A lot of quilts have been made form men's ties which are made from satin and silk. Why not a wedding dress? I don't guess their are any rules. As long as you could work with the the material, I don't see why not.

I just made a garter for my niece for her wedding from
her mom's and grandmothers wedding gowns.
I also made a Baptisam dress from a nother nieces
wedding gown, her mom's and her grandmothers dresses
Lynda

Don't be afraid to make the chistening dress. It is easier than you think. Just take your time with those extra small pieces. I have made a few of these and the joy is in the child who wears them. Just do it and keep us informed on your progress. THere is so much that can be made from a wedding dress with all that fabric. You can do it.

I made a Baptisemal outfit from my nieces' gown. All five boys wore it. I took it apart seam by seam. Laid the sleeves on the sleeves, etc. Kept the front of the skirt as one piece and made the skirt of the gown from it. I will try and find a photo to post.

I thought it was not too hard.

I made covered photo albums for both my daughters when they got married. It was easy and they both loved the albums. I know a lot of people make christening dresses out of theirs but I really think it depends on the fabric.

I made a baptismal gown from my daughter's wedding gown. Both of her daughters have worn it. I really had a hard time cutting into the dress. I think I called her twice to make sure she really wanted me to do it. It turned out very nice.

my daughter-in-law wants me to make christian gown .

My sister and I made a bassinett cover and christening outfits first for our niece and then for her sister-in-law out of their wedding dresses. One was a christening dress and the other was a little boy suit. Both had the little bonnets to go with them.

I made a christening gown for a 6 month old from my friends moms and grandmas wedding dresses that had been made into a rather large bag.

Yes, I have. It did make a beautiful gown. The only problem I had was the baby slipped out of it when you picked her up. I made the underslip out of the underlining of the dress which made it very slippery. Don't worry, she wasn't droped, she was still in the crib.

LOL

For our 25th Ann. I made a pictorial wall hanging. Used my wedding dress on "me" and even went to DH closet and cut a foot off a pair of his slacks for "him" :) Turned out great.
Oh my reply to DH when asked about the pants was "well the other leg is ok" lol

lyn

I didn't have a wedding gown. But I made the veils for both of my daughters. I took the left over lace and made baptismal dresses for their first daughters and used the lace for those gowns. I have thought about making one out of a gown, there is a resale shop in town that has a sale on wedding gowns for $20 once a year. I may get motivated this year and buy at least one.

I longarmed quilted one silk/satin top for my aunt after that said no to quilting slick crawly fabric .

I didn't have a wedding dress so don't have to worry about this. :-)

But I have a similar dilemma so will follow this thread and see what I can learn. I have a wedding kimono that I brought back from Japan many years ago. Beautiful white kimono with iridescent threads running through it. I was going to cut it up and make a jacket out of it then saw one for sale at $400 and got scared to cut it. So it is still packed away. I just get it out and look at it every now and then. If I ever get the nerve up to cut, all of my scraps will go into a crazy quilt.

I plan to use my wedding gown to make wedding quilts for my kids. Of course, my children won't be getting married for 20-30 years...so I have lots of time. lol

Question for all you wonderful, informative ladies! I had my wedding gown preserved 41 years ago. When our first daughter was engaged, I took it out of the box, and, somehow, it has become discolored in one place. We had lived in GA for 12 years, and I think the heat got into the box. I probably had it stored in the wrong place. My daughters were not the size as I was when I got married, so I thought of making Christening outfits, but I was afraid to attempt it. Now, it is a little late (9 grandchildren later). There still may be some more grandchildren born in the future, and the quilt looks fantastic! Any suggestions on handwashing the lace on the wedding gown? I am not comfortable with the local cleaners to trust their cleaning the delicate fabric and lace. Any advice would be appreciated, and I thank you ladies for all your experience.

My church ladies group, along with other groups make Christening gowns for less fortunate babies and their families. We have also made burial dresses and little suits for dear angel babies. Its good to see the fabric put to wonderful uses. I have also heard of large families taking their mothers dress and making small keepsakes for each child such as pillows, Christmas tree ornaments, handkerchiefs, scarfs, or incorporating parts of it into new wedding dresses. My daughters dress contains parts of mine, her grandmothers and great-grandmothers lace.

This was common when I grew up.

