bridal gown – WeSewRetro.com

The great white dress

By Ewellyn on December 17, 2015

Hi all you wonderful crafting & sewing fellows!

It’s crazy, I haven’t posted anything in here for years, but the great big white deserves a mention, methinks 😉

My inspirations for this dress was all over the place. I was looking at Edwardian wedding gowns, 1930’s drapes and flowy sleeves, 1950’s circle skirts and 1970’s hippie layers and lace stuff… You can imagine the confusion and headaches I had over design choices!

In the end I went for a completely self drafted design, with added details from all the periods I was inspired by, and I think it worked pretty well! I used my standard bodice pattern for starters, cut it up to find the “perfect seam lines” (and of course that meant having a seven-piece bodice. Smart), and then made a few muslins to try to perfect it.

The skirt is four layers – four different fabrics – full circle.

For a bunch more pictures, come over here: http://sewewellyn.blogspot.se/2015/12/finally-wedding-dress-pictures.html

And here’s the post with some of my inspiration: http://sewewellyn.blogspot.se/2015/05/wedding-dress-inspiration.html

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1930s | Applique | Dresses | Vintage Sewing

My vintage inspired wedding gown

By candiceert on February 3, 2014

Let me preface this by saying that this is my first post to date! I’ve been sewing for a couple of years and this was actually the first dress I ever sewed.
When I got engaged, I jokingly considered “just making my own dress” as a way to ease the financial burden that a wedding can cause. However, the more I thought about it, the more intrigued I was by the idea. When I finally decided, it seemed like the world was against me. But, that really only fueled the fire. I had sewn shirts and skirts so I knew a dress couldn’t be any more difficult…and it really wasn’t. Except for the fact that I bought real silk which meant I couldn’t get even a drop of water on it.
I was mostly inspired by Madeleine Vionnet and her 1930’s bias cut gowns. I loved the soft and feminine look of the gowns and the non-corset bodice. The flouncy bottom of her dresses also drew me to that style. I flirted with the idea of learning to bias sew but quickly laughed that off.
The more and more I sewed my dress the more I wanted lace on it. At the same time, my mom was offering for me to wear her dress from 1980 (not to mention she’s a half foot shorter than me and about 3 dress sizes smaller). So instead I decided to use the lace from her gown and incorporate it in my own.
I also decided to make a detachable train which I am so glad that I did. It felt so nice dancing around without a train dragging me down.

Here are some more photos of the dress. I used the delicate lace to draft sleeves and finished it with a small scalloped edge. The front and back bodice incorporated both the delicate lace and the wider lace. I trimmed the bottom of my dress in the wider lace and the front opening and bottom of my train.

Here is when the train came off:

Also I used vogue v2931 and took in the panels on the train, took off the bow and straps, and took in the top of the sloth as well. I also separated the train to make it detachable.

PennyandMary and DIYbride posted about it if you’re interested.

Thanks and I hope you enjoy!

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