Hey, Neda here.

This wedding gown was for one of my only customers that had no idea what type of wedding dress she wanted. She was like a blank page and left herself completely in my hands.

She told me she was on a diet and would be losing 20 pounds by the wedding day.So I sketched the silhouette that I was going to drape and some lace samples.

The lace was knitted, glass beaded, and one of the most beautiful lace that I worked on.It was super beaded, so it meant every piece of the top layer had to be hand sewn.

She was tall, 5’ 10” , size 12 and was trying to get to size 8, with a DD cup that was going to be full D.Built in corset was a must.

I draped the corset, made out of light-weight non stretchy sturdy lace and satin, and added a strong stretchy panel at the center back on two sides. I built a D cup wired bra without padding, and added 3 rows of hook closure for adjustments at the back. So the corset could be smaller when needed. By the way, I always drape long corsets,  I hardly use half body corsets, unless it’s for pregnant clients, empire silhouettes, or big ball gowns.

After building a corset foundation and finalizing it, I draped the skirt and the train first.And sew the skirt (not the top layer lace – that comes later) and the lining out of 100% Silk Crepe and 100% Silk Charmeuse. I added a strong YKK EXCELLA zipper (couture line for ykk zippers). Also added a zipper fly to hide the zipper.

After the first fitting of the corset and the skirt is confirmed, I attach the fully sewn skirt (without lace) to the corset and clean finish the whole thing.At this point I even hand sew the hems and close the lining so no raw edges are invisible.

I cut my actual lace and another light lace to place it under the actual lace. This gives a dimension to top layer lace. Now on lace pieces everything has to be sewn by hand.

I started to cover the corset with the first thin layer of French Lace and added little appliques.

I draped my sleeves, and transferred to a lace piece. I didn’t have a great amount of lace, and she really loved this lace so I had to use even the smallest amount and be very careful with cuts and not make any mistakes. The sleeves needed at least 2 yards by itself. And since it was almost like a half-circle shape, I had to add two pieces for each sleeve and hand sew the lace with no seam trace. I did the same technique when I added the trims at the edge of the sleeve and hem of the lace skirt.

I french tacked the top lace skirt to the underskirt. I added a 3-inch horsehair braid to the bottom of the lace hem at the back, to keep the tail from folding and bunching up.

I had this gorgeous lace with soft feathers that I bought from London. It had this 1920’s style and it worked perfectly for her wedding theme. I cut all the pieces and used it as an appliqué for the veil.

I hope this is helpful and/or inspiring!

And I’d gladly answer any questions you might have.

Cheers 🙂