Buffing My Nails

February 13, 2025

I've finally gotten around to getting pictures from the last couple of years of weddings that I've done.  Brides, mothers and me are just as bad about once the wedding is over, we're all onto our lives, and the bride sure is doing other things!  

So I'm buffing my nails this week showing off some of the fun things I've been doing with my brides.  

I don't normally share these on social media, and especially this time since they are so late in getting up, but they are all so much fun, and a story goes with each one with how we ended up with the final version, that it's a little too fun to share with my friends - you all!

This one was so much fun, because we started with a "minor" alteration to a completely different dress.  But apparently the shop had taken 2" out of the bodice of this dress, and as you can see this bride didn't not have that much on her bones.  I'm not sure what they were thinking, but when they came by to have me release a few seams, we lacked 2" getting it zipped in the back.  I told her we could add two silk panels on the side, but that to match the beading pattern would be outrageously expensive.  Beading is the most expensive thing you can do.  

The bride was crushed, and I looked at the mother and told her to go home and get her dress.  The bride didn't want Mother's dress, and I agreed.  They walked in with the dress at 11 am.  We put the dress on, and as I suspected, it fit pretty well.  We talked about what she would really like, which was totally different from the mother's dress, and I said, "Great, come back about 5pm."

So back they came, and this was the mockup I had done. 
  

As you can see, she's enormously pleased with the progress of "Mother's dress."  

Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you.  The daughter was in town for the weekend, and I got her Saturday morning (when we discovered her dress was 2" shy of zipping up), and Saturday evening, and Sunday morning on the way to the airport.  I finally talked her into another trip back home so that I could have one final fitting, and she could see the gown very much finished.  

This was the second weekend I got her, and I knew we were on the right track, so all I had to do was finish the seams, and we were done.  The wedding was out of state, at a family's home in Colorado, so mom was going to bring it with her when she came up early for the wedding. 

The three squashed things in the back of the dress are where the bustle will go.  At this point, I was checking hem and the rest I could let go cause I could finish it after she left town.  

Tragedy averted once again!!!!  I know people think I'm some sort of magician, but it really is amazing what you can do with mother's or grandmother's dress.  

My next client came to me through her mother.  I had done her debutante dress, and the daughter wanted the grandmother's dress remade for her.  

So this goes back to the early 60s.  That hair dates her to late 50s and early 60s.  This was an interesting dress in that the back was almost a whole contrived structure along the lines of a Victorian bustle structure in back.  The design of the wedding gown was really interesting because the back bodice was very long - almost mid-thigh, while in front it was just below the waist.  The skirt was all the same length, but because the bodice was so long in back, it made a beautiful train, especially without the bustle apparatus inside.  

The other factor was that each generation knows more about nutrition than the one before, so that the newer generation is a little larger, bigger-boned, develops earlier, and just in general has much better health.  So it should be no surprise that the granddaughter was much larger, that there was really no way she was going to fit inside the dress.  

Claire comes to the rescue.  The bride loved everything about the dress but the sleeves, and they were fuller than they look in the photo.  So I took those off and we had a full panel in the side.  This made the dress look as though it had on purpose, a front panel, side panel, and back panel.  I was also able to shape the bride so that she had a waist and felt particularly "bride-ish."  

Fortunately this was a family who lives on a beautiful lake close to the city, and has a gorgeous back yard, which is where the wedding took place.  But they didn't have professional photographers and folks just took some casual pictures.  

My advice is to hire a professional.  Or if you can't do that, one thing I love to do is put those old throwaway cameras on the tables at the reception, encourage all the guests to snap away with the photos, and put them in a box on the way out, take them to Walgreens and get them developed, and have a blast.  With cell phones today, so many folks think that they are professional photographer and it's almost the same thing.  The nice thing about having one person (professional, friend, or someone who comes in to do a favor for the family) is that everyone connected with the bride is celebrating and doesn't think that much about taking photos.  With someone tasked specifically with taking photos, and when the bride and family give the photog a list of photos, it's hard not to be happy with the group of pics at the end of the event.  

But there were some beautiful shots of the bride in the paternal grandmother's gown, and with the maternal grandmother's veil.  

Instead of bustling it up, (I'm worried about the durability of putting hooks on the skirt in about 5 places and having Uncle Henry step on the hem only to hear a terrible rip, so I suggested that they use the three wrist pieces from the original gown.  Here she is dancing right after the ceremony and it looking beautiful and totally manageable.  The bride was going to change into another outfit after the first dance or so, so it wasn't like she was going to have to contend with the wrist hangers all night long.  

