It was never part of the plan to make my sister’s wedding dress, let alone two!

When she first started planning back in February for a small garden wedding to be held in June, we had totally decided on buying an outfit. The wedding fell exactly 4 weeks before my masters research project was due to be handed in and 6 weeks after my first high pressure exam in over a decade and I just wasn’t sure I’d have the time to commit to making it.

My sister had found a designer she liked, so off we went to try on wedding outfits. But whilst they were nice enough (and let’s face it, Cat looks good in EVERYTHING), none of them really hit the mark the way we wanted it to.

I knew the look she wanted and knew none of the store bought outfits would really do the trick without lots of alterations – being short is not a good idea in the wedding industry!

So I started out offering to make a top to go with an off the rack silk skirt she bought. The blouse making part went well but then we hated the skirt how the RTW skirt went with it, so I offered to make the skirt… She had also picked out that Self Portrait dress (linked to the lime one but would’ve bought the white version) to wear for the reception which to be fair looked lovely but honestly at that point I just thought I could do a better job so ended up offering to make that too! I really have no one to blame but myself for the workload here… 😂

The inspo for the registry out were the two piece outfits from Catherine Deane – really luxe lacey and embellished blouses and swishy skirts. It fit the vibe as it was a casual-ish event but gave a bit of glam too! (Honestly I think she’d have bought it there if the fit was just right but once you start adding on alterations it just didn’t seem worth it…)

We started out with the fabrics and went on a trip to Walthamstow’s Fabric Textile Central, a shop full of bridal lace that I’d been dying to have a reason to shop at. We picked out a sparkly, heavily embroidered design with an intricate grid background for the ceremony outfit.

The skirt fabric was bought from a random online shop after lots and lot and lots of sample purchases. It was surprisingly difficult to get that just right! We ended up with a heavy double faced satin from White Lodge Fabric which had a lovely weight and drape to it.

The top was drafted from a darted woven tee pattern, the sleeve adapted to a little cap and then cropped to length. I added a keyhole in the back neck for the opening with a little self covered button. I used the scalloped edge of the lace for the hem which saved me the hassle of figuring out how to finish the hem! The neckline and sleeve edges were finished with bias binding made from the skirt fabric.

I did toile this to ensure the right size/ fit. Luckily, my sister is a perfectly proportioned size 6 so I really just had to adjust the length to hit her waist just right!

The long skirt was drafted using her waist and hip measurement. I created 7 large A line panels that would end up fitting snugly at the waist with a centre back seam. We added pockets (of course!) as well as a long split on the left leg and closed it with an invisible zip.

I actually didn’t toile the skirt and relied on good measurements to make sure it fitted well. I figured it’s an A line skirt, how off could it really go?

Anyway, it turned out pretty well in my opinion! And most importantly, she was happy with it! I wish we’d gotten more photos of the finished product on the day. There were, of course, plenty of photos of the bride and groom but I just wanted a few that really showed off the outfit too! 😅. I’d forgotten how crazy busy weddings are – especially when you’re self catering a lot of it!

All in all, it didn’t take me more than a few hours to complete this. Maybe a full day’s sewing split over a few sessions? I’m glad I did it as it was extremely satisfying to do and I can now say I’ve made both my sisters’ wedding dresses! (I’m also extremely lucky that my sisters are super chill and are the easiest brides ever!)

Wedding Dress 2 blog post coming soon!