As some of you may know I recently teamed up with Kim from Hermia's Wishes to create The Vintage and Handmade Bride and together we have been crazy busy....
Now despite having packed up my work room to create little Caleb's "nursery" (and I use that word very loosely as apart from a bassinette and a change table there is absolutely nothing nursery like about the poor fellas makeshift bedroom!) I was clever enough to keep my machines and basic sewing bits and pieces handy as I thought I wouldn't be able to resist dabbling in a bit of sewing myself while on maternity leave.
It has paid off as Kim approached me recently to ask where she could find a cute 50s inspired dress for a photo shoot that her and her hubby are doing with Feather and Stone next month. She had searched high and low and just couldn't find a dress that she loved. Of course I couldn't help myself and had to offer to create a custom dress especially for the occasion.
As of today I've cut and sewn the main dress fabric and next is to cut and sew the lining, add the zip and hem the dress. Until it's complete I thought I'd share the dress inspiration and fabric that Kim chose and will then share the gorgeous images of Kim all frocked up in her shoot in the coming weeks!!!
Kim had come across images of a pale yellow cotton wedding dress that I had made for a Melbourne bride Fiona:
(images by Steph Tout)
This dress was based on a Vintage Vogue reprint pattern V2903 which is still available through Vogue Patterns:
For both Fiona and Kim's dresses I've lengthened the short sleeve slightly (more so on Fiona's dress) and added a cute little cuff. The original pattern has this odd arrangement where the sleeves attach to the inner yoke at the top of the shoulder but attaches to the main dress under the arm. I've never been a fan of this so for my dresses I have amended the sleeve so that its all sewn to the main dress. I also haven't sewn the pleats into the skirt so it looks more like a simple circle skirt.
Kim has chosen a gorgeous cream coloured seersucker cotton (see below) for her dress that has dark yellow, almost orange coloured polka dots scattered all over it, and for a but of a contrast the sleeve cuffs and the inner neckline insert are a plain cream cotton. I'm also considering either having a cream grosgrain ribbon around the waist or making a simple waist band in the cream cotton to keep the fun contrast going.
Will post some pics of the completed gown in the coming weeks!
More of my custom designs can be found in the Bridal section of my website