Having known the family for 2 generations, I was elated to be able to do this for this bride, who had dreamed of wearing this gown at her wedding since she was a little girl.  These special gowns like this are always so special and important, as there is no way the family could have hand something so gorgeously done today as the cost would be prohibitive.  The original wedding for this gown was in the winter, so the lace had white velvet insets, which made the lace even more special.  I was table to take the lace from the sleeve and some medallions from the skirt to fill in around the neckline and boom - we had a gorgeous gown!

The next bride was a lot of fun because I had worked with the mom on the family veil.  I told her that one day we were going to have to completely reback this veil, and to be extra, EXTRA careful with it.  I know she was trying to get her last daughter through it, cause she was the youngest of this generation and then they would see what to do.  But alas, the veil didn't like that schedule.  About five years before the last wedding, the veil fell apart at the worst place - where it shows right around the crown of the head.  

The mom brought me the veil, and didn't know what to do.  I said I would mess around with and see what I could do.  

I have a lot of really fine collectables I've run across in my years sewing.  And they all have a story.  I had a good friend in the business in Dallas, and bought from his store constantly.  It was so great to have this store, even though I knew his pricing was a little high, the fabric was always the best, most latest and chicest quality.  He also knew Stanley Marcus, who called him one day, and he had known of a client (probably in Highland Park or maybe Turtle Creek) who had a collection of laces that my friend should buy.  So my friend went over to the estate sale, and they wanted $200 for the box - about 24" x 15" x 4", and he nearly had a stroke.  He paid the $200, but had no idea what to do with the beautiful laces inside.  I was lucky enough to cross his path shortly thereafter and he showed me the box.  I asked him what he wanted for it, and he just wanted his $200 back!  I brought it home, soaked it in sodium percarbonate (that's Oxi-clean w/o the blue dot thingies in it and a lot less expensive than the Oxi-clean - even the giant size at Sam's).  If you really want to see what this stuff does, watching Yale Cleaners (in Tulsa, OK) is totally mesmerizing.  He gets these gowns so white it's almost illegal, but it's not!  

But not to fear, because I did repair the veil, but I had to add some lace to some areas that you can't see unless you have an extremely sharp eye.  I had to do a wavy stem down the middle of the veil, and in that, I was able to hide the repair of the center rip.  Then I had to put another round medallion on the left side to hide the repair to the veil there.  It's sorta balanced, but when the veil is worn, you can't see it.  It's only when it's laid out like this that you see it.  If we have to, I have some of this delicate lace (courtesy of Stanley Marcus), that I could make another flower on the side.  When I spread it out to show the mother, she couldn't see it until I pointed it out to her, and she was practically in tears because another cousin had gotten engaged while the veil was being repaired!  

So I had a reputation with this family.  So when the mother brought me her dress and the daughter wanted to wear it, I really think the daughter didn't want to do the whole bridal gown junket thing, and just would wear anything!  That doesn't work with Claire - it has to be more special than that!

So here we have mom and daughter.  Mom didn't care what I did to the dress as long as the daughter loved it, and she did.  Actually, the mom and the bride were pretty blasé about the whole thing, and it was only when the older sister came over and started talking about her sister's cute figure and how we could show it off more that things got really interesting.  The bride's eyes lit up, and I could tell we were in the "special" category.  

So what we did was brought most of the skirt to the back, and tacked it there while the back side did almost a Sabrina thing.  

And I had made this dress before for one of my debs, and it's lovely, with two skirts and my deb was about the size of Audrey and it looked wonderful. 

But this time, I didn't want to do two skirts.  I just wanted it to look like two skirts, and we would go from there.  

Like the oldest sister pointed out, this bride had a gorgeous little figure, and we wanted to show it off. But I had to figure out how to tack the dress together so it would stay in place all night.  What I ended up doing was putting in about four, 3" wide elastic strips on the inside sewn through all layers of the dress.  The stitching on the outside wouldn't show cause they were in the "crease" of the fold of the "overskirt" part of the gown.  In addition, the bride could step into the dress and know it would stay tight, but it would stretch enough to allow her to get in and out of a car, sit down, stand up, and, most importantly, dance.  

 

I've got a couple of other interesting brides this spring and summer, including one wearing her great-grandmother's gown (probably worn in the mid-1920s). I've seen it on the bride, and it looks like a million bucks.  The mother is beside herself with joy.  It has some pretty funky sleeves, which I'll photograph beforehand, but we're thinking about doing something a little more stylishly fun with them to make it more in line with what the bride wants.

