Claire Kennedy Design

Kristine and a summer wrap

One of my favorite clients are those that are not perfectly shaped.  They usually come to me wanting something very special for their bridal gown, and because of one thing or another do not fit into the 8-10-12 format of ready-to-wear (gee, isn't that most of us?) and are either looked down or told to go elsewhere.  I've blogged ad naseum about this, and you will be glad to know that I'm not going to go into my usual rant...just to say I hate this about today's society that if we do not fit in one tiny little category, then we aren't normal.

OK nuf said...onto happier things.

Kristine came to me and wanted the full lace dress and not only was I able to find the lace at a reasonable costs, but also within her budget.  She is a smart sassy gal who was marrying the son of a long-time friend and I was thrilled for them both - it's one of those weddings I know will last and the more I got to know Kristine, the happier I was for the couple.  A designer often is privy to lots of things that no one else knows, but are required to make sure the dress is exactly what the client wants.

For Kristine - she wanted a lace jacket to wear that wouldn't be hot, but would enough to cover her arms.

She also wanted a beautiful fingertip veil with the long lower veil - this usually just velcroes in and out (velcro is a verb isn't it?...I thought so), with the lace on the whole dress.

Not only did I do the dress but for the rehearsal dinner, she needed a quickie shaw/wrap, which I did up really fast and saved her from freezing at the dinner.  It's fun to be super-sewist to the rescue sometimes!!!

 

I usually attend to help out with any thing that the bride needs and cause it's a happy day and it's fun to share in the festivities.

After she's dressed - one last good bye and I'm on the road.  This was an out-of-town wedding so I wanted to get back before curfew!!!  BTW, the photographer was using a special fish eye and I'm short, but not this short!

But after the event...seeing these pictures I know they had a ton of fun that day!

 

And even got to save one of the other bridesmaids....this is the trade secret of my wraps.  I put an elastic band on the shaw and when they wrap it around their arms, it stays right in place all night.  People seeing it usually remark, "Well, that's OK on (who ever my client is), because she can handle it.  Most people can't and I sure can't" not knowing that there's a secret inside the simple little wrap.

Here it is!  My favorite fabric for this is satin-faced organza.

 

1. Double the fabric and sew all around as shown - not sewing between the two dots.  Note:  I like a long luxurious wrap - measure the length for yourself to make sure it matches your dress - long dress - longer wrap...short dress - shorter wrap - but not too short!
2. Turn, press & hand stitch the closure at the center bottom.
3. Make two tubes about 9” to 12” long wide enough to fit 1/4” elastic through.
4. Insert 7” to 8” elastic into the tube. The length of the tube & elastic will depend upon your elbow measurement.
5. Wrap the shawl around you and mark placement of the elastic stabilizers so that they hit right at the elbow - a little below is most comfy.
6. Sew them in place - attaching at each end of the elastic.
7. Rock and Roll all night and be the  wonderment of all your friends!

What a surprise?

When I first heard about this, I thought, PUHLEASE! 

I'm a traditionalist when it comes to weddings - I'm faith-based, and think church is church and secular is secular. 

And I didn't think I would ever like this, but it blew me away.  It's not for everyone, but it does look like fun.

Now having said all this, my muse's wedding is coming up and we are doing something - not exactly like this, but very fun at the end which should be a blast (I'll see if I can't at least tape it!)

In the meantime, take a look at this and I dare you not to smile!

More veils

Each one of these is different, but heirloom veils come in all sizes and shapes, and yet are so beautiful.

This one is from the lace on the mother of the bride's gown.  It makes the veil very special.

This is not the usual place to photograph a veil, but it is an all dark background which shows the beauty of the lace.

Here's greater detail of the bottom of the veil.  This is a working of the design as the bride didn't want anything as ornate as the mother's original dress.

This is the header from flowers on the mother's veil.

The fun part of working with this veil and the lace from the mother's dress, is that this lace turned out to be something really elegant.  One way to tell good lace, is to notice the detail in the background.  Anything more than 5 different designs is considered very good lace.

Here's a count of the different designs on this one piece of lace.

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On another subject - on my muse's wedding gown.  I had wanted to start earlier with the construction of this gown, but muslins are so ugly that to be honest I didn't think anyone would be interested. 

My muse found a dress that had this twisting effect in front, strapless and a tight-fitting waist (which we thought was too tight-fitting for a wedding gown) with a semi-cathedral train.  She will be married in the chapel of her church so that requires a little less train than in the main sanctuary. 

My muse trusts me implicitly so I didn't do a drawing of the dress.  We discussed it and as I have made all her prom dresses and deb gown, she knows what I need to know and knows when we are doing the muslin what to expect.  She is exceptionally sweet and allows me to do a lot of things I enjoy doing!

This is a long way of saying, stay tuned, from now on, I will include more updates on her dress.

My Muse's Wedding

My muse is getting married.  Talk about fun.

For the last couple of weeks we've been doing the muslin

This is the glamor shot of that muslin.

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Believe me - this is the pretty shot of it.  Muslins are so ugly I hesitate to show them to my clients.  One problem.  They have to fit the client.  Wish I could fit them blindfolded, but stretches out the bounds of hubris of a designer just a little too far!!!

But finally, the muslin is finished, which means I cut out the real dress. 

It's just a tad on the laborious side.  We picked out a gorgeous candlelight silk, satin-faced organza, but it was a little too dark for my muse's liking, so we put a gorgeous electric-white, silk charmeuse to back it with.  The problem is that all the pieces have to have the organza & charmeuse pinned together. 

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THEN you pin the front to side, side to side back, side back to back, etc.  I use a gob of pins, but frankly I do not know another way to do this and have the seams come out un-puckery (that's a highly technical word in the couture world!  Not really, but it sounds good!!)

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Then I put a backing on the upper bodice part (not shown above, and in this case I needed real shape and body to it, as this will be the major fitted part of the dress, and being the scaredy-cat that I am, I back this with bridal shape - something sewn in, so that I can easily shape it around a ham or whatever so that the bodice doesn't look like something Maria would wear in Metropolis

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....or Madonna meets Theirry Mugler (Yikes!)

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This is ready for it's first fitting.  Even though my muse didn't see the comparison shots (above), she approved!  Somehow I thought she would!

 

Unfortunately no photography shows the exciting nap and shadows in this fabric.  One of my favorite combinations is an organza over the intense shine of a charmeuse or heavy-weight satin.    Even though the organza tones down the intensity of the charmeuse finish, it doesn't completely dissipate it and the combination makes for a very intersting and beautiful finish on the fabric.  So even though the dress has a "shine" it is not intense and there's a hit that it might be, but never pops like a satin.  Does that make sense?  Well, it's the best I can do with words, and since I will be working with this for a while, I'll probably be attempting a photography of the fabulosity of this fabric combo!

Veils - OK it's an ongoing post....

Yeah, I know - this is the third or fourth time through this....but what can I say - I love it and I have a soft spot in my heart for these sorts of things. 

I did the older sister, and now another in this generation....I love this sort of thing - being able to carry on the tradition.  Almost all the aunts and the mom wore this veil, and now the second generation is wearing  it.

I love these sorts of traditions