Comments on: How can I reuse or recycle a wedding dress?

By: Dawn

Dawn — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 20:44:25 +0000

I just took my dress out of the preserved box and can’t wait to turn it into memorable pieces for my 2 daughters- I have been divorced for 3 yrs so I am ok with parting with it- but want to keep a piece (or pieces of it for my daughters) here are some of my thoughts-

make decorative/toss pillows: take the top lace layers from the train and trim to size, layer over bright satin color fabrics! can you see a purple or pink pillow POP under the lace? or what about black pillow with lace on top- reminds me of toile print! fun and fancy!

make small handkerchiefs for their wedding days

dress up veils/headbands for play time

simple barrettes with pieces of pearls, beads attached with glue gun

table runners that they can save for their future homes

If I was still married, and the dress had more sentimental feeling to me, I love the christmas tree skirt idea, and stockings and ornaments. Also a shadow box with your invitation layered over a fabric background. My friends are making first communion gowns for their girls, but I think that’s a lot of money spent (if you’re paying someone) for a one time use item.

By: Becky O.

Becky O. — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 15:49:27 +0000

Tragic and senseless! Can’t believe they couldn’t find a charitable donation for those gowns and fabrics.

But in answer to your question of other uses … I did see a cute holiday decoration recently

Bride and groom snow men made from bridal fabrics and accessorized. Very sweet. Approximately 12 inches tall each.
I suppose with white fabrics any snowman is possible… Not just bride and grooms!

By: xiangirl

xiangirl — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 01:26:42 +0000

I could see some girls going to prom in a tie-dyed dress! Wouldn’t that be fun!? Who would notice an X on the back with wild blue, red, green and yellow tie-dye?!
If you’re considering ideas beyond restoration of the dresses the bodice would make a fun classy handbag (bodice sewn shut at the waist, neck strap becomes over-the-shoulder handle.
Then could the “skirt” portion be made into a circle tablecloth?
I know an elementary school bulletin board would look fabulous with white satin on the background for Jan-Feb “snow” background.
If they have panels of lace it would be fun to sew them into seed bags–like pumpkin seeds, watermelon seeds, larger seeds. Imagine giving away 100 little bags on Mother’s Day in church with a paper note inside identifying the seed & growing instructions. Or small sachets with oil or sweet smelling perfume.

By: Alison Bailey Smith

Alison Bailey Smith — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 10:05:31 +0000

You are right a tragic waste, could any of them be dyed to match the colour of the paint sprayed on…Can the bodices be separated from the skirts. The bodices are the hardest part to make so fortunate they did not spray on there.

By: Julie C

Julie C — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 17:57:06 +0000

A very upscale bridal store in my town went out of business, and they THREW away all of the gowns in a dumpster! Unfortunately, they spray painted a red “X” on the back of each gown beforehand. Made me sick to see the waste, and think about all of the young brides who could have used these! I grabbed several out of the dumpster, and brought them home. Would love to make things with the gorgeous fabrics, and donate them to a worthy cause. (The gowns range in prices from $2-$10,000 retail!) Most of the bodices are in perfect condition….hand beaded, appliqued, etc. I also have yards and yards of gorgeous fabric that was not spray-painted, and miles of tulle. I am not an expert seamstress, but I do know how to sew, and have my own machine. I love all of your creative ideas…if anyone has more to add, please post. I am also looking for reasonably easy pattern resources. Thinking I might be able to make christening gowns, pillows, etc. Again….I would like to make these, and donate them to
brighten someone’s day. I can’t get over the fact that these gowns were not donated….would love to do something special with them. Thanks!

By: Debra

Debra — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 07:04:47 +0000

What about a skirt for the bassenet ? My daughters old wedding dress had a huge bow on the back of the dress and it was perfect for the back of the basket. Their was so much material to gather around as well.

By: alexandrea

alexandrea — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 21:41:22 +0000

THATS A GREAT IDEA, I love how zombi-fied Halloween is becoming, I dont want my dress, but I don’t want to sell it, I think it’s cursed. Perfect idea to thrash into it!

By: Becky O.

Becky O. — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 16:32:30 +0000

Love the tree ornament idea My daughter is getting married in a few days and I was trying to find a way for her to use a piece of my dress as well as one from her grandmothers dress. But so far nothing has jumped to mind. One thing I remembered after reading all these suggestions, is that my daughter was given a pretty handkerchief that was folded and hand sewn with a few stitches, fashioned into a baby bonnet, to wear home from the hospital. It came with a poem about wearing it home from the hospital and a girl using it for her wedding day, a boy would gift it to his wife to be. How nice if it were actually a piece of this dress. Embroidered with my initials and wedding date, and the birthdate if the baby and name. Thanks for reminding me!!!

By: cathy

cathy — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 14:36:45 +0000

you can actually sell old wedding dresses
http://www.greenecoservices.com/reuse-make-and-save-money-with-recycled-wedding-dresses/

By: Jen W

Jen W — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 01:06:43 +0000

I had a friend I helped make a christmas set out of her wedding gown. We used a lot of the train to make a tree skirt, we made stockings for her and her husband, use some of the trimming and veil for ornaments. So now she can enjoy her dress every year and with everything being white and sparkley it makes a good indoor winterwonderland :D

By: Medeea

Medeea — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 14:39:49 +0000

Keep the bodice: you may pair it with a suit and get an interesting look.
Out of the skirt and train, make useful stuffs:
Tablecloth or table runner, napkins, pillow cases.

