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Vintage Wedding Dress Upcycle for Madelie

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lace sleeves added to vintage wedding dress

Madalie came to me for a vintage wedding dress upcycle. She had her mother’s beautiful 1970’s wedding dress and she wanted to wear it, made anew, for her own wedding day.

The dress Madalie brought to our consultation meeting wasn’t the right size or style for her modern wedding day. We agreed to unpick and reuse the skirt section and the trim as a way to upcyle this vintage wedding dress. I designed and made her a new bodice in new, matching materials. I enclosed the preserved bodice pieces of her mothers dress inside the layers of her new bodice. So in a sense she was wearing the whole of her mother’s dress on her wedding day.

vintage wedding dress restyle
upcycle wedding dress from the back
1970's wedding dress upcycle
lace applique to customise wedding dress
vintage wedding dress adjustments

Design Details

Madalie’s dress redesigned had a lightly boned bodice made in duchess satin and chiffon. I cut it with a square neckline and straps. I gathered the chiffon into the underbust seam and a waist panel had an upward pointed seam feature. Madalie sourced beautiful embroidered tulle lace which I used to create a second neckline and delicate short sleeves. The lace neckline came up to a standing collar, almost like a bolero jacket. The lace was hand cut around each flower and finished with an uneven organic edge. There were longer fronds hanging down from the curling edges of the collar.

The back of the dress closed with a zip and I sewed lots of little cover buttons all down the back. A chiffon sash tied with a bow as a pretty detail.

chiffon and lace upcycled wedding dress

Madalie’s vintage wedding dress upcycle used her mother’s original chiffon skirt, which had been cut in graduated tiers with a curled hem. I added a new layer of the delicate floral lace on top. I cut in petalled points each with sewn extra flowers to soften the edges. A tiny daisy trim was sewn along the bodice neckline and I added individual daisies on to the lace.

handsewn Daisy flower lace for custom wedding dress
vintage wedding dress alterations

Designing the vintage wedding dress upcycle

Madelie came to me with many ideas, which I love! A pinterest board, magazine pages or even a client’s own sketches are all very welcome as part of the design process. We already had the style and shape of her mother’s wedding dress skirt as part of our upcycle design. So we then looked at lots of different options for the bodice, neckline and sleeves.

bespoke wedding dress illustration
wedding gown design
bespoke wedding dress design
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wedding dress design

The Final Design

Final dress design

To see another vintage wedding dress restyle visit Sophie’s wedding dress

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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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As a bespoke bridal designer, it`s my job to make sure your dress looks like it`s part of you.

For this bride, I designed a dramatic satin dress, with a statement bow and asymmetrical ruching across the front and back of the bodice. A more traditional bodice that might have a lace up back, or simple a concealed zip down the middle, but for this dress I didn`t want to break up the flow of the fabric going across the body, so I had to come up with an elegant (and easy to use) solution. Not only did the fastening need to impossible to spot, it also needed to provide support for the bride, so she felt secure in the dress throughout the day.

I created two panels of ruched silk dupion in this beautiful rose gold colour. The panels were secured at the side, not the back, with the top panel being firmly attached with poppers. The panel underneath had hooks and underneath that I made a built in corset behind a heavy-duty zip. Because of the weight of the dress, and how fitted it was, the zip had to work harder than usual, so it was actually very useful to be able to fully hid it. It meant the bride could be fully supported, without the zip interfering with the design.

All that work meant that this bride didn`t have to worry about hitching up her dress or any wardrobe malfunctions, she could just focus marrying her husband and having a gorgeous day with friends and family.

What detail in your wedding dress are you most excited to obsess over?

