Brides and their Love of Flannel

A My roommate in college did my hair for years and in exchange I always promised that I'd help with her wedding dress. She bought a gorgeous dress but it was strapless. Our mission, to add sleeves and a higher neckline. 

Here's the neckline she picked...

And this sleeves:

We started with a mock up for fitting out of muslin. Muslin is cheap fabric that allows you to play with the fitting and style without wasting money on the expensive final fabric.

Luckily she got her Dress at David's Bridal and they sell her same fabric by the yard. Once we had the fit right I cut out the actual fabric, yikes right?!

We tried it with a cap sleeve and the frilly sleeve to see which she liked best. 

While, I think we nailed the look, the bride decided it wasn't for her. Oh well, at least it was a fun adventure right? After reassurance from her mom I cut the top off and finished off the zipper top to make it a skirt.

She paired with a cute lacey top:

Photo courtesy of: http://www.diybride.com/blog/2013/12/21/haley-daryns-diy-first-lookbridal-session/

 And with her signature flannel:

Photo courtesy of: http://www.diybride.com/blog/2013/12/21/haley-daryns-diy-first-lookbridal-session/

Since the bride didn't end up using the alterations I decided to use it as a wedding gift. Her wedding colors were forest green and dark red. This way she had a piece of her wedding dress, we'll the fabric at least to wear again and remember her special day. 

Baby Blessing

After two adorable boys my sister was excited to welcome her first baby girl! Luckily her parents thought to save her baby blessing dress. The only tricky part was that the dress was crocheted so she needed something to go underneath it.

Below is what I came up with. I wanted something simple but cute enough that she could pass it on to her daughter to wear one day. I also thought the ruffled skirt would add shape/volume to the crocheted dress.

I wanted her to have the look of buttons with the ease and convenience of snaps.