My stepdaughter got married in February of this year, and I have to credit StashHub for keeping me organized and sane throughout the entire “making” process. She asked me to create custom dresses for her three flower girls complete with embroidered tulle skirts, coordinating ties for the ushers and ring bearer, and a matching bridal veil with the same embroidery. Then I also needed to make my own attire for both the wedding and the rehearsal dinner, and I sewed up a lingerie set for her bridal shower.
Keeping track of all those projects, in their varied states of completion, for eight different people, through toiles, embroidery, sewing, fittings, and finishing with yards upon yards of expensive fabric … I couldn’t have done it without StashHub. You saved my sanity, and my marriage, and made my stepdaughter one ecstatic bride.
The flower girls’ dresses were a custom design sewn in ivory and dusty rose satin, ivory voile with something like 2.5 million stitches of custom embroidery, along with layers of tulle netting. The embroidery design isn’t one I would have chosen (I’m a fan of delicate flowers myself) but it was what the bride specifically picked out.
A detail you can’t see in these photos - the girls dresses had a split cape on the back to emulate fairy wings, as they were actually her “flower fairies” - they waved wands with streamers instead of tossing flower petals.
The ushers got matching ties made from the remnants of the pink satin, and the ring bearer’s tie got the added embroidery motif to match the flower girls.
The bridal veil was a very simple shape, but she wanted more embroidery to match. The colored embroidery looked stunning against her ivory dress.
My dress for the rehearsal dinner was a little offbeat, but they held the dinner at a video arcade so it fit in. I used the Stanwyck Dress for the skirt, the Anni Bodice for the top, and the neckline from the Carmen Bodice, all from Charm Patterns.
The wedding ceremony was outdoors … in February. Which in DFW means it’s either a balmy 60 degrees or we’re under 3" of ice. Not knowing which we’d have, I sewed a jacket to wear atop my dress using the Lillian Jacket from Charm Patterns and a stunning (and expensive!) metallic brocade from Mood Fabrics.
It ended up being 60 degrees and sunny and the jacket didn’t leave the bridal suite. I’ll have to find another occasion to wear it…
My gown was a floor-length shelf bodice based on the Liz Dress from Charm Patterns. It took me no less than 6 rounds of toiles to get the pattern properly adjusted and fit (I have a nearly 10" difference between my high bust and full bust, so it took a LOT of work) but it was so so SO worth it in the end. This is made from a Mazarine Blue Satin from Mood, and has a 6" horsehair braid hem. My one regret is that I didn’t line the skirt, and my painstaking hand-sewn blind hem is visible as teeny tiny dimples on the satin. I should have known better…
And that’s not including the foundation garments I sewed for myself, including a waist cincher (my first time working with spiral steel boning!).
Seriously … I couldn’t have done it without the help of StashHub. Thank you for this amazing, invaluable tool! I won’t sew without it.
, we’ll done!