Ideas for My Wedding Dress

What does the dress look like? Like my dress -- I considered cutting off the skirt and using the bodice as a fancy top (strapless and beaded). Maybe look at the dress and see if you can deconstruct any part of of it and make it into another outfit that you can wear more regularly.

As someone earlier mentioned, if you are religious and planning a Babtism, you could make it into a Christening gown; it would make a great family heirloom. My son was Babtized in a gown made from my grandmother's wedding dress. As were all of his cousins, all of my cousins, and my aunt and uncles. At this point, we live all over the country so when one of my generation is having a baby, we call up the keeper of the gown and have it sent to us. A great family tradition!

You might consider framing it. I'm at Crooked Halo/Frames by You at 137Kinderkamack, Park Ridge. www.eframesbyyou.com I've framed Christening Gowns and other things. We can get creative with it ( Fold it so it's not huge for example)
Esp if you want it as a keepsake.

I use mine as a dust collector in my closet. It works beautifully. :)

Possibly a throw blanket or pillow for a couch or a chair.

I bet it would make an absolutely beautiful teddy bear if you had someone who could do it.I have seen beautiful bears with the lace and ribbons and fabric being utilized. A keepsake for both of you. And you can always keep the remenant that are left over for any other children you have to make bears for them as well.
ORRR: you could also have a dress made for a collector doll a miniature of your wedding dress!

Why don't you try mounting it in a shadow box with a few other items from your wedding, then hanging it? My mother did that a few years ago for my cousin when she got married. Mom mounted the invitation, a flower from the bouquet, the crown from her veil, the gloves she wore, and a picture of her on the special day wearing all of these things.

I also had a non-traditional wedding dress. I got pregnant shortly after getting married and am now preg again with Baby #2, so I haven't been able to put my plan for my dress into action. But, once I have our second (we're only planning for 2 children) I hope to "get my body back" to the shape I was in when I got married and I'll turn my wedding dress into a cocktail dress. I'm going to cut some of the length off and dye it either a soft ballet pink or a deep chocolate brown. Then I can wear it to various functions and hopefully get a bit more use out of a gown that I spent way too much money on!

Without knowing anything about it is hard to say. I am avid seamstress and have done tons of stuff with fabrics. I just did a wall hanging with several fabrics we bought overseas in different countries. It looks like a mini quilt.
Others have mentioned some good ideas. We took my husband's shirt he wore for our wedding and every year we take a pic of my son in it. It's nice to see the changes over the years. He is 5 now.
You could make a throw with some other colored fabric to drape over the bottom of your bed. If you add several colors it would never not match something you do in there.
My mom was a size 2, I was a 20. She had 130 buttons on her dress, it was beautiful!! She took some of them off and used them for the buttons on my dress.

N.

Hi C.

Just a thought, but you could take your wedding dress and have it made into a Christening gown or communion dress for your child or future children.... (of course that is if you celebrate these occasions!)

Good luck!

K. Sheehan
The Merry Bird...pen,ink and design
"Your Stationery in Flight"
http://www.themerrybird.com

Actually, I was kind of thinking of making mine into a blanket or a quilt, usable or decorative. Just a thought. Good luck!

I've heard of people having it made into a Christening gown or blanket for a new baby. May not work for your 13 month old though.

Make a communion dress for your daughter. Or her first dance/ prom.

If you are having your children Baptized, you can convert the dress into a Christening outfit. If the children are older, maybe a Communion dress. Good Luck!

Having no idea what it looks like, it is difficult to make a suggestion. My daughter is getting married in Sept. and she is a size 2. My gown is a size 20! No cutting it down. My suggestions to my daughter were, 1. keep it in case she has a daughter that will follow the "normal" female size of our extended family" or, 2. Have the gown made into a beautiful keepsake comforter. I had nearly 20 feet of Irish layered lace! Maybe you could do the same with your gown? Then there is always the idea of matching pillows shams. You could take pieces of your gown and make a patchwork quilt. If you are not up for a full sized one, make a small one and have it framed as a piece of art to hand down for generations to come, maybe slip photos behind the fabric like a kind of visible time capsule. Good luck.

I used my wedding dress to make a christening outfit for my first born. Then had all my children baptized in it.

I had a relative use her's to make her grand-daughter's christening gown...

If you are Catholic you can save it and have it used to make your daughters communion dress.

i am a non traditional quilter and have made heirlooms of various clothing for people. Clothing into a quilt, grandma's fannel nighty was nothing any one wanted but grandpa loved curling up under it everynight after she was gone. Those beautiful ballerina and dance outfits that they go through so fast. A smaller "picture" can be made even including your wedding annoucement and photos copied and printed into the material. Even a three-dimentional shadow box that could encompass a varity of elements. The designs and posibilities are endless and a woderful heirloom that you actually see is the result. ____@____.com

I made a piece of mine into a christening outfit for both my son and daughter. We also added parts of my mothers, my mother -inlaws, and grandma's. It came out wonderful and is truely heirloom material. Have Fun!

How about making the dress into throw pillows, place mats, small bedspread, a small quilt or maybe part of a larger quilt (with your mother in law's and your mother's dress)?

A friend of mine made her wedding dress into a christening dress. She was able to make a dress, jacket, hat, bib & a bag to hold the cards. It was beautiful.

Make it into pillows or a memory quilt. Or if you are handy with sewing make a "mini
dress.. think doll sized and put it in a shadow box.. or folding it over in an interesting way and make it a shadowbox. What you dont' use in the making of a memry craft, you can make into sachets to put in drawers, etc.

Hi C.,

Here is an idea my friends boss and his wife used for her wedding dress. She used it to make christening outfit out of for her children. Some people might be shocked to think about cutting up something that means so much but, like you said I think about it more as recycling and letting your loved one share in your happiness for another day! I'd be curious what you decided to do with your dress.

T.

They make scrapbooks that have a shadowbox in the back...you fill the scrapbook with pictures of the event and put the thicker momentos in a shadowbox...I've seen it done with baby clothes....you might not fit all the dress..
Have Fun!

maybe you could make it into a little black dress. cut desired pattern and dye it black and shadow box the rest of the material. or buy one of those dolls that resemble your child and have the dress made to fit the doll.