I have my mother's wedding dress (it is about 50yrs old) and want to make something for my children out of it. Does anyone have any ideas?
Mary from Hollywood, FL
I made the grandkids (7) each a ring bearer pillow. I know it would have made her (my mom) happy to be a part of each of their weddings.
Making a First Holy Communion dress might have a lot of meaning.
I've seen throw pillows made of wedding dress fabric/lace. Also, you could cut out squares of it to use in a quilt (or several quilts) along with other special fabrics like prom and bridesmaid dresses, baby's blanket, etc.
I had handkerchiefs and garters made for all of my children (3 girls and 1 boy- for his wife to use). They made wonderful "something old"'s, and the handkerchieves were carried with the bouquets.
I suggest making a doll gown out of it to display. It would be great to make it in the original style.
I had a mink coat left to me by my grandmother but it wasn't really wearable.
I would think that a few shadow boxes made with some of the gowns fabric, maybe a few pics of the woman that wore the gown and the man she married, a few other pieces of personal items. A pic of the one you're giving the item to, would make great keepsakes.
My grandmother had a christening gown made for her 4th child, a son, and the remainder was made into rosary holders for her 3 daughters. I re-made my daughter's Victorian dress on her 10th anniversary for a more updated shorter design.
It would be special to make each child or grandchild a covered photo album for their own wedding photos. You could include a small note and photo of the original wearer and include a family tree inside the front cover of the album for a keepsake.
By Jean
By Willem
By c. nelson
Make a new wedding dress or prom dress out of the ones that are outdated. There are yards of satin, lace and the under-skirting that would make some girl, that otherwise couldn't afford a new dress, something spectacular. Ask the school counselor if there is someone that wouldn't be offended by charity and go for it.
By Carla Bledsoe
Also, there are charity sites that make over wedding dresses into burial buntings for babies. It is such a tragedy for a family when a baby passes; and, of course, they would like to have them dressed in something beautiful. There aren't too many places out there that grieving parents can go shopping to pick up such an item.
This is just an idea to think about.
By Peg S.
There are so many things. Halloween outfits, head pieces etc. Have fun!
By Laura
By Threegetts
By LRP
By susan
By Mary
Also, here's another idea. I just finished making a "My Secret Stuff" box for my granddaughter. It was just a paper mache box covered with material in her favorite colors, lined inside with a contrasting color. I folded the material for the sides and top so as to have a "pleated" look. I attached artificial flowers on the top. I wrote her name in puffy pen on a round circle of contrasting color and glued it to the bottom to cover all the pleats.
She just turned 8 years old and she absolutely loved the gift. Inside I place dozens of pieces of candy. Each one was wrapped with paper I printed on my computer with her photo on it and a birthday wish for her. She had lots of sweets to give out to all the little girls who came to her party.
Now after reading the other posts, I would have liked to cover it with material from her mother's wedding dress or my old one. What a treasure to pass down to the next generation. If you made this as a wedding present, you could put family photos of the couple when they were small inside the box. What a fun, memorable gift, made with your own hands!
By Linda
The American Sewing Guild of America collects wedding gowns from thrift stores & garage sales to make burial gowns & envelopes to store the information about the baby that died.
They also have women who knit or crochet baby blankets for the mother to keep after she's held her dead baby. All supplies are donated by quilters.
Donate to Brides for Breast Cancer for Breast Cancer victims to have the beautiful weddings of their dreams
Works for Prom dresses too
You could turn your dress into a fancy pillow or a table runner.
I plan to use my wedding dress to make Christmas ornaments. I will pass them on to our daughter (and any other children we might have) when they get a place of their own.
how about pressing the flowers from the bride's bouquet ,mounting them on fabric from the dress and framing them as beautiful pictures? They would make great souvenirs for the bride and bridesmaids/mother of the bride & groom etc.
How about pressing the flowers from the bouquet and making pictures using the fabric of the dress as the background? Once framed these would make unique gifts for the mothers of the bride/groom and the bridesmaids and would be a lovely keepsake for the bride herself.
I turn old wedding dresses into tree top Angels, Angel ornaments, wedding favors, flower girl baskets, pillows, and more. It's a shame that all this beautiful materials is stuck in a storage box somewhere.
betsyf at se(dot)rr(dot)com
WHAT A BEAUTIFUL DOLL BETSY
I recently received parts of my mother's wedding dress, namely the underlining. It is in wonderful shape and I would like to make some sort of keepsake out of it. It wouldn't fit me and I am already married, but I don't know what to make. Does anyone have any suggestions? It's made from very heavy satin.
By Melissa from Odessa, MO
I don't have any idea how much yardage you have but why not make a frilly decorative pillow to go on your bed. Something that everytime you look at it, you will think of your Mother.
I got my father's bath robe after he died. We were going to share it among siblings a year at a time, but my sister found a lady who took the robe and made 4 teddy bears out of it. That way we all had something of daddy's and it was cute to boot. My teddy bear was present for both my daughter's weddings and was posed in most of their photos.
Depending on yardage, you could use it for a small decorative quilt, and embroidery your parents wedding date/name on one square, your name on one (with your spouse and date if married) on another, siblings on others. Or just the children and use beads or embroidered embellishments on the random squares to make a family tree type.
Or, put your parents names and anniversary in the middle square, then print photo's of them and their children on the transfers you can buy and use those on other squares. I made a "memory" quilt (made 10" squares with 2" binding) out of my wedding dress lining for my son/daughter in law doing this with their names/date in the center, a couple of random squares had the lace appliques from the outer layer, some had embroidered flowers in their wedding colors, etc.
This way I still have the outer layer and some of the lining for a gown for future grandchildren.
I have 2 daughters who will someday marry. My mother's wedding dress is still in her attic and is very worn, fragile, and grayish in color. I want to use pieces of her dress to create "something old" for each of them to have on their wedding day. Her veil is also with the dress and I want to incorporate this into my plan.
Any ideas?
Thanks.
By Ann
You can make a 'hanky' for each girl, with parts of the dress fabric, and the veil for a lace border. Part of each could be used on the ring bearer's pillow, if they are planning to use one.
This is what I did with my mother's old gown. I asked the florist to incorporate part of the lace of my mother's dress in to their bridal bouquet. The florist did an amazing job and it looked beautiful. I did this for all 3 of our daughters. My mother was passed away by the time our daughters got married, so this was a very special way to include her in the ceremony. I hope your daughter has a beautiful wedding and a happy marriage.