I made my daughter a Christening gown out of mine 33 years ago. She used it for her first daughter.

My daughter's dress was made for her out of raw silk from Thailand. When I first started quilting 3 yrs. ago, I deconstructed her dress and cut it into squares. And that is as far as I've gotten to date, unfortunately. I have been a bit paralyzed about actually starting to work on it. Meanwhile my quilting skills have improved dramatically. Thanks for this post as I think it is the kick in the pants I needed to get started again. She is expecting her first baby in July and will be expecting all the typical things...quilt, burp cloths, bibs...but she won't expect her wedding dress quilt. It is just too perfect! Love this board immensely. Thanks to everyone who posts questions, links and pictures as well as those who respond. Very inspirational!!

I still have some of the satin from Cathy's dress. I am thinking about making ring pillow covers from them. And maybe a bed pillow for her.

Those are adorable, wouldn't it be nice if all aunts were as great as you are?

If anyone is at all interested in experimenting, thrift stores have many wedding dresses donated to them at a very reasonable cost.

Long story short, I combined 2 used dresses and made one dress for our daughters wedding. I then took the left overs and made her wedding quilt out of the left overs. I tore off the lace and the beading and used it in the blocks. I embroidered there names, hearts, wedding rings just all kinds of things. I then took one of the bridesmaid sashes from there dress and used it as the binding. It turned out beautiful, they were so pleased! Wish I had a picture to share!

I made a First Communion dress for my granddaughter out of her mother's wedding dress. Turned out beautiful and she loved it.

My mother and her 2 friends made a whole cloth hand-quilted baby quilt out of my wedding dress when I became pregnant the first time. It turned out to be a beautiful quilt very slippery to use but is now a beautiful wall hanging in our daughters home. It was a wonderful gift out of something I would never use again.

I went to the outdoor quilt store in Sisters, Oregon a couple of years ago and one of the stores had a display of about 8 quilts that were made from wedding gowns. They were absolutely beautiful.

The garments that members are showing are absolutely beautiful. The workmanship is superb.

I had a friend in NM many years ago who had torn her dress accidently, so cut it up and made fancy "Church going" quilts for her twin girls. She wrapped the babies in their lovely quilts and used them for just for when they were little, took lots of pictures,
then put them up for any future Grand kids.

Don't be too fast to cut up your wedding gown ladies. Our daughter in law wore mine.We beaded it for her to add flair and she was beautiful. It was really fantastic to see my gown coming down the aisle . She is saving it in case her daughter wants to wear it. Wouldn't it be something if I could see it again?

oh!!! I could never to that

I made christening gowns and hats for my triplet granddaughters using the fabric from my wedding gown. They were adorable.

I am just starting on one for my sister. Definitely using the train down the middle...trying to decide on what to do on the rest and vascillating between applique and patchwork.....but in sage greens on a cream background.....

Still trying to work up my courage...and have three other quilts to finish first!

Christening gown and blanket makes for double the memory.

I took my mother's wedding dress and covered 4 scrapbooks with it and put copies of my parents wedding pictures inside.

We renewed our vows on our 25th anniversary. A friend took the long sleeves from my gown and used them to add a V to the side of my dress where I'd gained a few pounds. No one had a clue it was remade. My new sleeveless dress was gorgeous.
I should do something with it now since I'll probably never wear it again. Grand kids are too old to use it as quilts etc. There are some lovely pieces here with some great ideas.

If you ever watch Say Yes to the Dress the dresses are so expensive that I just can't imagine cutting it up for any reason. I made my wedding dress. It has a very wide lace dress bottom (with matching cuffs)made of handmade lace that was made by my great grandmother. The fabric is nothing special, a light gauze, and too light for a quilt. It would make a nice christening gown though. I also had two lace appliques that were on my mother's and grandmother's wedding dresses.

Yep. I got married 3 years ago in beautiful red brocade with gold godets in the skirt, at Christmas.

I have lost weight since and will never fit into that dress again and as the waistline dipped from the waist on one side to the hip on the other it was going to be a nightmare to try and alter it, I have cut it up (it is silk!) and am using it in a silk quilt that I am making. It will be a wonderful keepsake of an extremely happy day.

I am buying wedding dresses, I use the fabric and lace for a lot of different things. I don't pay much, but it's something.