Made to measure Christening Gown Sussex

upcycled wedding dress into christening gown

I made a made to measure Christening Gown Sussex in ivory taffeta and beaded lace applique.

I was honoured to be asked to create a mini-me christening dress for Baby M, using fabrics and inspiration from her mother’s beautiful wedding dress. Creating a dress for a growing babe is a tricky business but I have years of experience (and three little ones of my own) in getting the timing just right.

before and after Made to measure Christening Gown Sussex

Francesca’s wedding dress was made in ivory taffeta with lace applique and a pleated sash detail and train with a cloud of pale gold silk for the skirt. The back closed with buttons and a long train had more applique all down it. We used all these elements to design baby’s dress using materials left over from work on the original wedding.

This dress was made only ankle length as baby was just beginning to try and toddle so mummy wanted her feet unimpeded! She got to wear her dress again on her first birthday too!

 

Made to measure Christening Gown Sussex for first birthday

Final fitting pictures for the made to measure Christening Gown Sussex

Francesca wrote…

…I just wanted to say a huge thank you for (…)’s gorgeous dress. It received so many compliments on the day and I loved seeing her wearing a part of my wedding dress to be christened in the same church where were married, it was very special.

Mini-me christening dress by Felicity Westmacott, made from mummy's wedding dress in ivory taffeta and beaded applique: design sketch

Original design sketch

Making Made to measure Christening Gown Sussex

Francesca’s dress was so beautiful it was hard to start the job of cutting it up. But with the result planned to be so special, it just had to be done.

These pictures show some ‘before’ images of the original dress and work in progress.

Mini-me christening dress by Felicity Westmacott, made from mummy's wedding dress in ivory taffeta and beaded applique: the dress before we cut it up: cutting out the skirt shapes
Mini-me christening dress by Felicity Westmacott, made from mummy's wedding dress in ivory taffeta and beaded applique: the dress before we cut it up: creating the bodice

If you would like to commission a made to measure Christening Gown Sussex you can get in touch here.

Another pretty christening dress I made is here, with beaded lace and puff sleeves

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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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Even though Rebecca lives in Germany, she sought me out specifically to make her bespoke wedding dress. She had seen my colour work and fantasy-inspired designs, and decided I was the perfect fit for her (pun intended!). 

She wanted a wedding dress fit for an ethereal princess, complete with this stunning pastel rainbow gradient. This kind of effect can't be achieved with dip dye. I had to use a different technique; ombre-dying. 

If you feel like you should have been born as an elven queen in a romantasy novel, then I might just be the right person to bring that dream to life ✨
Destination Vegas. Rockabilly bride. Halloween vibes. 
Sounds like the perfect wedding.

Gorgeous goth Ellie got married in Las Vegas on Halloween. She wanted something alternative, retro and a little spooky. She realised she was never going to find that with an off-the-rack wedding dress. That's where I came in.

I designed and made her white and purple wedding dress with a wonderful blend of 1950’s and 90's shapes, modern styling and subtle Halloween Vixen detail. Harkening back to when Halloween was a little more stylish - perfect for this gothic bombshell. Below the boned bodice, I ruched and layered white satin over sumptuous shot black/purple taffeta and layers and layers of white net. The white satin was spangled all over with hand sewn crystals, ready to sparkle under the Vegas lights. 

My favourite detail? The hand beaded spider web made from Swarovski crystals. Spooky but subtle.
As a seamstress there are certain things that give me the ick. Usually they're pretty specific and unless you're also a dressmaker it might be something you're completely unaware of.

I've always had a ‘thing’ about language generally. I find it really interesting. I've noticed how strong a reaction I can have to people using language differently to what I’m used to. And when I notice that I often go on a bit of a deep dive to understand where that difference stems from. I think coming from a historical costuming background also means I love to know the history of things (and despite my instinctive language-conservative leanings, I do actively work on being accepting and open minded, trying celebrate the differences).

That said, please don’t say your dress has a trail!

Snails have trails - dresses have trains! 🐌
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