You could make a quilt: arrange squares of material with the weave in alternating directions. Would make a subtle chess pattern.

You could make curtains or a nice baby quilt.

Or…you could make a white summery suit or a dress (knee length).

By: Ellen

Ellen — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 21:05:10 +0000

Kim

I loved your idea. My niece gets married in Dec. and I want to use the lace from her mother’s gown to make an ornament. I am not handy at all. Do you have a pattern or a pictures I could show someone who could do this for me?

By: Teri Freeland-Jones

Teri Freeland-Jones — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 12:56:09 +0000

Just finished a project to recycle a wedding dress worn in 1951 into a fabric flower wedding bouquet along with a christening gown, bonnet and blanket. It turned out really beautiful. Check the gallery on my website for pictures soon.

By: valerie

valerie — Sun, 28 Aug 2011 18:19:37 +0000

Use your wedding dress for christening dress/ outfit
I used mine for my grandchildren- dress and bonnet for girl, shirt/ vest and pants for boy-

If you don;t have a seamtress who you trust, there are sites online that will make for you-

By: Kim

Kim — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 16:01:23 +0000

I had these crazy fluffy lace sleeves on my dress, circa 1970s. I took the sleeves off and used the fabric and had small lace ornaments made that I hang on my Christmas tree each year. I will eventually pass these ornaments down to my children.

By: Seven Years Divorced

Seven Years Divorced — Sat, 14 May 2011 14:37:35 +0000

Oh my gosh, did you actually do this?

By: Jen

Jen — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 17:04:11 +0000

I love the christmas ornament idea. I also read somewhere about framing a piece the fabric with a picture embossed onto it. It would make a great anniversary gift to your spouse.

By: Pam

Pam — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 22:14:18 +0000

Please send me a picture of this. Im having a hard time getting it from the web site

By: CeCe

CeCe — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 05:03:41 +0000

tear it up a bit get creative, use for Halloween costume ;)

By: Olia

Olia — Tue, 11 May 2010 19:04:14 +0000

Use it to create special pillow cases, etc. for the bedroom.

By: Mekka Parish

Mekka Parish — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:56:58 +0000

I have started a company that will recycle your wedding flowers,
Repurposed Petals. Repurposed Petals is an Atlanta based eco-friendly boutique company that is focused on assisting eco-conscious clients recycle flowers used during their events and facilitate the donation of these blossoms to others so they may capture the essence of joy that flowers bring. Most importantly we do all the work!
Feel Free to contact me at 404-667-5476.

“Recycling Blossoms to Brighten The Day”

By: Teri

Teri — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 01:59:42 +0000

oh,,,,,here is me website http://www.floralalternatives.com

Recycle your old wedding dress into fabric flowers.

By: Teri

Teri — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 01:56:11 +0000

Hi, I cut up your old wedding dress to make fabric flowers used to design a keepsake flower bouquet. You can enjoy it in a vase instead of storing the dress in a box under the bed. I recently completed a project where the mother provided her and her mothers wedding dress which I used a design a bouquet for the daughters wedding day.Check out some of my designs on the website.

By: kathi

kathi — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 00:13:00 +0000

i saw in a magazine where somebody made a christmas stocking from the satin and along the top they had used a piece of mink that they had recycled from another piece of clothing. if i was a crafty type person i would make this for my daughters. another thought would be to maybe make a xmas tree skirt? that would go well with the ornaments from a previous person.

By: Kristen

Kristen — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:24:47 +0000

I love the Christmas ornament thing! That way you could enjoy the dress every year. Mine is packed away in a box collecting dust. I don’t think I could bear to cut it up though. One of my sisters did where our Mom’s dress however and I have two daughters so maybe. . .
Another sister of mine has a ruined/stained wedding dress and so she wants to do something with it so I’m looking for her. Hopefully she will like some of these ideas!

By: Gale

Gale — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 01:59:19 +0000

Many years ago my mom made very simple star Christmas ornaments from my aunt’s wedding dress. The dozens of stars have since been passed down to her daughters. We just love decorating our trees each year with memories.

By: alison bailey smith

alison bailey smith — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 07:54:38 +0000

We were donated a wedding dress from 1967 for our communal rag rug and I have been using the flowers from the bodice on it http://abscraft.blogspot.com/ but as yet can not find a use for the wedding dress itself as it is velvet and will fray too much if rugged. Might use on the windows.

By: Adrienne

Adrienne — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:06:24 +0000

About 30 years I bought a greyt/beige moire taffeta, and around the same time bought a complete circle sort of patchwork skirt in three shades each of cream/pricot/beige, with a blouse made to go with it.

It was gorgeous back, but this is now. Couldn’t bear to part with it, so I have decided to pull all three articles to pieces and intend, ambitiously, to make a crazy quilt with the pieces, plus a few embellishments to go with it.

That might be a thought.

Adrienne Lewis.
Melbourne.
Australia.

That might be a thought.

By: Ruti

Ruti — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 19:57:00 +0000

I’m loving the idea of the bag for the veil. Elvis idea made me laugh! Very creative. How about 3d stuffed fabric dove or angel ornaments? anyone know where I can get a pattern?

love Ruti

By: lilly

lilly — Tue, 12 May 2009 11:24:29 +0000

I’m getting married this year and I plan to get my dress put into a frame so I can hang it at the top of my stairs.