I worked on a wedding dress last winter and I can finally reveal the details now that the bride is married! I was very excited about this dress. It is dainty and romantic. I would wear this for my own wedding! I’m thinking of writing a three or four part series, showing the process of making this made-to-order dress.
01.
Fining Inspirations – What’s the common element that you keep coming back to?
When I work with a bride, we always start with collecting images and sketches. We use Pinterest secret board for this. With secret board, other people cannot what you pinned in the board, so you don’t have to worry about revealing the dress details before the wedding ceremony. I asked her to pin anything that drew her attention. When you look back at the board, you find that there are recurring themes, some design elements you keep coming back to. I write down those in bullet points. For this particular dress, it was “mermaid”, “back V”, “short sleeves”, “lace” and “sweep length train”. Some design element might fight each other, then I talk to a bride that it is possible that these two designs might not go well together and ask her the one she want to prioritize. People tend to jam everything in a design, since it is something you can do because of the nature of “order-made”. But it is important to figure out good balance as well. I find this collecting images process is crucial.
02.
Sketching
Once I have a list of design elements that we want to incorporate in a dress, I sketch. This is actually my least favorite part because I don’t particularly enjoy sketching as an activity, but I am learning to be better at it by doing it often. This process should not be skipped for two reasons – First, it provides the opportunity to imagine the step-by-step sewing process. Some of the questions I ask myself during this process are, “where should a zipper go?”, “what kind of lining should I use?”, “how much would this tulle skirt stretch down if I apply beaded lace at hem?”, “how much fabric do I need” etc. Second reason is to be on the same page with bride. What I’m thinking might not communicate to a bride well without having it in a concrete form, sketch.
03.
Choosing fabric
I often use Etsy and Mood Fabrics to source fabrics, especially for lace. I can find satin, tulle, organza and chiffon in Tokyo, but good lace for a reasonable price is hard to come by here. I got samples for three different laces for the bride thsi time – delicate Chantilly lace, classical cord lace and playful tulle lace. During the muslin fitting, we took a look at the samples together to decide which one to go with.
Next post, I will be writing about a muslin and muslin fitting!
Price list for made-to-order wedding dress can be found here.
Table of Content
Chantilly Lace Wedding Dress Part 1 (6/6/2018)
01. Finding Inspirations
02. Sketching
03. Choosing Fabric
Chantilly Lace Wedding Dress Part 2 (6/13/2018)
from left to right
We picked this ivory tulle lace. Since finding good quality lace is rather difficult in Japan, I bought this on etsy. Ivory has more casual feel to it than pure white, which is what she was going for in her wedding. The scalloped edge will be used for the hem of the dress and V neckline.
Every wedding has its story – My latest bride, Erina wanted to have her wedding to include her mom’s dress. She inherited her dress from her mom who had passed some years ago. She told her wedding planner, no other details are important except for the fact that she can wear her mom’s dress. Because she is pregnant, some dress shops declined to refashion it for fear of improper sizing.
