I love the idea of a wedding dress that can be worn in multiple ways. You put so much time and money into your dress, why not wear it more than once? I got to wear mine twice since I had weddings in both Japan and the U.S., but since then the dress has been abandoned in the back of my closet.
I worked with a bride this summer to make a dress that can be worn in three different ways. The first one is the simple strapless mini dress. The bride had in mind that she would be wearing this to go to weddings or events in the future. Then for her actual wedding, we came up with the idea of making a tulle skirt that can be worn on top of the mini dress. To change it up for reception, I also made a peplum top in matching sheer lace fabric.
The above is the inspiration image for the dress. It is in peach color but since we found this gorgeous gold lace fabric, we decided to go with it. They sell it in white and black as well. The fabric is very delicate and pretty. I was scared to put the shears through for fear of cutting a wrong piece or the tip of the shears poking through the lace. 
This is what it looks like inside before the lining was attached. Instead of using fusible interface, I used muslin fabric as the interface. This is my favorite method for wedding dresses, as you can use the muslin for the fitting, which is thread traced for the sewing lines. I stitch the muslin on satin each one by hand. This takes a long time! Also the bra cups are catch stitched, neckline is reinforced with twill tape and all the seam allowances are pressed and catch stitched to the muslin fabric. 
We decided to go with laced up back instead of zipper or fabric covered button since the bride just had a baby and her sizes were changing. I am happy with our decision since it is less stressful for both of us not to have to worry about the small size changes. Also this way, she can wear the dress for other occasions in the future.
When you see the ready-to-wear wedding dresses or rental wedding dresses in Japan, they usually use big white bra hooks looking things to lace up the back. I went to Okadaya in Shinjyuku and asked if they have the same notion, but they did not have it. They recommended using metal eyelet, but they are silver and did not look right on delicate gold lace. I decided to buy the bra hook and eye set and just use the eye part (talked about it in this video). I used 13 in total. It worked well since the satin ribbon I used for the lace up was thin. The eyes don’t really show in the right side of the fabric, and I was pleased with the result. 
Lots of hand sewing involved!
The bridal sash was ordered at Garter Queen on etsy. I ordered the color which look the closest to the dress, but the one that arrived look slightly different from the satin ribbon I used for the lace up back. So I ended up making a trip back to Okadaya and picked up the wide width satin ribbon that matched perfectly, and glued the pearl and crystal part to the ribbon.
Check out this page to see the bride’s wedding pictures!
