Purple butterfly embroidered wedding dress

bride and maid of honour in modern vintage wedding dress purple silk

I made this purple butterfly embroidered wedding dress for Karen. It is a simple modern wedding dress in ivory silk dupion with contrast purple silk detail. I hand embroidered butterflies in silk thread and lace applique complete the picture. Karen also had a bridesmaids dresses made bespoke, see here for more pictures.

Karen’s dress has a boned bodice with sweetheart neckline, trimmed in palest pink and silver floral lace and highlighted with hand sewn Swarovski crystals. The dress has asymmetric ruching and a split at the front to reveal a dramatic ‘Cadbury’ purple silk hand appliquéd with beaded black lace motifs. At the back the dress laces closed with purple ribbon above a long train embellished with hand embroidered butterflies. Each butterfly is finished with more crystals as they fly randomly among symmetrically placed silver and pink lace applique motifs.

lace up back detail on bespoke alternative wedding dress

Lacing the bride into her dress with dramatic purple ribbon lacing.

bespoke couture strapless modern silk dupion ivory and purple wedding dress

Original design sketch

orginal design sketch by Felicity Westmacott for butterfly wedding dress with split and ruching

The placement of the the butterflies and lace applique was done at a fitting with the bride there to help. We cut out and coloured lots of butterfly designs and pinned them to the dress to decide a balanced but natural formation.

butterfly detail on wedding dress train with lace flowers

The train finished on the stand, the butterflies fly at random amongst the symmetrically placed lace motifs.

Each butterfly was hand sewn with traditional Japanese flat silk embroidery thread. Long and short satin stitches combine to give a smooth and soft texture to the wings. We used four shades of purple and lavender and two shades of ivory and cream. Each large butterfly took about 6 or 7 hours to complete, the smaller ones about 3 hours.

hand embroidery ivory lavender and purple butterfly

There were six types of butterfly on her dress, each with at least two of its kind present. I didn’t want any butterflies to feel lonely!

purple butterfly embroidery swarovski crystal hand embellishment

simple modern wedding dress with purple wrap stole

Karen also commissioned a simple purple silk stole to wear in some photos with her purple butterfly embroidered wedding dress.

alternative tattoo bride with her dressmaker

Above: the bride and her dressmaker. Karen’s wedding took place at the beautiful Coltsford Mill in surrey.

Making Karen’s Purple butterfly embroidered wedding dress

embroidery on wedding dress butterflies by hand outline

Stage one of creating a butterfly for this purple butterfly embroidered wedding dress. The outline is drawn onto the reverse of the fabric and then running stitch pushes the design through onto the front. With the fabric in a frame to keep it tight the colours are gradually filled in using a technique called long and short stain stitch.

work in the embroidery hoop silk butterfly detail

More colours are added and at the end the crystal body is sewn down the middle.

lace applique hand beaded lilac, silver and pink swarovski crystals

The lace motifs are also each sewn to the dress by hand. In palest pink and silver they provided somewhere for the butterflies to land.

corded lace detail with scalloped edge swarovksi crystal beading something blue

The lace at the neckline had a pretty scalloped edge to soften the line. Hundreds of Swarovski crystals highlighted the middle of each flower. On one side, I used a few pale blue crystals for a hidden ‘something blue’.

organza embroidered butterfly wings with bustle button

This was the only ‘single’ butterfly, larger than the others and in three dimensions. It is made with organza wings that flutter as Karen moved. The button just below was for her train to hook up onto for later in the day, the organza butterfly hovering just above.

train spread out and hooked up for dancing bustle button
train bustled up bride walking with bridesmaids

Here you can see Karen’s train spread out and hooked up for ease of walking. Her three stunning bridesmaids dresses were also created by me and can be seen in more detail in their own portfolio section.

cadbury purple silk dupion with black beaded lace applique embellishment skirt

Detail of the finished dress showing the black lace applique on the purple silk background.

bespoke dressmaker toile fitting practice run in cheap fabrics

Fitting pictures: Karen in her ‘toile’ (practice run).

 fitting picture bridal gown made to measure lace up back

Fitting pictures: Karen in the nearly finished dress, just the hem to do!

bride and maid of honour modern wedding dress sweetheart neckline ivory silk

To see another statement purple wedding dress design head over to this blog post

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Felicity Westmacott

I write about all aspects of weddings, dressmaking, fashion history, and the human relation to clothing. I welcome comments and debate.

