I'm thrilled to welcome back Shea from Empty Bobbin Sewing Studio. If you recall, Shea previously shared her fantastic Christmas dress tradition post towards the end of last year. Today, she’s back with something truly special—a stunning white dress she crafted for her daughter, which is destined to become a cherished family heirloom. Let me pass it over to Shea.
For several years, I’ve known that when the moment arrived for our eldest child’s First Communion, I would create her dress. While I wasn’t sure about the style or fabric, there was absolutely no doubt in my mind—I would make it myself. As I approached the final stages of dressmaking, I confided in a friend, saying, "Thankfully, I only have one daughter. Otherwise, I don’t think I could handle making more than one of these dresses!" My friend immediately grinned and responded, "Oh, but if Eleanor had a sister, they'd both wear it. And you’d call it a family heirloom."
That comment stuck with me, and it inspired me to design something timeless that could be passed down through generations.
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My mom still owns the First Communion dress she and my aunt wore in the 1950s, along with my own dress from the '80s (complete with its signature drop waist and oversized collar) and my younger sister’s dress from the '90s (featuring those iconic flutter sleeves). We even let our daughter try them on just for fun. Deep down, though, I knew I wanted to recreate my mom’s dress. The Oliver + S Fairy Tale Dress pattern turned out to be the perfect foundation.
While keeping certain elements as a nod to the original was essential, modernizing the design to suit contemporary tastes was equally important. The graduated horizontal pleats, collar, sparkles, and length were integral aspects I wanted to preserve. The lace and sleeves, however, underwent changes.
Selecting the right fabrics proved crucial, and we spent quite some time—on multiple trips—searching until I found the perfect combination. The original dress was sheer and worn over a full slip. To mimic this effect, I used chiffon for the top pleated layer and white voile underneath. Hidden beneath are lining fabric and three layers of tulle. In her hair, she wore my wedding veil from our reception (it was slightly too long and full for her, but the sentimental value made it worth including).
The horizontal pleats were achieved using a technique similar to what's illustrated here. I created a large rectangle of pleated fabric for the front bodice, then cut the pattern pieces from that and the voile. Omitting the darts from the pattern ensured the pleats worked well without making the fit baggy. The chiffon and voile were basted together along the edges of the pieces. This was done for the front and back bodice as well as the sleeves (taken from the Library Dress pattern). However, for the back bodice pieces, I skipped pleating the chiffon since it’s slippery and I didn’t want to risk misaligned pleats once the invisible zipper was added.
The collar was constructed by sewing two pieces of chiffon together, while the skirt was cut into one long rectangle. This approach allowed the pleats to run seamlessly around the entire circumference, with only one seam at the back zipper.
Figuring out the graduated pleats, hem, and how to separate them from the voile at the hem required quite a bit of math. Though it wasn’t overly complicated, it did take time to perfect. I measured each pleat on the original dress and the spacing between them to create an accurate replica. Chiffon can be finicky, so until I removed the skirt from the sewing machine, I kept questioning whether this would actually work. Every step felt like living the creative process meme: “This is awesome. This is tricky. This is terrible. I am terrible. This might be cool. This is amazing!!†By the time I reached the hand-sewing at the zipper and adding the "sparkles," I felt incredibly proud. Eleanor would occasionally pop in to see the progress and would reward me with a hug and a heartfelt "thank you."
When we attended church for the group photo, another mom asked Eleanor if she had enjoyed shopping for her dress. Eleanor confidently replied, "Yep!" I stood there, speechless, until she winked at me and proudly explained that her dress had been handmade by me.
As for our two younger sons, when their time comes, I’ll sew them ties. This dress will remain available to potentially be passed down to a grandchild. It doesn’t need a little sister to become a family heirloom.
Thank you, Shea, for sharing your beautiful creation with us!
And in case you’re craving more inspiration, here’s the Girls in White Dresses post we featured last year.
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