dressy!

Do you want to hear the story of my wedding dress? It’s a pretty good one, I think!

once upon a time, I got engaged! it was awesome!

I had always wanted to make my own wedding dress, ever since I learned how to sew. but, the hubs and I decided that we only wanted to be engaged for ten weeks. that is not much time to construct a wedding dress in, even for a lead foot seamstress like myself.

however, something else I’ve done ever since I learned how to sew, is repurpose clothing! “repurposing” is a fancy-pants word I learned a few years ago that means “taking something old/ugly/out dated apart and turning it into something fabulous”. my mom liked to call it “WHY DID YOU CUT UP YOUR BEST PAIR OF JEANS AGAIN?!” while I was growing up 🙂

I somehow forgot that cutting old things up was something I liked to do [warning: stress can make you lose your identity sometimes], until I read this awesome book that this awesome friend passed on to me. [tangent: I still have it and would love to pass it on to you if you need it! hit me up! it’s lovely.]

There was an ENTIRE section about vintage dresses and re-working them and different suggestions. “HOLY COW THAT IS WHAT I DO ALL THE TIME WHY DID I NOT THINK OF THAT,” I thought. “THANK YOU FOR THE FABULOUS IDEA, BOOK!!”

I went to my dear Momma with this idea. and whaddya know, she actually HAD some vintage wedding dresses lurking in a craft supply bucket somewhere! I went on a hunt, and found them within five minutes. the first one I excavated??

THIS beauty. I fell in love with it! The lace, the creamy vintage color, everything….love. love love love. I could see so much potential in this little lady.

before I hacked it up, I brainstormed. then I woke up early one Saturday, grabbed the first sibling I could find [which happened to be the 10yr old brother] and said “Hey take a picture of me in this wedding dress!” oh that was one hilarious experience. his eyes got REALLY wide and he goes “….THAT is your dress??? Umm….okay…” and then he became the most serious little photographer I have ever met. until he accidentally switched my iPhone to the video setting.

I’ve actually gotten quite a few comments about how it’s too bad the 80s sleeves are out of style cause the original looks REALLY cute….yeah. Can’t say I agree 100%, but I still loved it all the same!

anyway. I slaved away, found parts of other wedding dresses we had lying around the house, invented fancy new ways to pin it all together [including this new method of stuffing your dress with blankets, sticking a Swiffer mop up the back, and propping it up on a chair in order to drape a perfect skirt….I call it the “I don’t have a dress form but what do I care?” technique [except that’s a little bit of a lie because I really really WOULD care to have a dressform…just in case you want to get me a birthday present or anything]]

…..And ended up with this!

It was lovlier than I ever imagined it could be. I was one happy camper.

and the best part?? my dress cost me less than $20 total. my Mom originally purchased the dress for about $5, the parts of other dresses I used were probably under $10, and the supplies I purchased were under $5. I don’t know if you get a thrill out of bargains like I do, but that just makes me all giddy!

so yes. that is my story of how a poofy-sleeved 1980’s gown was transformed into a lovely vintage-esque gown that was everything I ever wanted.