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It’s the night before you’re wedding day. You have your dream bridal outfit ready to go for the morning. But there are a few things you should do before you go to sleep, to make sure your wedding dress is looking its best for the big day.

First up, make sure to hang your dress up high. A curtain rail or a wardrobe door are good choices. And make sure to hang it in a pet and fiancé secure room.

When unzipping the bag, put your finger behind the zip to stop it catching on any delicate fabric.

Your main priority is to get the train out, so it has time to flatten out overnight. Hang the dress in the bag so it’s facing inwards. Leave the shoulders of the bag on the dress to keep protecting the dress from dust.

You’ll want to lay a clean towel or sheet on the floor to protect the train when you pull it out.

Check to make sure the dress is hanging from its dress loops, not straps or sleeves. This prevents any delicate fabrics being stretched out by the weight of the dress. As you can see from the one I’ve chosen, that’s a lot of (heavy) dress!

On the wedding day, your dress can be taken completely out of the bag. To prep it for the photographer, turn it round so it’s facing the front, and pop any straps or sleeves, back onto the hanger so it looks its best..

And that’s about it. It isn’t very much, but it can make all the difference, and avoids any unwanted wrinkles, especially on your dress’ train.

Let me know if you have any other tips and tricks!

(Shout out to @engaged_bridal_studio for inspiring this post 🙌🏻)

#wedding dress #customwedding dress #weddingdressinspiration #bespokeweddingdress #bridalboutique #surreywedding #sussexwedding #londonwedding #weddingdaytips #weddingdresstips #bridaltips
This wedding dress is inspired by the same era that Titanic and Downton Abbey (well, some of it) are based on; the Edwardian Period.

The corseted bodice fits close to the body, and is made of panels of silk chiffon over luxurious duchess satin. Trimmed with satin ribbon and embellished with hand sewn lace appliqué and tiny glass beads. 

I love the tiered skirt so much. With three layers of gathered chiffon and trimmed with more intricate lace, giving it a perfect vintage feel.

There is something so timeless and elegant about this wedding dress, don’t you think? If you love this design, you can either head to my Etsy shop, or drop me a message if you'd like it made entirely to your measurements and preferences.

#weddingdress #edwardianfashion #edwardianbride #edwardianweddingdress #periodweddingdress #vintageweddingdress #seamstress #bespokeweddingdress #customweddingdress
If you're curious about what I get up to in my breaks at the shop...now you know!

Inspired by @theadhdpersonaltrainer 🥰

#handstand #handstandpractice #upsidedown #handstandprogress #handstandshapes #feetuptrainer
With spring finally appearing, it was time to update my bridal shop display window.
(If you're curious what it was last month, you can look at my previous post...if you're a fan of dip dye, I think you'll really like it)

I wanted to create something that was full of verdant texture. I feel really strongly about single use plastics, so I always try to either re-use elements from previous window displays, or gather things from nature. This time I used a floral garland by @muscariwhites and added dried flowers from the hydrangea bush in my garden, as well as ivy, and anything else I found that I thought would look pretty.

For this display, I featured two dresses. Usually it's three, but when one of them takes up so much space, I had to make sacrifices! I chose the sumptuous pink Evil Queen dress, as well as the lilac dip dye Bridgeton dress. Both of them are historically inspired (the former by Elizabethan fashion and the latter by Regency), but also have fantasy elements to them. Completely my style as a wedding dress designer.

Which dress in this display is your favourite?
emailme@felicitywestmacott.co.ukTEL 07762 543230TOUCHGet in
from design to completionbespoke wedding dressesFelicity Westmacott
Dorking, RH4 1RT241 High Street• Visit the Studio •
Dorking, RH4 1RT241 High Street• Visit the Studio •
emailme@felicitywestmacott.co.ukTEL 07762 543230TOUCHGet in