Monday, June 29, 2009

Wedding Gown

I'm making my daughters wedding gown. I'm very excited - also nervous and happy at the same time. I made my own wedding gown a long time ago; gowns were not nearly as involved back then. My daughter tried on gowns to see what she liked. She loved those that had lace over a heavier silk and lining -  so far, so did mine,  but then there was boning in the top,  2 horsehair slips and an underslip - not on mine.
    Jill and I went over to a well known and huge fabric store in NC, known for their bridal fabric. They had lots of rolls of lace but not enough of any one kind and not getting anymore in. A very helpful salesperson told us of a store in Asheville that carried bridal fabric. We had just come from Asheville, so back home we went to find - House of Fabrics. It's a small store with beautiful fabric. The bridal section was very small but again, everything luscious!  A tiny case held their imported lace and I thought no way will they have what we want. Lucille - the owner, pulled out lace, held it up and it was perfect. Our excitement was overwhelming. Alencon lace runs 72" wide with borders down each side. The other fabric in the picture is a heavy silk charmeuse which will probably be the underskirt.
It's a heavily corded lace but still very soft to use as a "whole cloth". Lucille gave us a small piece to bring home - to love, and love it we do.
There are no obvious seams in wedding gowns made with this lace. One of the ladies who works at House of Fabrics is an expert in wedding gown construction and will hold your hand throughout the process.  Guess where I'll be spending a lot of my time.
It will be a challenge and happy time for all, I'm sure!

3 comments:

  1. how wonderful that you are doing this for your daughter! I do hope that you will share pics with us (hint hint). I loved the sunset photos - beautiful!

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  2. I am trying to find a bridal fabric shop somewhere between Greenville, NC and Charlotte, NC. I need to make flower girl dresses and am interested in a brocade/jacquard in white. Any good ideas?

    Thanks

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  3. Karen, I hope you find my reply...not sure where to reply to when someone asks a question. You asked for the name of a bridal fabrics store for flower girl dresses. The only one I can think of in that area is Mary Jos www.maryjos.com They have a huge bridal dept...but if they don't have what you want, consider mail order from Thai silk in California.800-722-silk or www.thaisilks.com They have every kind of silk imaginable and you can get samples before you buy yardage. all of it comes in white as well as colors..they do have taffeta brocades as well as jacquards..think that's what you wanted..hope this helps and let me know how you do...Judy

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