Sewing: Dresses for a Wedding

My brother-in-law was married this past weekend(!) and I was a bit concerned that the flower girls would steal the show. Likely it was my giddiness (and lack of sleep) after finishing the four dresses in time. But even though they were completely adorable (especially while throwing the rose petals) of course they didn't steal the show. You should have seen the bride, my new sister-in-law. Breathtaking. Everything about this wedding was beautiful. I haven't been to one in a long time and it was so fun to see the details and all her perfect DIY.

The wedding was on a deck at a beautiful mountain lodge so it already felt like the perfect setting. But the things the bride selected added that much more. The linen double-layer pillowcase dresses and gold saltwater sandals (such a great pick by the other flower girls' mother) the flower girls wore fit in perfectly with the other details, such as succulents in individual pots for wedding favors; 

dinner napkins paired with a ribbon-tied, tender ee cummings poem and wrapped in an ivory burlap sleeve; ivory burlap and natural linen table runners;

gold ceramic vessels potted with succulents for the buffet; this great "Mom's Typewriter" font for signage, tags, and namecards;

a cluster of centerpieces with ranunculus, hyrangea, succulents, billy balls and twisted reeds;

and darling paper-covered mini clipboards with crossword puzzles to keep the guests mingling at the brunch the next morning. The mother of the other flower girls also orchestrated the brunch, which was delicious.

She used the bridal and maid of honor bouquets as centerpieces--so pretty! When I was married I had been hoping for a bouquet of peonies too but it was too early in the season. These, set off so gorgeously with hosta leaves, were a coup to get this late in the season--I was so happy to see them, but not nearly as happy as the bride!

Ordinarily I would have sewn a little dress for Tess too--in fact I had the perfect one in mind--but I skipped Tess this time and made one for myself. Finished it the morning of the wedding! I just couldn't find anything like what I had in mind, and for the first time in a long time I found a pattern just like I had designed in my head. So mommy had a new dress too.

If only it had been a little easier to document all of us in our dresses. These pictures were the best we could come up with.

Phew! We made it to the wedding. And it was beautiful. For a little bit more about my dress click to keep reading. For my tutorial for making a double-layer pillowcase dress click here.

This pattern by Butterick (B5320) was just what I was looking for! I was hoping for either a wrap dress with a ruffled portrait collar, or a ruffled blouse and wrap skirt. I was so excited about it when I found this at the fabric store. And I love this medium grey linen. It's from the same line as the linen for the girls' dresses, which I bought at Joann. I even love the lining fabric, which is a beautiful light, warm grey.

Though I am gushing about the perfection of the pattern I did make some changes. I lengthened it by about twelve inches (buying the right amount of fabric was a trick!), changed to a full rather than a cap sleeve, and widened the tie. The tie could have been a bit longer but I only realized that after trying on the dress.

I love the way the collar lays and the linen hangs and wrinkles. It's fully lined too. Very fun to wear! Makes me want to sew some more for myself. I wish I had some full length photos to share but I've been too busy unpacking, doing laundry and other general catchup after a couple weeks of sewing. You'll have to just imagine...