Sometimes potential projects fall into my lap and I can’t resist! A friend asked if I could do something with her daughter’s old wedding dress (thanks Peggy!). She had stored it for 15 years and the dress did not hold any positive memories for anyone. However, it did represent an investment in money, time and storage space. Of course, I agreed to see what I could do with the dress.
It arrived in its archival storage box, straight from her attic.
Before I opened the box, I spent several days researching my options. I found many possible projects on Pinterest using a wedding dress. However, most were special items to preserve the memories of the owner. For example, I found Christening dresses for the first baby, Christmas ornaments and even a lovely memory bear!
Those ideas were great if the dress was a special heirloom to the family. However, this particular dress did not hold any special memories for me or the family…it was basically a beautiful dress with lots of material that could be recycled into something else. I remembered hearing about recycling wedding dresses into tiny dresses for NICU babies that had not survived.
Recycling a Wedding Dress for NICU Babies
I started with the various charities who accept wedding dresses that are recycled into tiny dresses for NICU babies. Such a sad thought, but what a wonderful service! I was unable to talk with a real person, but the website, https://www.theangelgownproject.com had a complicated application process to submit a dress (a filled out application, all bows and ribbons removed, dress packed in the tiniest box possible and mailed someplace in the U.S.). They would not be able to acknowledge receipt of the dress or tell me what happened to it. It felt like I would be just shipping it to a landfill!
Then I discovered a number of organizations across the country that provide this service and encouraged local groups of seamstresses to get together and make them for their local communities. To help with this effort, I found many patterns available to freely download. I decided to make the tiny dresses myself. Once they are made, I’ll find a way to donate them to a hospital nearby.
Deconstructing the Dress
My first step was to get the dress out of the box…no small task! I thought children’s Christmas toys were wrapped up tight! The dress was clean but very wrinkled…except for the very front that showed through the plastic. I laid it out on the floor to get a feel for its design and decoration.
I removed the lining in one large piece. Then I made two cuts down the sides of the dress to remove the train section of the dress. I wanted to leave it in one solid piece to preserve as much of the fabric as possible until I was sure what I was going to make.
Now I have a huge pile of satin fabric with sections of lace, a huge pile of lining fabric, 23 lovely fancy buttons and a long white zipper! The fabric will need to be ironed and my pattern figured out. Look for that in Part 2, coming soon!
Let me know if you did something special with your family wedding dress…who knows, I may want to try some other things. Enjoy!
Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.