Pages

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

A dress for a spring evening wedding


Perhaps you thought I didn't finish my dress in time for the wedding? Well, you would be nearly correct! I decided the night before we left that I had put it off for too long, but I gave it a shot anyways and I made it pretty quickly.

I wanted to have a very simple style because the fabric is so intense alone. It is a pale pink-grey poly tulle with tulle rosettes sewn all over it. I bought it at Jo-Ann when it was half off. I went up to Vogue fabrics in Evanston to find the right shade of Bemberg lining. One of the saleswomen was really helpful; we determined that none of the shades really matched, but she suggested going with the closest to my skin tone after I told her the style dress I was going to make. She was definitely right and it is a good match.
At the wedding
For the actual sewing, I made a strapless bodice from the lining using the front bodice of my Cambie pattern and the back bodice of my Lonsdale pattern, so that was easy. Then for the overlay, I used the back bodice from the Cambie pattern and just trimmed off the cap sleeves. I sewed the shoulder seams and then shaped the sides to fit without darts, since they would show through the sheer fabric. This only worked because I am so flat chested now. 
I am standing oddly, it doesn't have a big fold down the middle.
The skirt and the lining are just one piece cut lengthwise from the fabric to avoid seams. I sewed the lining and tulle together in the side seams and attaching the skirt so it wouldn't show through. I put in a side zipper by hand on the left side and whip stitched the neckline and armholes by hand. I hemmed it on the machine and it's really not noticeable. 
Add caption
So even with the crazy fabric, overall it is fairly neutral and subdued. I wore these skin colored shoes. The wedding was in Manhattan at a Greek Orthodox church and the reception was there too. It was fun and we got to see two friends from college get married; actually they started dating just a few months before we did when we were all studying abroad in Paris! At this wedding at least we could say we're engaged finally. At the last few weddings so many people were asking and it was awkward. I mean we have been dating for seven years, but what's the rush?
Here is a close-up of the fabric and you can just see the lining underneath. 

Anyways, it was a fun wedding and I am happy with the dress, though I don't know when I would wear it again!

19 comments:

  1. Very pretty, that dress literally looks like "icing"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks! I JUST found your blog today thru Dibs and added it, how funny!

      Delete
  2. It's beautiful! Perfect for a wedding.

    You could always dress it down with colorful shoes & accessories. Or even a black belt would look nice. The neutral color with all that texture is super versatile, I think it would look just as good casual as it does for being wedding appropriate :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. It looks great. Maybe you can turn it into a separate top and skirt to make it easier to wear again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm too lazy for that, but it's a good idea!

      Delete
  4. This si gorgeous! The skin tone lining did work perfectly. Have you decided on your wedding dress yet? :]

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well I need to make a test version of both, so I think I will start there. Maybe one of the tests will be "it" and the other could be for the rehearsal dinner?

      Delete
  5. How beautiful is this dress! I love the neutral tones and the style is gorgeous...perfect for a wedding, but I also agree with Lauren that you can wear it more casually too!

    ReplyDelete
  6. BEAUTIFUL...as always! That looks really well made and I'm glad you got a salesperson who knew something about sewing, it's always a pleasure when you stumble across one. I hope you do wear this dress again, I like the suggestion of a black blet, add black high heels for evening and I think it would look very sophisticated.

    ReplyDelete
  7. *belt...I don't know what a blet is!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow, really beautiful dress. You did a wonderful job frankenpatterning it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks and Tasia's patterns made it really easy!

      Delete
  9. I think it would look great as separtaes too.
    The top with jeans, the bottom with a little knit top.

    Very jealous of you being able to wear such dimentional clothing, you skinny minx!

    ReplyDelete
  10. How fabulous!! Love that you made such a classy and stylish dress out of that fabric - and bravo on tackling that lining! That is a fabulous picture of you two, by the way :)

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for your thoughts and feedback!