Everything just turned out perfectly in this photo Makes me happy to see my husband capture the essence of this luxurious gown so beautifully! He says he isn’t a people photographer but he sure is learning to do a convincing job of it.

The red wedding gown has gone home to its owner and we even got in a photo-shoot! My client was such a trooper and donned her 15+ yards of silk taffeta with grace to do a photo shoot in record high temperatures. I held the fan on her and we did take a water break. A great testament to the comfort of the dress as she was in it 2+ hours.

See how that custom-dyed silk ribbon just glows. Shot-silk taffeta glows so beautifully as well!

The polyester ribbon I had on hand was a nice match but just didn’t shine the way the silk taffeta does. So I decided to try out a new-to-me company called Cam Creations. I sent in my order with a swatch of the wedding fabric and was super surprised at how close they came to the look & feel of a shot-silk with a dying progress on a satin ribbon! It can’t be red shot with navy obviously since they are not weaving it but it sure looks good! I satisfied with the results. (more…)

Just to show off how pretty the inside turned out I took some photos

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I’m using french linen collar canvas to build up the shaping on the standing, pleated collar for the jacket:

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Only a few more pieces left to stitch:

Adding the waist tape & lining: (more…)

Sewing the boning channels. Boy are there a lot of them!

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This fitting was very fun. The skirt bottom edge was temporarily set with safely pins and the bride was paraded up and down my stairs and outside to check the length. While a floor length skirt would be elegant, the comfort and ease of walking/dancing at the wedding reception is more important. The final length will be set once all the lining and waist details are finished.

Here is the initial bust:

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This is the beginning of a corset incorporating elements from 18th century stays but without tabbing at the hip section. The bottom will be solid panels more like a Victorian corset. However, we decided for this one to keep more of the 18th century boning pattern details even with the solid hip. I’m liking the look so far. I can’t wait to be done with the fittings so I can cut into the beautiful silk. This is a good way to get the shaping of a pair of stays without the hassle of binding all those tabs. Not that I don’t love binding tabs. I’m becoming rather fond of them actually.