Then, at another wedding, I'm doing an interesting dress for a bride who has possibly dropped 80 pounds, maybe as much as 100 pounds.  She didn't think she'd ever get married, but when she dropped the weight, she turned into a looker and bought a wedding dress she loved.  It's strapless, so we have to be careful that she doesn't "overflow" out of the top, but that it's snug enough to stay up on its own without yanking up on the bodice all night.  

This is a simple solution that, almost as a matter of course, I do with all my dresses, cause it just makes the darn things so comfortable.  Putting a grosgrain ribbon in at the waist means that this anchors, supports, and "lifts" the skirt so that the strapless bodice isn't sliding down all the time and she's not yanking it up all night long.  AND it prevents having to make the bodice so tight that there's overflow.  The bride was actually shocked and thrilled that something so simple could make all the difference in the dress's comfort.  

The mother of this bride  has never had anything made for her, so we're making a black brocade skirt with a white silk taffeta blouse featuring a wide collar that almost touches the shoulders and frames her face and decolletage, which would make Carolina Herrera cry.  Herrera is a devotee of the white formal blouse/top paired with a black skirt.  This MOB is going to look like she just walked out of the CH boutique in New York City!  

Then one more "simple" bride with a strapless neckline that was "scoop" rather than sweetheart or straight, and there were these big extensions going up the sides of the gown.  She wanted them rounded and the neckline to look more like a sweetheart neckline—something more traditional.  This won't be that hard, but the dress is huge, and I can't even begin to get it into my machine, so it's all going to be done by hand.  

 

I hope you enjoyed this excursion into my bride's adventures in wedding gown conversions.  I never could have children, and I always look upon my brides as my "girls" even if it's only for a few short months.  To be able to add to their day of joy with so much happiness, comfort, confidence, and beauty, even if it's only for a short while.  Their day should be one filled with all the expectations they have had.  They should walk by the mirror and think, "Dang, that guy who's marrying me is a lucky fella!"  

The SewingArtistry Resource Library is designed to contain information to not only make your sewing better, but to aid in you fitting and flattering your shape, size and style.  Check it out. 

I'm taking a break from teaching right now, but I am able to do Zoom demos or talks for your sewing group.  Contact me for details. 
 

Giorgio Armani - 1934 to 2025

This is a sad day - the loss of a classic tradition. Armani held the line to fashion style that ...

The Path of a Fashion Trend

Tracking a fashion trend isn't all that hard after seeing a few of them.  Living from Mid-Century Modern through Twiggy...

The Style of the Very Wealthy

It's worth the time to look at these styles, particularly today as there is a group of that wants to look....

WOW!

This is the way fashion used to be -- pretty, flattering and I can't wait to make some of...

NOTE:  There are some folks who can't get my email, or it's sporadic, or something is hinky.  I will always respond to any of you who send a private message, whether it's about the topic of the week or something else.  If you don't get anything from me, it's probably because the support@sewingartistry.com email is blocked, and even a private message can't get through.  In that case, I'm on Instagram often, and you can always PM me at @sewingartistry.  

As a precaution, please ensure I'm in your email Address Book and check your spam, junk, and trash folders. Some email clients get extra excited when they see emails coming into the Inbox that go to many other receivers. They automatically think it's trash or spam, and it never makes it to the Inbox.    I must constantly check my spam and junk folders to ensure I'm getting the emails I subscribe to.  

To view in browser along with past emails, click here.

We respect your email privacy.

The Path of a Fashion Trend

Tracking a fashion trend isn't all that hard after seeing a few of them.  Living from Mid-Century Modern through Twiggy...

The Style of the Very Wealthy

It's worth the time to look at these styles, particularly today as there is a group of that wants to look....

WOW!

This is the way fashion used to be -- pretty, flattering and I can't wait to make some of...

NOTE:  There are some folks who can't get my email, or it's sporadic, or something is hinky.  I will always respond to any of you who send a private message, whether it's about the topic of the week or something else.  If you don't get anything from me, it's probably because the support@sewingartistry.com email is blocked, and even a private message can't get through.  In that case, I'm on Instagram often, and you can always PM me at @sewingartistry.  

As a precaution, please ensure I'm in your email Address Book and check your spam, junk, and trash folders. Some email clients get extra excited when they see emails coming into the Inbox that go to many other receivers. They automatically think it's trash or spam, and it never makes it to the Inbox.    I must constantly check my spam and junk folders to ensure I'm getting the emails I subscribe to.  

To view in browser along with past emails, click here.

We respect your email privacy.

Follow us!