Tansy...the long distance bride

I've known Tansy since she was a very small girl in Wales. She'd moved to New York in 2001 and met a lovely man from Pennsylvania.

When she asked me to make her wedding dress I was delighted....but how was I going to do fittings between here and the States? Luckily, the style of dress she wanted meant that it was all perfectly possible (never say die)......so I asked her to send me her measurements and a perfectly fitting, nude bra.

She wanted lace. At the time I was living in rural Ireland. There was only one shop within 100 miles where I thought I could get some bridal lace, but knew it would be hideously expensive. Nowadays I'd turn to the web, but then, with steam-powered dial-up internet, buying things online was out of the question. 

So I took a trip to the city, and went to that one shop, and there was the perfect piece of lace...a 2.5 metre remnant at a totally bargain price. Can't remember how much it was, but definitely WAY cheaper than I had hoped. With a couple of metres of ivory habutai silk to line the dress, I was ready to start.

I didn't need a pattern or a toile for this one. I just built it onto the bra. 

Simples.

 The bodice half done. I pinned it all carefully onto the bra base, while it was on the dummy, then hand-stitched it all into place. Fiddly but satisfying.
I think the only bit of machine sewing was the long seams in the skirt lining. Otherwise the whole dress was hand sewn.

 

Finished bodice. I had to cut separate leaves from the scrap pieces of lace to then hand sew back around the edges of the bodice and along the straps.

Finished dress. A bit blurry, hanging in the (messy) workshop. The dangly bits at the side of the bodice are drapey little sleeve things.

 

Maybe not the best pic of the dress but my favourite of Tansy and Mike

The bridesmaids. Tansy missed the Welsh bluebell woods.

 I found this 2-tone blue-purple fabric....the exact colour of a bluebell.

 My lovely daughter Cass on the left, with Naomi and Lorelei.

 And yes, they are twins.

Tansy, Mike, and the dude that married them. 

Spring in the Pennsylvanian woods.

And the dress was a perfect fit, no fittings.

Result.