1960s Wedding Dress Recreation: pt 2 Making the Dress, and that Fabric, yo!

Behold! The most expensive fabric I've ever worked with!

I believe this is a Lyon type of lace. All I know is that it's french.

This is the fabric for the sleeves and the bodice. When I discovered it, I sent a pick to my friend, and she LOVED it, until we both saw the price. It was in the glass case, after all. I should have known...

I looked around the store for a good hour snapping pics of other more economical lace and none of it was up to par with the glass case extravagance of this beauty. So she decided to get it.

Another hitch was I had to get more than needed because what they had was cut in two smaller pieces! Ugh! But it was okay and, well, just look at it!

Above you see the lace for the sleeve backed with a single layer of tule. Just like the original dress.

First things first. I also bought a bolt of white tule, the fabric that seems to NEVER run out, and made a petticoat for the skirt. The original dress had one build in, but I made this one to simply tie around the waist, so you can use it with another skirt if desired. I'm all for versatility.

I copied all the places from the old dress onto the new dress. The only thing I couldn't match was the scalloped edge on the original dress' collar. The new lace didn't allow for any type of finish like that (it was a beast to sew with my machine), but I did manage to use that finished edge on the hem of the skirt. I thought that was a nice touch.

The white fabric is a simple cotton sateen, and it complimented the lace beautifully.

Below is the inside of the front bodice. It was cut on the fold with a lot of vertical darts at the bust creating a V type shape when worn. It was interesting, and I think a cut that works well with a small bust. 

Here is a detail of the lace backed on the sateen. I overlocked both pieces together then worked with them. Less chance of a loose edge getting tangled in the stitch line, which I worried a lot about.

Last was the bow. I kinda had some fun playing with folds and loops. 

Here are the two dresses near the end of their completion!

And here is the dress on its owner fresh out of the box! It zips in the back, and I oxi cleaned an old vintage zipper to brighten it up before I sewed it in. "Perfect fit" I was told. Whew! I was so worried. I always am. I'm just elated that I get to be a part of my friend's special day.