Are you gonna make that?

Taking a small break from the posing tutorial (of dubious quality!), I've been thinking about a question I get asked a lot.

"Are you going to make your dress?"


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I've been asked this question since before I got engaged. I completely get the meaning behind it - I sew, and I sew well, so why wouldn't I - and I'm doing my best to take the question as a compliment and not get amused at how frequently I hear it. Everyone who's asked me doesn't know that everyone else has also asked.

So here's the skinny. No, I'm not making my dress. Why? There are a few reasons.



First, I don't want to dislike it. Ever. And there's a little bit of frustration that goes into every piece of clothing I make. Not every seam is easy. Little details that look carefree can become tedious hours of hand-sewing or pleating. I can't deny that it would be fantastic to make a dress so fabulous and wonderful that everyone who came to the wedding would be in awe, but that brings me to my next reason for not making my dress:

I suck at designing. While I can duplicate a costume from a photo or find a pattern to alter, I don't have much of a design-oriented brain. I'm always in awe of the contestants on Project Runway because they have all this original creativity every week. My Queen of Hearts dress was an "original" creation, but it was all from pre-done pattern pieces I picked and chose as I saw fit. I didn't design any of those lines and seams.


In the end, if I made a wedding dress, I think I'd have this awful feeling that it was either a replica of what came out of a pattern book or just a bunch of pattern pieces that never quite look right together. It's ok to do that with a costume; those don't have quite the emotional weight or impact to them that I'd like in a dress.

I have a friend who made her own wedding dress and it was GORGEOUS. She has a natural eye for how clothing fits, and she's a pro at sewing items that really flatter her body type. I'm envious every time I see her work. Mine would never look that way.

My third reason for not wanting to make my own dress: when would I do it? I'm the slowest seamstress EVER, and while Dr. Light occasionally works evenings, I would never find enough time to do all the intricate details without him finding out what my dress looked like. I definitely don't want him to know before our first look.

Lastly, I wanted that fun experience of going to a store, trying on gowns, and feeling awesome for a while. It seems like such a tradition. I know that many women make their own gowns to save on money, or they have a vision of a dress that isn't sold in stores. I didn't have any of that when I started thinking about wedding gowns. When I fell in love with mine, it was because the gown was unique and fun, and somebody else was going to make it for me with fabulous materials.

My gown gets here February 14. <3 Until then, I will remain patient with the question, since in another universe, perhaps I would have made my dress.