I took my sister’s wedding dress and turned it into her daughter’s First Holy Communion dress.

It shouldn’t have been that hard, but we wanted to use the existing hemline from the adult dress with a train. The front came out all right, because there was a slight curve to the adult dress and it manged okay on the kid-sized dress. But the back panels of the kid-sized dress were made from a completely straight hem along an adult dress with a train. There was no way to force a curve. So, the middle back is longer on the Communion dress than the front. I think it will look okay – a bit like a train perhaps. I’ll take pictures when my niece wears the dress in April.

If you click on the photos, they get really big and you can see the details, like the beading I hand-stitched around the neckline…or how lousy my zipper is!

Lots and lots of prayers went into this dress. I really was unsure that I could pull it off. Definitely, all that is good about this dress is from God, and all those imperfections are mine.

What I like best is that the dress is completely recycled. Even the zipper is off the wedding dress. The only thing I had to provide was thread, which I happened to have already. So, total cost was $0.00 plus three months labor. It was worth every minute. I plan for my daughters to wear it as well, and so I was working for three dresses, not just one.

And now, if you will draw your attention to the wedding dress – or rather, if you will consider the setting of the photo, you must realize that this is my bedroom. That is a picture of General Patton on my bedroom wall. It hangs right above the valet, where my husband hangs his uniform when he’s home. I think it’s a nice juxtaposition. Also note the pictures to the left of the dress. There are eight mini-pictures of cavalry soldiers and a medium sized picture of a cavalry soldier above my dresser. On the next wall (out of view) is a pretty big print of this painting.

Fortunately, my husband is quite aware that I spoil him rotten by providing this masculine sanctuary. He is most grateful, and in return, allows me free reign in the rest of the house. I’m not a real flowery kind of person anyway.