#bespokeweddingdress #rosegoldweddingdress #bridalboutique #smallbusiness

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Open post by felicitywestmacott with ID 18009485072716170
As a bespoke bridal designer, it's my job to make sure your dress looks like it's part of you. For this bride, I designed a dramatic satin dress, with a statement bow and asymmetrical ruching across the front and back of the bodice. A more traditional bodice that might have a lace up back, or simple a concealed zip down the middle, but for this dress I didn't want to break up the flow of the fabric going across the body, so I had to come up with an elegant (and easy to use) solution. Not only did the fastening need to impossible to spot, it also needed to provide support for the bride, so she felt secure in the dress throughout the day. I created two panels of ruched silk dupion in this beautiful rose gold colour. The panels were secured at the side, not the back, with the top panel being firmly attached with poppers. The panel underneath had hooks and underneath that I made a built in corset behind a heavy-duty zip. Because of the weight of the dress, and how fitted it was, the zip had to work harder than usual, so it was actually very useful to be able to fully hid it. It meant the bride could be fully supported, without the zip interfering with the design. All that work meant that this bride didn't have to worry about hitching up her dress or any wardrobe malfunctions, she could just focus marrying her husband and having a gorgeous day with friends and family. What detail in your wedding dress are you most excited to obsess over? #bespokeweddingdress #rosegoldweddingdress #bridalboutique #smallbusiness

My goal this year is to use up as much of my existing fabric stash as I can. Having been a seamstress for several decades now, I have amassed a huge pile of fabric over the years. That, and I just can’t throw anything away. As a result, I have an island’s worth of gorgeous, unusual and tragically under-utilised material, begging to be used for its purpose – creating unique and beautiful wedding dresses.

So, when Amy approached me about creating some looks for a steampunk Alice in Wonderland themed wedding shoot, it felt like the perfect opportunity to dip into my stash.

As a result, everything was made from fabrics in stock – nothing was bought new. In fact, some of the scraps of lace are from my mum’s stash, so parts of this dress are from the 50s and 60s. I trimmed the gown with scraps of vintage and antique lace, sequins and tulle, as well as torn blue silk for the very Alice bows. They had a long while waiting to be used, but finally these frabrics have their home.

Content creation and creative lead: @reeldealsocial
Lead photographer: @nicolaashleaphotography
Celebrant: @stardustceremonies
Styling and flowers: @foxgloveandblack
Photographer 2: @candiceharrisphotography
Model 1: @rosy053
Model 2: @s.frosties
HMUA: @house_of_belles
Tea set: @teacupswishes
Dress/suit: @felicitywestmacott
Cake: @thecakelabuk
Shoes: @houseofelliotlaceboots
Drinks: @bittersweetbartenders
Stationer: @calistaandbelle
Venue: @wortonhall

42 2
Open post by felicitywestmacott with ID 18004666718915340
My goal this year is to use up as much of my existing fabric stash as I can. Having been a seamstress for several decades now, I have amassed a huge pile of fabric over the years. That, and I just can’t throw anything away. As a result, I have an island’s worth of gorgeous, unusual and tragically under-utilised material, begging to be used for its purpose – creating unique and beautiful wedding dresses. So, when Amy approached me about creating some looks for a steampunk Alice in Wonderland themed wedding shoot, it felt like the perfect opportunity to dip into my stash. As a result, everything was made from fabrics in stock – nothing was bought new. In fact, some of the scraps of lace are from my mum’s stash, so parts of this dress are from the 50s and 60s. I trimmed the gown with scraps of vintage and antique lace, sequins and tulle, as well as torn blue silk for the very Alice bows. They had a long while waiting to be used, but finally these frabrics have their home. Content creation and creative lead: @reeldealsocial Lead photographer: @nicolaashleaphotography Celebrant: @stardustceremonies Styling and flowers: @foxgloveandblack Photographer 2: @candiceharrisphotography Model 1: @rosy053 Model 2: @s.frosties HMUA: @house_of_belles Tea set: @teacupswishes Dress/suit: @felicitywestmacott Cake: @thecakelabuk Shoes: @houseofelliotlaceboots Drinks: @bittersweetbartenders Stationer: @calistaandbelle Venue: @wortonhall
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