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 wearing a hat

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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Jemma had her wedding anniversary party coming up and wanted to restyle her wedding dress into something new and fun.

She brought in her wedding dress and told me about her planned party outfit being a gorgeous magenta jumpsuit. So my challenge was to figure out how to blend these two, quite contrasting styles, into one look.

As we talked through her options, we landed on a custom dipdye overskirt with an open front. This would mean she could keep the drama of the dress train, and the beauty of the sequined lace, whilst also being able to dance to her heart’s content.

For the dipdye, she chose to reverse the usual order of colours, going from darkest at the top, to lightest travelling down, in purples and pinks to compliment the jumpsuit.

I unpicked the lace layer from the original dress, hand dyed the tulle, and added it underneath the skirt. For a final touch, I sewed on some pretty scalloped lace around the waistline to create the join with Jemma’s jumpsuit.

I love seeing a wedding dress continuing its life beyond its wedding day. This was such a brilliant idea, and the result is so vibrant and playful.

Has your wedding dress had a second life since the big day?

#dipdyeweddingdress #upcycledweddingdress #colourfulweddingdress #weddingdressrestyle
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