Diane the Bride

A generous gift deserves a heartfelt thank you. A dear friend of mine offered her wedding dress to my daughter Martha. She knows that Martha loves to wear vintage and retro clothing. She knows that Martha designs and sews what she wears. She correctly guessed that Martha would want the dress. To put it mildly, Martha was ecstatic.

Diane was married in 1976. She described the dress as a little bit hippy, with a Victorian romantic swish to it. She rather imagined that Martha might alter, restyle, and dye it. As it turns out, Martha loved it just the way it is. The only changes she made were to the hem length and sleeve length. Martha is 5′ 2″ and Diane is 5′ 8″! Even the size was perfect! Martha has a new blog for herself and her second post was about the dress remake. Read about it here to see pictures.

The dress had three gathered tiers for the skirt. Martha removed the bottom tier and gave it back to me. I also got a portion of the lining and a couple of 9″ bits of lace from the cuffs. From these pieces I fashioned a tiny replica of Diane the Bride as a way to say thank you.

I had some white lace in my stash that I tea dyed to match. The lace on the collar and cuffs are from the actual dress.

Diane wore a halo of pink roses.

This Diane has appliqued hair.

Skinny strapped sandals adorn her little feet just like the real Diane wore.

Diane sent me this picture showing how she has her new doll displayed next to her wedding picture.