Yes to the dress (so far)

The wedding dress remake is going great so far. The hard part is done, meaning deconstruction. The dress came apart so easily! I can breath now.

Here is our starting point:

After a fruitless wedding gown search, sis found this dress in a vintage shop - when she wasn't even looking for a dress. Talk about meant to be!

Not sure how old this dress is, but it was definitely custom made (no tags, unfinished inside seams). Style-wise I'm thinking more than 15 years old but less than 25.

The dress is really long so the bride must have been a tall girl, which is perfect for my tall sister. So thanks, to whomever passed this one on.

This pic was taken before we got it cleaned. The bodice is unusable, the beading has faded and fallen off in between the layers of lace. I thought the beads were bugs at first, lol!

The lace is beautiful! It's ivory with random gold tones. Hard to capture with my camera but TRUST.

Here's what I've done so far:

I removed the bodice and added a 3 inch waistband. That's it, lol. Seriously though, I was soooo nervous. First of all, I was really nervous about taking it apart but  I held my breath and got to seam ripping, eventually I just ripped it apart manually once I saw that it was attached with one seam! All of the original seams are either enclosed in organza, or pinked. The skirt was gathered separately - with super sturdy seams. I was so worried about re-gathering all that fabric.

For the waistband I ended up using flimsy ass satin from Joann's, It was the best I could get my hands on at the time, but it will not be visible since we are doing a two piece dress. This is not a great pic, but you get the gist.

I need to "re-enclose" the lace overskirt hem. Not sure if re-enclose is the correct term, but the lace hem is wrapped in what looks like organza strips. Of course there was none in Joann's and I refused to use their tulle/netting fabrics. Whatever was used originally on this skirt has stained to brown in some spots so it has to go.

The last thing is a couple of small tears in the netted part of the lace, I'm hoping to repair that with invisible thread and some fine mesh from G-Street or Fabric Place.

I had to hand sew!!! Hell to the no!!!!!
Only for my sister though. I chose a zipper closure since this will all be hidden.

Again, not the best, but it will not be seen.

Skirt innards: Not sure what the content is but the satin is very heavy/sturdy. All the original seams are sturdy and the fabric has held up beautifully.

What's to come:

The bodice. She has decided on a halter style bodice. At this point, I am mulling over pattern options. I need to make a decision by the weekend. I want to be done completely by mid May - my own deadline. I will be making a trip to A Fabric Place, hopefully this week, to pick up some real satin for the bodice, and organza for the hem.

As you can see my sis has VISION galore, cause I would have taken one good look at that original thing and turned my nose way up. But working with it I see the beauty and potential. We'll see how this thing turns out. Wish me luck.