Wedding Dress ~ Sewing Project

To be honest I missed sewing. I had marked several illustrations of dresses I wanted to sew, so I picked one that had a style similar to Regency. You know, Regency and Late Victorian are my fave periods. So, I went ahead and before doing anything, I asked permission to the artist.

In particular, this design is made by Shoomlah (check her DeviantArt and Instagram). If you are into Disney, you may know her: she made the famous series of "Historically Accurate Disney Princesses" (check it here). In particular, the dress I wanted to sew is based on a fanart of hers of Carey's wedding dress from "The Adventure Zone" (see it here!). I'm not into that fandom, honestly, but I loved this dress.

I made a progress video, which you can see here, and there are some anecdotes and photos under the cut. This is actually the first time I went outdoors to take photos of a dress, so please bear with me with all the anecdotes. I hope you'll laugh!

Let's start from the beginning. The illustration didn't gave too many hints about the fabric, so I decided to go with micro-tulle, as I've always loved those almost-sheer BJD dresses that are made of this fabric. So, I went ahead and bought one meter of fabric... I never buy that much, I usually go with 40cm or 60cm at the most. I also went ahead and bought the little flowers for the crown, transparent thread and other notions.

So, I had decided that I would store the fabric for the skirt (as I wanted several layers), and use the scraps I had to make the bodice and sleeves. But when I took the scraps out from my boxes... it turned out that the store employee had given me ivory micro-tulle. I was devastated. Husband told me to call the store, and they offered to replace the fabric. The employee was offended at the fact, but to be honest the light they had there was terrible. And looking the ivory without overlaying something white on top... it looked white. But! I got my white fabric, and went back home happy.

Another colorful detail -pun intended- is the fact that the sleeves and the embroidery on the Spencer Jacket are sewn with transparent thread. That thread is offensive. It is heavy, so it falls from the needle (handsewing, of course), it is impossible to see (duh!) and knotting it is like knotting thing plastic. It was quite an experience, and I my eyes ended up sore after that!

The Spencer Jacket's embroidery is not perfect, I'm aware of that, but it was the first I ever made like this. I hope to re-do this style in the future, with less imperfections and more details. However, that thing took me 13 hours of embroidering. When I finished it, my eyes were sore, and my hands were so cold I could barely move my fingers.

I made this dress in May/June, and we had a cold-wave there, making my city skip Autumn to go directly into dead-cold Winter. So! Winter has too much cloudy days, and when I finished this... there was sun! And honestly, I was dead tired of having pretty dresses with horrid photos, so I asked my mom and my husband to go be my crowd in a nearby park. That very same day. Like, right now and there.

I wasn't that afraid of being with a doll outside... but more about the camera. I didn't want to be robbed just for the camera, so my mom and husband made sure to be close by to a) be a crowd, and b) catch V when she attempted to face-plant into the grown.

Even if it was after noon, that day was dang cold, I was using my clothing-onion technique, but by the end of the photoshoot, I had my ass frozen (because I had to sit on the ground to hold the camera steady) and my hands where even more cold than when sewing. There was so much wind that it didn't matter how much I combed her hair, V's hair was more unruly than before.

And don't get me started on her stability. Iplehouse dolls can't stand, and I choose and Iple to go outsite, on uneven ground, on a windy day. So my mom and hubby always stood at each side of the doll, hands extended and ready to catch her... and they did!! Several times! Though we later found an ant on her dress xD

I know the last one is not a doll photo, but the red flower is the Erythrina crista-galli, often known as the cockspur coral tree. There were many branches on the ground as some trees were being pruned, so we brought one home. Apparently, if we keep it in water for a while, we should be able to get a potted tree from it. Wish me look! I love that flower, honestly.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this, and special thanks to Shoomlah for allowing me to sew her design. I already have another dress in mind, but this time for Coco. I hope I can do it!