Saturday, November 30, 2024

Beaded wedding veil

Years ago I trimmed my daughter's wedding veil with beads. She had collected some beads on her travels and planned to use them to add a glimmer of light along the edge of her veil.  

The veil has been in storage and needs ironing but I would nevertheless like to keep a record of it so I photographed it as is. 


Unfortunately with time, the silver tube beads have lost their shine. As the bride walked down the aisle they added a little sparkle that twinkled along the edge. 

There was lots of fun and to and fro by email to find the perfect look! The spacing as well as the size of the beads and sequins made a big difference to the delicate effect we were after.  These are a few of the drawings and samples I stitched, together with the eventual pattern. 


To transfer the design for the veil - which is circular - I drew up the pattern for one quarter of the veil. I covered the pattern with plastic and then tacked it under the tulle. The plastic overlay ensured that no black ink markings were transferred from the pattern. It also provided stability to the fine net while I worked on it adding the beads. 

One half of the circle was embroidered on the front of the tulle and one half on the back. This was so that the circle of tulle could eventually be folded in half and all the beading would be on the right side. Finally, I beaded a white hair comb, gathered up the net, and attached it to the comb. 


It simply looked like a continuation of the beaded edge of the veil. 

It dawned a glorious summer's day for the wedding too. In typical Cape Town fashion, it was windy! But not even the howling Cape southeaster could spoil it.

The bride was radiant and beautiful! 

What a wonderful, happy day!


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