Jump to content

Crocheted Irish lace wedding

Ladycrochat

Recommended Posts

Lavelle26 Collaborator

Lavelle26

Posted
Posted

I was looking around at some other things on that site and boy, are there some gorgeous things. I am over here drooling on my keyboard :drool Many new ideas have just popped into my head for designs. Thank you for sharing this link.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
viggie Enthusiast

viggie

Posted
Posted

oh my goodness, you'd have to start that when you were 8 to get that done for your wedding...it sure is beautiful though

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mom w/a Motif Experienced

Mom w/a Motif

Posted
Posted

Whoever made that must have been waiting a loooong time to get married! :lol My sister-in-law wanted me to crochet her a wedding dress :rofl ...but she ended up buying one. (Thank goodness!) That dress is exquisite, though. Thanks for sharing that with us!!

Tina

Link to comment
Share on other sites
funkyreporter Collaborator

funkyreporter

Posted
Posted

Whoever made that had WAY too much time on their hands or a major case of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder! :eek That is INSANE! I mean, it's beautiful - one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen in a full length thread crochet garment, but let's be reasonable here, people! Honestly I think that would take over a year to make... but I'm slow... :blush

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Yarn Duck Contributor

Yarn Duck

Posted
Posted

Wow, that is absolutely breathtaking! I can't even begin to imagine what the talent and time that it took to make something like that.

 

Really, the whole site is amazing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
nightowl Contributor

nightowl

Posted
Posted

Hi all

 

How beautiful, what amazing work! I wouldn't think the bride (or her proud mamma) made it, though; I think it was most probably made commercially.

 

The UK Knitting & Crochet Guild has an Irish crochet wedding dress in its collection (see pics here) and managed to find out a little about it.

 

It was sold through the Made-Up Lace Department of the famous Harrod's store in London some time between 1900 and 1914. A Guild researcher was allowed access to Harrod's archives to try to date it more specifically, but drew a blank. She did find references to a few ball gowns though :eek

 

The original cost was 50 guineas (52.50 GBP) which in today's money would be at least GBP 3,800-4,100 or US $7,200-7,700! :faint

 

When the Guild heard about the dress in the early 1990s it had become a "hot" bridal fashion all over again after actress and singer Patsy Kensit wore an Irish crochet dress for her wedding. One bride-to-be was too short for the dress and considered cutting 6in. off the bottom; another was a UK size 8 (the dress is a size 12) and thought she might be able to "scale it down"! Luckily the owner was aghast at the prospect of the beautiful work being mutilated and gave the Guild time to raise funds to buy and preserve it.

 

Eithne D'Arcy, a member of the Clones Lace School and author of a book on Irish crochet lace, was quoted in the Guild's magazine SlipKnot in 1993 as saying: "I think this dress was made about the year 1900. It would have taken at least six months and seems to have been made by one worker. There may have been help in making the flowers but the joining was done by one person."

 

The Guild's then chairman, Liz Gillett, wrote that even the Victoria and Albert Museum, which has the largest costume collection in the UK, did not have a wedding dress made entirely of Irish crochet, and recent books all showed the same photo of one in the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin. She said: "This leads us to think that such dresses are few and far between. Perhaps any that were made were later cut into pieces and have been refashioned."

 

Thank goodness that never happened to this "new" glorious example! I can only gawp in admiration at the skill and talent of that long-ago crocheter. . .

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Solitaire Explorer

Solitaire

Posted
Posted

I love learning new things .. specially when it pertains to crochet/yarn/thread etc. That dress and coat are just absolutely stunning .. I am still sitting her staring at the pictures with my mouth hanging open and my brain racing with ideas ... I am in AWE!! Thank you for sharing these pictures and all the wonderful information.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
LifeSmiles Rookie

LifeSmiles

Posted
Posted

Stunning. Puts my efforts at a wedding shawl (dk weight yarn, size I hook) to shame (not that I mind!). It's lovely, and thanks for posting!

 

Cheers,

Kathy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...