Making my wedding dress
Both the wedding and the dress were non traditional. My hope was to move through the entire process with intentionality, ease, and joy; making my dress and skipping shopping aligned perfectly and made it more of a celebration than a task to complete! I went in without a solid plan but had a few goals: maximize creativity, minimize consumption, and design something that made me feel like myself.
The pattern I settled on is pretty simple. I started with 4 yards of black and gold mesh lace from Etsy (image below) and developed the style and fit to showcase the gold patterning. The entire dress is made from a single 3 yard piece that was pinned, pleated, and sewn into place to create a open-front halter dress.
My aim was to play up the differences in weight within the embroidery, especially the delicate gold trim on the top of the dress against heavier stitching patterns on the bottom. I also wanted to emphasize contrast between the textures, using the my boots, the lace, and layers of necklaces as counterpoints.
Developing the pattern
To start, I wrapped the material around me like a bath towel and pinned the two top corners behind my neck. To create pleats fanning outward and minimize the volume of material along the neckline, I folded and pinned the mesh back and forth, adjusting the layers slightly lower each time (lower left photo). The gold trim on the mesh fabric created a delicate texture that layered nicely under my necklaces. To reinforce the stitches and support the weight of the mesh I used two thick pieces of black ribbon as backing. I made sure that the spacing of the pleats down the front of the dress were adjusted to my dimensions by sewing in a cinched horizontal black thread under the bust and another at the waistline. When the pleating and stitching was done, I sewed in a gold clasp where the two pieces of black ribbon met on the back of the neck.
Finishing touches
Adding a belt helped to keep the pleats flat down the front and the weight of the gold embroidery at the bottom smoothed the material even more, plus added a dreamy rippling effect with any movement. I used a black silk slip as a bottom layer, which allowed for the upper back of the dress to remain see through and emphasize the gold pattern. The pleating made the front of the dress completely opaque. All jewelry came from Etsy, except for the gold choker found in a local shop and the earrings, which were gifted on playa from Epiphany & Co.
