To see what I've been up to lately, please visit www.janaymariedesigns.com!

Keyhole Neckline

This dress was quite the transformation...an A-line, strapless, taffeta number into a flowy, sleeved, chiffon gown. You'd never guess what this dress was capable of turning into.

I didn't get a before picture. I'm really terrible at that. But here is a catalog picture from the designer; the only difference - the one I worked with was white, and didn't have the jeweled applique.

 

The bride's dream dress was chiffon, but she got a taffeta one for a steal, so we basically used the original dress as framework for the final product. The first step...take off the taffeta!

We unpicked the skirt and replaced the taffeta with white chiffon (but kept the pockets), and removed all the pleated taffeta on the bodice and waistband. Let's just say that the dress looked pretty naked!

 

The bodice of the dress was the most time-consuming part of this dress. A lot of small pleats, pins, and a LOT of tacking. The bride also had this amazing idea to put a keyhole in the front of the neckline...gorgeous!

 

 

Who said keyholes always have to be in the back??

 

So after a complete deconstruction and reconstruction of this dress (and thread truly covering my apartment), here is the final product!

 

Maggie Sottero Rhianna Royale...one shoulder

Maggie's "Rhianna Royale" is one of those dresses that I saw on the hanger and thought - Oh my land...who in their right mind would put that many flowers on a dress? - and then I saw it on someone. I was wrong. The dress is stunning!

 

I worked with a bride several months ago who had ordered this dress and also fallen in love with a gorgeous lace, one-shoulder neckline she'd seen on Pinterest, (seriously, how did we plan weddings before that genius website came along?). So, we used some extra lace from the hem and made that dream neckline happen! I love when brides have their own unique ideas for custom touches...and this one was no exception. It made the dress totally one-of-a-kind!

 

So, sometimes I'm terrible at remembering to take pictures when the dresses are actually finished. Unfortunately there are lots of little yellow pins in this shot, but other than that, you can get the idea :)

 

Make your dress your own!

 

Fashion Show!

So, a little bit of a different post...my lovely friend Melanie and I designed a funky line of formal gowns for a fashion show. So much fun. So much craziness. We would love love love to do another and whip up a few more dresses. 

These dresses were created with a little bit of everything...the fabrics came from all kinds of sundry items purchased at thrift stores (drapes, bed ruffles, lace curtains, you-name-it), belts from both Melanie and my wedding dresses were temporary components of two of the gowns, we even bought some fabrics at full price at Joann's. Truly, a little of everything...along with a lot of time and a lot of love!

 

 

...more pictures coming as soon as I get the chance!

Just have to say...

So I like to scroll through Pinterest every once in a while. I know I'm married...but, since wedding dresses are kinda my thing, I search "wedding gowns" pretty often. Sometimes I'm looking for a specific idea, or for some inspiration, but most of the time because wedding dresses are my kind of eye candy!
To get to my point...in some of my searching, I've found some pins that just tickle me pink...photos of my brides in their dresses that I've altered! I love it!

Some of the pins...

 

Oh, so fun!

My Wedding!

So, I always love working on other people's wedding gowns...but I was plain addicted to working on my own!

 

Of course I chose the chiffon gown with tons of tiny little pleats through the bodice...if any of you sew, you know that chiffon is one of the most finicky fabrics out there...but it all turned out in the end...

 

I chose the Sottero and Midgley "Anita"...

 

I loved the dress, but wasn't totally sold on the belt, so that got removed and switched out for a hand-beaded, gold, lacey number that I spent about 15 hours creating, (thanks, Big Bang Theory, for keeping entertained during those long hours of beading).

 

After a lot of time pinning, pleating, and steaming, the top was on.

 

  

Then I slipped on some sleeves, and we're good to go...

 

 

 I love open sweetheart necklines, and I chose a looser style of sleeve, because I'm a little

attatched to my ability to move.

 

 

 

Pardon the plethora of wedding photos. I don't have a personal, "here's my life" blog, (although, now that I'm a married Mormon girl, I think there's a rule that I have to get one) so this is my outlet to display a few little tastes of my wedding, with the excuse of showing the alterations on my gown...

 

 

 

Thanks to my beautiful and crazy talented sisters Lorelle and Elise for my flowers and cake!

 

 

 

I loved my wedding, I loved my dress. While it's nice to have the wedding planning over, there's a part of me that's sad the planning is over. What to do with my time now? Maybe I'll grab a few of my oh-so-talented friends and open up a full service wedding salon...at least a little more sewing for sure!

 

 

Photography: Building Moments Photography

 

Vintage Silk Gown

So this was a fun transformation...the bride had the vision and creativity to make it happen.

We started with the dress looking something like this...in all its 80's glory; the big sleeves and big skirt, the V waistline, all covered in lace and abounding in plastic pearl beads...

And don't forget our favorite embellishment - a nice, big butt bow...

Silly me didn't get a picture of the dress before I started cutting and unpicking things from it (I got a little excited and had already taken the puffy sleeves off), but this picture gives you an idea of what it looked like to begin with.

Here is the dress in progress. The lace is gone, the waistline has been raised, the sleeves have been replaced, and I put rouching around the waist...

Last, we added the bride's final touches. She bought some gold/blush colored necklaces which we took apart and sewed onto the dress to give it some chunky, blingy accents, and here it is!