Made by a Fabricista's Daughter: Burgundy Bridesmaid Dress
Two of my favorite people had their wedding earlier this month. I was extremely excited and honored to be asked to be in their wedding party as a bridesmaid. They generously allowed a bring your own outfit with minimal criteria for the ladies - wine/burgundy in color, knee length. After looking through some patterns with my mom we found Vogue Misses Princess Seam V Neck Dress which had a flattering fit and flare style, had pockets, and could easily look dressy.
To fit the color criteria we looked to Fabric Mart. We found a beautiful burgundy satin and dark red lace with sequins (no longer available). I've been wanting to try to do a lace overlay for a few months now and this was a great opportunity. After a thinking through a couple of layout options, I decided to only do the overlay on the skirt, make the bodice with only satin, and tie it together with lace for the sleeves.
A new technique I learned while making this dress was how to hem a very large skirt! As a procrastinator, I decided to finish the hem the day before the wedding. My gift to the bride and groom was to make their wedding cake (also made the day before the wedding) so the hem got pushed back to midnight. At that point it "looked good enough" and I hand stitched every few inches with the full intention of coming back and fixing it at a later time. The day of the wedding alongside a pair of comfy shoes, I carried a spare pair of sewing scissors, thread, and a needle just in case any pieces got loose in the hem for a quick fix.
After the wedding I came back, undid the stitching, and put the dress on the dressform. Using a stick marked with a height relative to the ground I followed through to pin across the full skirt. This worked really well to get an even hem.
Additionally, I would like to share a photo of the cakes I made, and a picture of the couple from their big day! The cake is an almond flavored white cake, with an amaretto soaking and a fresh lemon curd. The cake toppers are an homage to their shared love of science mimicking elements from the periodic table, made by the bride. Both are PhD candidates in the sciences at University of Chicago. Here is the couple standing by Lake Michigan in Chicago's Hyde Park. Congratulations Ana and Emre!!!
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Posted on July 30 2016
Lovely dress. You look beautiful in it. And the cakes!
This was truly a very tricky dress to make, and you did a beautiful job with it! I love the cotton pique version as well.
All i can say is awesome!The dress and the cakes was very nice.
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