I recently lost my grandmother and grandfather (after 59 years of marriage, they passed away within 5 weeks of each other) and my family is now faced with the task of going through their belongings to prepare their house to sell. Today my grandmother's wedding dress was found in a closet and we'd like to find a way to take the material from her dress and create some sort of mementos. I've heard of creating christening gowns out of old wedding dresses, but there likely won't be any more babies born. I was just wondering if any of you have created memory gifts out of a wedding dress before & if so, what did you create? Do you know of any web sites that offer this as a service? (We're not very crafty & would be afraid to tackle anything ourselves!) Any ideas or suggestions on what we could create out of her beautiful dress would be most appreciated - thanks.
I was Just thinking today of what to do with a small piece of my Grandmothers wedding dress..(married 1929) . A beautiful piece of silk. I make rose fabric pins..using satin and vintage fabrics. I think I will make a beautiful pin out of it. So, maybe that would make a nice heirloom...good luck!
Love some of these ideas, especially the pillows and quilts. We have some heirloom quilts from my grandmother and great-grandmother and they are beautiful and useful.
Another thought - I haven't done anything like this myself, but I saw some photos on silk once at an art show (they are then framed or hung like a piece of fabric art) and it was really beautiful. Googling I found a few things, like this: http://www.lazertran.com/techniques/textiles.htm
My sympathies over the loss of your Grandparents.
You could have a small purse/bag made for each of your daughters and their female cousins to use at their weddings. And/or, have a large card bag made to hold the greeting cards and envelopes given during the weddings.
Although you don't think there will be more babies from your generation, you could still have a Christening gown made for your Grandchildren to wear someday. Have one made and store it away until the first girl in the family (your daughter or one of her cousins) has a baby. What an incredible heirloom!
I think it is a wonderful idea to create something from your grandmother's wedding dress. While I haven't made one myself, I've heard about making quilts from meaningful squares of old clothing items (i.e., infant clothes, vacation tee-shirts, bridesmaid or prom dresses, etc.). I've also heard about a woman who made pillows from her daughter's infant dresses (the ones that were too cute to just get rid of). She made them for her daughter who is now a teenager. Depending on the size of the wedding dress, you could probably make several pillows for different family members. Another idea would be to make a ring bearer pillow for use in any future family weddings. It would be a nice way of remembering your grandmother at a family event.
As far as the craft/sewing part, you might try posting an ad at a local fabric store for a seamstress or someone who enjoys making crafts such as these. If you are interested in the quilting idea, you you might be able to find someone at one of the local quilting stores who would be willing to make it for you or know someone who would. Good luck.
One thing I saw long ago after the death of my sister was a place that made gowns for porcelain dolls out of clothing. They would take the dress or other item and make an angel's gown out of the material. You could then put it on a porcelain doll or, if it is something you want, they would stuff the gown with material to make the body and head for the angel. The items were very pretty, even with just regular material. You could do this for each of the grandchildren--young and old--as a reminder. The idea for future generations and christining gowns or wedding accessories is also great. For places that sew, yuo could probably go to a seamstress and let them know what you would like to do. Ask to see wome of their own personal work to see if they would meet what you want.
