Weddingbee

Remember the veil my Dad made me? Sigh, it meant the world to me.

When it came time for my cousin to shop for her veil, I showed her this lace edged delight that inspired Mrs. Bellpepper’s mother to make her veil. At $800, this veil is priced to leave you homeless.

Inspired by the prowess of Mrs. Bellpepper’s mother and of my own poppa’s, I offered (and begged) to make a similar veil for my cousin.

She was open to the idea if not a little skeptical. First we took pictures of the (not yet sewn on) lace on the train of her gown.

With print-outs in hand, I went to trim and lace store extravaganza M&J Trimming and two hours and $25 later, came out with two different types of lace trim and a little metal comb. I had my mom contact her tulle hookup for a few free yards (normally about $30) and then followed the instructions here to cut a cathedral length veil. After I pranced around the house for a bit with the veil fastened to my head, I sat down and very carefully (using cuticle scissors) cut out pieces of lace from the trim. The lace I bought was double-faced which is imperative for the sewing (more on that later) and a symmetrical layout.

Next, I spent a thousand hours laying and re-laying out different patterns around the edge of the veil.

When I was finally, finally satisfied, I pinned all the little pieces of the lace down to the tulle.

Then I spent the next million hours carefully hand-sewing each piece of lace onto the back of the tulle. In order to ensure that nothing snags, you literally have to sew the entire perimeter of each piece of lace onto the tulle but not actually through the lace (which you would then be able to see on the “good side”) but between the threads of the embroidery. Brutal.

After all the little bastards were secure on the tulle, I gathered the top edge and sewed it onto the little metal comb. I sewed a little white satin ribbon over the bunching just to give it a smoother look. In this picture, the comb is meant to be tucked under a hair bun. Of course, on the morning of my cousin’s wedding, I realized she wanted to insert the veil OVER the bun so I had to quickly cut the comb loose to flip it and reverse it.

Her professional pictures are not yet all ready (some are here) so I am forced to reveal my final creation with this rather lackluster photo of my cousin in a classroom at the Brooklyn Botantic Garden.

While the final cost was only $25, the amount of hours I spent on this project made me understand the $800 price tag (a teensy bit). But my cousin loved it which made everything worthwhile.

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