Beaded lace bridal hair piece

One great pleasure for anyone who does any sewing is working with amazing fabric. I was lucky enough to be able to work with some exquisite beaded lace which leant itself beautifully to being used for a hair piece.

The way most laces are made mean that they won’t fray so it is possible to clip out the details and use them in creative ways. For this hair piece each layer and petal was wired individually to lift them up and give volume to the finished floral spray.

The image at the top shows the hair piece tucked into a lovely soft up-do.

Below are close ups showing the front and the back. The wire visible from the back as well as the clear comb. I would usually cover the comb base in some silk but in this case the lace was so delicate that the invisible comb was much more subtle.

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Bow

The bow has yet to recover fully from what the 80’s did to it. The lingering fear of anything with a bow on the back will take a while to shake off. I would like to offer up some beautiful bows to remind everyone of how great they can be.

Vera wang gown with super wide grosgrain bow above.

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Vintage draped and tied bows.

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Large bow incorporated into a sculpted back by Lanvin.

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Chanel dress from the 30’s with contrast bow.

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Little velvet bows added to a birdcage veil. Perfect for with a sleek and simple dress.

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Dress covered in bows from Stella McCartney. Would it be too much with the above veil?

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Here the bows are embroidered onto the dress. An example from the 20’s and a modern take on a 50’s frock.

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Sculpted and wired bow by Dior.

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Little bows as detail on the back closure. The left as a detail over a zip and right as the actual closure on an informal dress.

Wattle is in bloom

No time today to put up with any hay fever whiners, the wattle is starting to bloom and I love it. The bright and lovely pillows of wattle are also the first hint that spring is on its way.

Here is a little wattle inspiration to bring a little more yellow to your day.

Wattle used in a mixed bouquet with more cottage flowers. They do work just as well away from their usual pairings of other Australian natives.

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This amazing bead necklace I have seen before so it isn’t available anymore. The designer is called Jojo and I can’t find a trace of her current work to see if there might be some more wattle in it.

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This image is from a spring fete somewhere in France but the idea of using flowers and chicken wire would be perfect for a backdrop or photo booth.

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Simple yellow, white and green.

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The Queen of wattle.

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If you want to look a little further, search for mimosa as well as wattle, that is what the Americans call it.

 

 

Bridal show – Crochet and cotton

This lovely dress is made of 2 layers of fine cotton muslin. I haven’t really used cotton before for bridal but here it worked perfectly. It was so fine it draped and fell perfectly for a bias cut.

To make the backless dress I created the whole dress in cotton and then made the crochet lace mandala and stitched it over the dress, once the crochet was in place I cut away the cotton from the back.

The side is closed with little loops and shell buttons.

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I have this dress waiting in my wardrobe to be worn again by a relaxed beach bride. Get in touch if you would like some more details, photos or to try it on.

What a good idea.

I found this image from a vintage pattern (I am assuming 30’s-40’s ish) and I thought it was a lovely idea.

A veil is joined into the waist and can sit over the head as a veil or down the skirt as a bustle.

The Image shows the veil ending at about her wrists but I would guess it would be possible to make it longer, this might just mean that the back of the skirt might need to be lengthened so the veil won’t drag on the floor.

 

Bridal show – 30’s Bias dress and veil

This dress was a challenge, The model who was planning to wear it had to pull out close to the date, I was so lucky that the beautiful model below was willing to help out a stranger and fit the dress to perfection.

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The dress is made in a heavyweight polyester satin. It has a bias cut halter bodice which I closed with pearl buttons. The skirt is not exactly a bias cut but falls like one, I draped the skirt from one whole piece so the grain isn’t straight down the front but it isn’t exactly 45 degrees either. When the skirt was closed the last of the fabric was allowed to drape at the back as an asymmetric train.

Here are the details of the veil, some close up pictures and construction comments.