Rachel Lamb Bridal Design

January has disappeared amid constant coughing and sneezing, but things perked up towards the end of the month when I had some new dress designs photographed - at last! The photos were taken by Andrew at Lightworks Photography . These dresses have been in the making process since last summer, and I'm really pleased to be able to show you them over the next few weeks. Running a small business, I find it difficult time-wise to be able to co-ordinate 'extra-curricular' activities such as designing and making new dresses and then getting them photographed - 'real' brides always take priority and that's how it should be, so this feels like an achievement! :-) The above dress is called 'Emma' and is made of 100% silk Zibeline, with a silk Dupion and silk Organza skirt. It is one of my favourites, which is why I'm showing you it first, although it does go against my current design leanings in that it's strapless; I have tended to favour des...

It's been ages, I know. I just want to let you all know that even though I don't post on here much I'm still beavering away making fabulous wedding dresses for lovely clients, and designing and making new ones for my collection too! This year has been amazing! Bookings have gone up far more than I ever expected and as a result, something had to give, and that was social networking. I realise it's not the done thing these days, but I can't often find the time to post things, and I'm not the best at remembering to photograph what I'm making, because again, there's not enough time or space to do so. I was discussing this with one of my new clients the other day, and she was very encouraging, she said "All people want to find out is that you're a nice person and that they like your work and how you come across." That was kind, and as a person who 'worries', it was a calming thing to hear. So, as a result of this upturn, I ...

I'm not posting much as you can see. Too much going on at the moment - blossom blooming, garden demolition, designing and sewing. I've finished the dress I was talking about in my previous posts. Its turned out similar, yet different, from my original sketch, as is often the case. I've named it 'Sylvie' and it will go into my Collection once it's been priced up. It is made of silk chiffon and silk satin backed crepe, so it's lovely, flowing and soft. The ivory trims are Guipure lace in ivory. It's a wee bit Abigail's Party but I like that! This dress can be made in many, many colours, as well as all ivory, if you like. Guipure lace is big news at the moment for wedding dresses. Most of the gown bookings I've taken so far for this year that include lace will use Guipure lace.  The other big news is that work on my studio has started! I can't wait for it to be finished, naturally. It hasn't been...

What has happened to February?? (See last paragraph below.) Here are some lovely images of one of my brides, Emily, who got married in the New Year. I think she looks great! So happy, and her dress fits her so well! :-) Emily's photos were taken by Ben Bull . Emily is wearing Gaia dress which is a design from my collection. It's the last one I shall make in this particular lace as sadly it's no longer easily available. However, plans are afoot for a new version of this dress using a different lace. I've been working on the dress from the sketch in my last post (see above). It's almost complete now. As usually happens, I've changed some of the features a bit as the work progresses. I'm in love with the colour - very cool-sky-ish. What do you think? I'm into designing some dresses that aren't ivory at the moment. I was listening to All Passion Spent by Vita Sackville-West while working on this dress, so perhaps the story...

Alongside customer toiles for summer weddings, I have started another dress for my collection. This is a very rough sketch of it; more the 'feel' of the dress than what it will end up exactly looking like, as is usually the case with most designs. I can't wait to show you when its complete. I can't remember if I posted about this, but I have started a Pinterest board for ideas for early spring wedding flowers. You can see it here . I am becoming a teensy bit addicted to Pinterest - there's such a lot of lovely and inspiring images on there. Not the best thing for overcoming time management issues! Have a good weekend.

This is 'Fallon', a new wedding dress to go in my current gown Collection. I finished it just before the Christmas break.   I'm often asked how I name my dresses, and I'm sure I was listening to The Archers at the time, which is why I named the dress Fallon. (Fallon is/was a character in The Archers.) Mainly because at the time I was wondering what had happened to Fallon? Does anyone know where she's gone? I'm not so much of a regular listener these past years, so perhaps she's no longer in it...anyway, she was conspicuous by her absence while her namesake was under construction. Back to Fallon - the wedding dress. It's made from ivory Dupion silk, overlaid with gold and ivory lace on the bodice, and has a silk skirt overlaid with draped silk Organza. There is a concealed zip underneath those covered buttons, and the bodice is fully boned inside. The Organza overlay on the skirt is designed to be slightly asymetric and to swirl...

It's good to be back at work and to get back into a routine again. This week I started work on a pattern for a wedding gown for one of my new brides. Often, to the outsider, the making of the patterns can be forgotten in this process, but after taking measurements, it's the first thing that happens! Initial draft to measurements I enjoy making patterns, it feels quite old-fashioned (and probably is) in this day and age, to be drafting a pattern using paper and pencil. But that is what I do for each and every person I make something for. Whether that be a simple shift dress or an elaborate bridal gown. Adding shaping and style lines This goes some way towards what I term 'Bespoke'. 'Couture' also comes into it, but I shy away from that word because I think it is often misused within the bridal industry. (Things are called Couture when they are anything but...) In my opinion, it is having something designed and made for you, however simple, t...