Short and Sweet

(Note to new readers: Sometimes, if the project is interesting enough and you catch me at a weak moment, I make dresses. You may call it a labour of love, or just labour, as the process can be time consuming and painful but the results are usually worth it. I'm wearing work clothes again, so I thought I would share something pretty... if you wanna check out more, see here, here and here...)
Picking one of the dresses that I've made as a favourite feels wrong, almost like having a favourite child and telling everyone in the family. So, I will diplomatically say that I really like this dress.

The bride 'D' is one of my bosom buddies (does anyone say that anymore?) and I was ecstatic when she was all in for a short wedding dress. I know it takes a lot of trust for someone to get a custom dress without having a chance to try it on as you would in a bridal store and it takes even more courage to let some crazy make you a short wedding dress. I'd been wanting to send a bride down the aisle with some leg for a while and 'D' was a perfect candidate.
She was so patient with me... we knew we wanted a sweetheart neckline with a short, full skirt but I was waiting for inspiration to hit me (waiting in front of the tv with a glass of wine?) as to how to make this dress unique. I made the bodice and it wasn't until a month and a half before the wedding when I was playing with the skirt and I let the silk ruffle at the waist that I knew we had something special. I sewed a strand of silver sequins along the ruffle (doesn't it look like peonies or something?) as a understated little detail. The bubble hem wasn't originally planned for either, we just tucked it under during a fitting and suddenly choirs started singing... I feel bad that 'D' had to wait for me to be inspired, but it all worked out and I made it up to her by hiring Rodrigo for her bachelorette... I'm joking Mom...
We felt especially crafty about the short dress because we only told the essentials about the hemline. The pastor kept talking about how the maid-of-honour would have to help carry the dress and arrange it during the signing etc. and we were giggling like Gr. 7 kids in co-ed gym class... Is it bad that when the church doors opened and my pretty friend stood ready to walk down the aisle, I just wanted to yell 'Surprise!'...? That would have gotten confusing though...

And a sneak peak... I made three of the bridesmaids dresses too... another post, another day...