Custom Clothing

Liz's Brides' Maids

My good friend Liz got married! She asked for my help in making dresses for her bride's maids because, as most often happens, the ladies were all different sizes and colorings, and she wanted to make sure they all looked wonderful for her special day.

After spending weeks looking at, and trying on, many dresses, we determined that there was no way that regular bride's maids dresses would do. Dresses which looked good on one or more friends were ghastly on others. And, the prices were high.

So, we spent some time with sewing patterns and finally modified a corset pattern to make elegant and flattering bodices for all. For the long skirts we selected silk and organzas that closely matched the colors of the bodices.

This was a huge project on a short deadline. So, not only did the bride, her mother, and many of the bride's maids work on the outfits, but we also had three of our other mutual friends involved as well. We worked every Wednesday evening for months, with homework.

	This is Hillary in the finished outfit, in blue. The bodices don't look like corsets, but they have the strength and stability of corsets. Actually, they are corsets!
	Here are (part of) Jennifer, in green, and Molly in a darker blue. Other outfits were deep purple, dusty blue, and lilac.
	Hillary learned how to sew during this experience and has since gone on to sew other things.
	I used scraps from the bodices in a wall hanging quilt.
	Here you see some of the detail. The flowers were done using the paper piecing method.
	And, finally, I made an outfit for myself in one of my favorite colors - burgundy - to wear at a formal occasion.