What can I make out of my wedding dress?

[JoyNChrist]

I'm looking for something to do with my wedding dress.

I definitely want to preserve it - it's gorgeous, and I've never felt more beautiful than I did on the day that I wore it. But it's been taking up closet space for 2 years because I just don't know what to do with it. I don't want to save it for a future daughter (I don't think many people wear heirloom dresses anymore, and it's extremely small (I'm 6' tall and wore a size 0 at the time) so I don't think it would likely fit anyway, and besides that I don't even have a daughter right now). So what do I make out of it?

I thought about maybe a quilt, but I'm not sure the fabrics would work. It's satin sheath dress with a beaded lace overlay. Here are some pics of me wearing it, as well as a link to the dress maker's site...
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n.../shortened.jpg
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n...ingPics001.jpg
http://www.marisabridals.com/details...s=14&style=601

Maybe I could make some sort of throw pillows out of it? (my bedroom is done in shades of cream, so that would work well with the decor) Or some sort of wall-hanging? Or maybe a purse or handkerchief that I could display somewhere in my home, and then my future daughters or daughters-in-law could carry when they got married?

I'm not a very experienced seamstress, but I do have the help of my grandmother, who is extremely talented at sewing.

[poisonedpenny]

I like the ideas of throw pillows and handkerchiefs.

You say you have a son, why not a pocket square for when he gets married? You could embroider your wedding date on there, and then when he gets married he can get his date embroidered on there and pass it on to one of his kids.

And if you make a hanky, if you DO end up having a girl, she can use it to wrap her bouquet. (If she does a hand-tied style anyway.)

Another thing you can do is see if the dress can be let out. You could have it dyed and/or cut to a more cocktail length and wear it to other fancy events in your life.

A final idea is with the "wall-hanging" idea you touched on earlier.. If you have any other wedding mementos, such as an invite or dried flowers, program, etc. You could piece them all together and do a shadow box. The fabric from your dress could be used as a background.

Hope these help you find some inspiration!

[lightheart]

beautiful dress, beautiful bride!

If your going to cut it up you should be able to make a few different items out of it, a quilt sound very nice, I like quilts though material wouldn't be a 'picnic quilt' but for something pretty it would... maybe even use part in a small crazy quilt.

You could make some sachets out of it, fill them with lavender or dried herbs and put in your dresser drawers, be sure to sew the opening shut by hand so that you can dump out and refil them as the years go by.

use pieces in patchwork clothing

dresser scarf

what about making a ring pillow out of it for future family weddings

[fuzzypeach]

Yes, you and the dress both are quite lovely!

I like the idea of saving a hankerchief's worth for your son or possible dd to use in their wedding, and the pillows idea.

One idea I have always liked is covering a photo mat in material from the dress and using it to frame a wedding photo.

[BedHead]

My mom made a baptismal gown out of hers that all 3 of us kids wore and all of her grandchildren wore when they and we were baptized. She's going to pass it down to me as the oldest kid and hopefully her greatgrandchildren will wear it too!

[courtenay_e]

Yes, we used satin from my dress for my kids' baptismal gowns

[Fyrestorm]

I would do a quilt with it as well as DD's baby clothes and save it for her hope chest.

[skybluepink02]

I'm planning on making mine into a Christening gown. It was a pretty full skirt, so I've got enough for a boy's version and a girl's version, or just a GN version if I want to.