Sydney really liked this lace, and originally, we thought I’d carefully take off the original lace, and replace it with this new lace. But once I had the lace in my hands, I knew it wanted to be the focus.

When Syd came in for her fitting, I showed her what the lace looked like, and we were all on board with creating a lace layer with this new lace.

The next step was making sure the overskirt had design integrity, now that we were changing the lace on the dress. I remembered my time working on the 1912 Project (where we stitched up historical patterns from the Titanic era), and I had done this lace applique technique where you attach the lace to the front, hand stitch it down, and then cut out the fabric behind it, leaving basically a lace window.

The last step on the appliques was to cut the rest of the tulle from around the lace, since this was a motif from the larger piece of lace. One of the things that we did to the bodice that we really liked was building up lace on the top of the cup.

As you tailor the cups of a bodice, you can end up shortening the cups too far. The best solution I’ve found is to build up lace over the top of the cup, making sure that it is both secure, and that it is flush to the chest.

I can’t leave you without sharing that I was also in charge of designing and building the mother of the bride’s dress. We started with some vintage and vintage inspired images. Stacey knew she wanted an off the shoulder dress with some drama. She chose this gorgeous 4-ply silk crepe, and once it came in and she held it, she ooo’d the way we all do when we touch 4-ply. We fiddled with the fit until we were both happy.

One of the best things I’ve ever heard came from Stacey. She said that the process of having a custom dress made just for her was that she didn’t have to worry about maintaining weight. She knew I’d adjust it to make sure it fit perfectly no matter how her body shifted. Her smile says it all.