...And the Bride wore pinstripe, 2011


For her wedding my cousin Johanna wanted an informal dress that would go with her favorite shoes. We decided on a skirt and a corset top. Inspired by the shoes we decided to add white satin bindings to cheer it up.

The challenge of this project was the limited number of fittings, as Johanna lives in Stockholm. The planning stage was of course easily managed with e-mail, and she sent me her measurements. I made the first mock up version of the corset according to those and we tried in on when I visited her on February. Luckily it needed only a few minor alterations. We also planned a bit more of the skirt.

For the foundation layer of the corset I used coutil, my new favorite material. As the corset was aimed to be a supportive but comfortable top rather than give much waist reduction I boned it only very lightly with plastic cable tie. The pinstripe got iron-on interfacing all over to fit more smoothly. The corset has back lacing and closes at the front with a steel busk.


Although the lining doesn't show outwards, I couldn't resist buying this thin cotton batiste with a pretty butterfly print. It happened as a funny coincidence that the wedding invitation also had a theme with black and white butterflies! I used the remains of the batiste to line the skirt waistband. 
As a tiny surprise to Johanna I embroidered the names of the happy couple and the wedding date on a little heart-shaped piece of material and sewed it on the corset lining, roughly at the place of her heart.

The skirt was cut as a full circle with a wide waistband that was left under the corset. I edged the tulle netting with white satin binding.
We were supposed to have another fitting before I would bind the corset edges and finish the skirt waist, but Johanna didn't manage to get to Finland as she had planned.  Thus we decided to hope for the best and trust in the great space for adjustment that a back lacing gives.

Johanna had also lost some weight since our first fitting, so I decided to take the corset and the skirt waist somewhat in still.


Johanna didn't want a bridal veil, but instead we decided to make a pretty little hat with a white veil.


I tried to find a ready made hat base, but as I had no luck I decided to try to make one. I found stiff plastic net instead, stitched it into a piece of coutil, and ended up with a very nice and stiff base. I covered it with the pinstripe and edged with the satin binding, and sewed a comb on the inside.
I gathered the veil and sewed it down to the back of the hat, and covered my stitching with a black velvet bow. For the final touch I added a skull brooch.
The finished outfit had bit of a problem with the top of the corset being too tight, which I might have still been able to fix to some extent had I had a chance to have a second fitting. For a single fitting it's good enough, though. What's most important, Johanna was happy with her dress. We also had soooo much fun at the wedding!




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