Our Process
Having a wedding dress made is an incredibly luxurious experience.
Each dress we create for a bride is an heirloom piece – made to the wearer’s specific requirements, full of emotional significance and to always be treasured.
Our Sheffield studio houses my own collection of wedding dresses, made from finest quality silks, English tulles, and English and French laces. These are high-end luxury fabrics, and really do look and feel incredible. To me, how a dress feels when it’s on is just as important as how it looks, and my brides always comment on how gorgeous their dresses feel to wear.
My team and I offer private consultations at the studio which usually last about an hour-and-a-half. It’s a relaxed and friendly space – no high-pressure sales techniques here! Buying a wedding dress is a big deal and we’re here to aid and support you in making your decision.
We make all our own dresses right here in our Sheffield studio.
The studio is split into two: a showroom and a workroom, meaning my small but mighty team are on hand next door to help out when needed. Getting a full-skirted hem just right is often a two-person job! I have two other makers in the workroom with me, all three of us are called Kate or Katie, randomly (it’s not a requirement to work here), and another two freelancers – both called Sarah – who help us out as required. The other Kate does pattern work and cuts out the fabric with aplomb, and Katie does a beautiful job of sewing and finishing the dresses, as do Sarah & Sarah, though they both collect dresses to work on at home rather than working in the studio. I design, manage the appointments, do the admin, make the toiles, tack everything, and do whatever else needs doing.
I create a new small collection of gowns biannually, but strive to design pieces that sit effortlessly alongside what has come before, so that the new styles can be mixed in with the older ones on the rails seamlessly. This method of working means there is no need to continually retire existing designs in order to re-launch an updated version – if a design still works, sells, and we can source the fabric, we’ll keep it on the rails. We are the antithesis of fast fashion.
Generally speaking, most dresses generally require around three fittings and the process works like this:
When commissioned we take your measurements, along with a deposit to enable us to begin working on your dress.
Approximately six months ahead of your wedding date we begin drafting your pattern and working on your toile – a mock-up of your wedding dress in your closest standard dress size. If you’ve chosen our alterations service, we’ll tailor this toile to your body to get the fit just right. Likewise, if we’re making bespoke changes to a dress’s design, we’ll refine design details during this fitting.
Once we’re happy with the toile, we cut out your dress in the real fabric and tack it together by hand, then have another fitting and tweak the fit as required. This fitting is also when we finish hem length.
After that, the dress is sewn and finished, ready for you to re-try before taking it home.
For brides further afield:
For brides who are unable to travel to the studio in person for appointments, we can arrange to run consultations and fittings online, and post out toiles when required. This became a necessity during lockdown and worked out really well! We normally advise having the skirt hem finished by a dressmaker locally in order to get that perfect, floor-grazing length.
Early booking is always advised.
We like to be working on each dress for around six months. That said, I’ll always do my best to fit in brides with shorter deadlines – my husband and I booked our wedding only three months in advance, so I do appreciate that a long lead-time isn’t always possible…
