspiration picture for the style, so I can't take any credit for the design of these dresses, but I love the way they turned out.  It's amazing how the style seems to perfectly suit all 7 of the girls!  Here are the sewing stats:

Fabric:  Poly Matte Jersey in Amethyst from Fabric.com (still 8 yards left!)
Pattern for one-shoulder top and ruffle:  Burdastyle 7549
The rest of the dress:  I just figured it out :)


Hannah and all her girls were really a dream to work with.  Even through all the bumps and obstacles that come with living across the country from the person making your dresses (measurements, fittings - it gets tricky!), each one was so patient with me and immensely helpful in getting each dress just right for each girl.

(All photos by Steve Willis photography) 

I also just had to include this shot from their ceremony.  Those storm clouds rolling in overhead make such a spectacular backdrop to an already gorgeous setting.  Amazing, isn't it?  I feel like it's God saying, "Look, I'm right here with you guys!"

Hannah has been writing the most amazing posts recapping their wedding, and it ain't over yet!  Make sure to take a visit - your heart will thank you.

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!)