Converted Wedding Dress Pillow

A client asked me to make a decorative pillow and garter out of her wedding dress. She was married in the 1970s and her dress was modestly beaded and simple. Her daughter is getting married and she plans to use the pillow in the ceremony to hold the rings. The pillow features the bodice front. I padded out the bust slightly to give it extra contour. The pillow has a cotton foundation,an invisible zipper, and down filled pillow form. The garter is made from the gowns bottom edge and the lace was taken from the veil. The fabric flower in the picture is my own additional embellishment.

A Wedding Dress' Second Chance to Shine

One way to repurpose a wedding dress is to transform it into a keepsake Christmas tree skirt. The tree skirt should high light the dress’ best features. This dress, picked up at a local thrift shop, had a lovely beaded Venetian appliquéd lace panel on the center front of the bodice. It had complimentary lace windowed panels in the sleeve head as well as a large bow at the back waist line. The satin was off white with a shadow print pattern of roses and scrolling ribbons. It was an average looking dress and I like it better as a keepsake tree skirt. The dress yielded only enough to make the top of the tree skirt and I added lining and an inner layer. I also purchased extra trim to add texture and complexity to the original dress elements. I was hoping to make Christmas stockings to match the tree skirt but there just was not enough dress.

The newly made tree skirt highlights the center front bodice at 6 o’clock. The neckline is ornamented with the dress’ scalloped lace, shaped to form a dangling necklace. At 3 and 9 o’clock the sleeve panels are mounted. At 2, 4, 7 & 10 o’clock a decorative free motion stippling was applied to the plain satin. Narrow lace trim also radiates out at the same locations. The circumference is trimmed in a faux fur strip which also covers the opening edges at 12 o’clock. A closure is created with the large bow snapped at the center opening. My favorite element in this tree skirt is texture. When color is absent, texture takes over to add interest. Between the fur, stippling, lace, and beads, the eye has plenty of entertainment. This tree skirt has given new life to a garment that needed a second chance to shine