I’m using my Grandmas wedding dress to make my own, through deconstructing it and using the material to make a complete new dress.
The great thing about reusing materials is that they have a past and stories to tell before they can even start telling the stories yet to come.
My Grandma, Frances, was married to my Granddad, William, in June 1954
My Granddad and Grandma on their wedding day
Her dress was later altered for her sister, Joyce, to wear on her wedding day
Aunty Joyce (left) wears the wedding dress, altered for her, standing next to my Grandma (right)
And now, some 54 years after my Grandma first wore the dress, I’m working on making it into my own 🙂
I took some photos before I started cutting.
This is what I believe to be the front of the dress. I only say this because of the changing length of the skirt.Â
Button details on the back.
Button detail
cuff detail
zip detail
lace detail
The dress laid out
And with a deep breath, I took the first (of many) cuts into the dress…
This is the lace from the skirt. This is mostly what I have been working with. It was very delicate and had a few holes, so I decided to stitch it to tulle for strength and support.
I cut each pattern piece from tulle, then tacked it onto the lace before cutting it out.
This is a small sample I was looking at ideas for beading. I have decided to use glass seed beads and swarovski crystals to embellish the lace, as well as attach the lace to the tulle.
I don’t want to give too much away just yet, so i’ll leave you with that small taster of whats to come 🙂 I am excited to give you all a big reveal after the wedding!
Now I’m going back to stitching beads all over the lace!
Have a creative week!
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