Figuring Out Fabrics by Designing Digitally
Welcome to a somewhat meandering story of three custom garments! This blog post loosely threads between my previous tutorial post on creating custom croquis, a couple of my “Custom Sewing Love Letters”, and there’s even some bridalwear throwbacks… The common thread: My iPad.
Tutorial posts
How To Create Custom Sketching Croquis from Photos
It’s early 2010. Michelle, my very first custom bridalwear client, is leaving my home studio after our Design Consultation. I snap a photo of her on…
Padding a Dress Form As Your Body Double: A Condensed Guide
This post originally appeared as part of By Hand London’s Creators Collaborative series. An extended guide is available as an eBook titled “Figure It Out”. Hi…
How to Choose and Use a Thimble
There are many great pleasures in my life and sewing practice that I originally resisted. I would never have learned to sew at all if…
Two Myths of Learning To Make Your Own Sewing Patterns
Before becoming a custom wedding dressmaker, I had an unusual introduction to sewing which took me from absolute beginner to sewing professionally for Broadway in only 5…
DIY Professional Ironing Table
I’ve been blogging at BrooksAnn.com for a little over 6 years now. While most of my posts are following the story of a bride and…
Small Sewing Space Solution: Portable Ironing/Cutting Table
As I work with my students through my online courses, we often talk about solutions for working in small home sewing spaces. While it’s fantastic…
Sewing Technique Spotlight: Underlining (pt. 3)
Today’s post is the 3rd in a short series on underlining! I get a lot of questions about underlining, so I finally decided to start…
Sewing Technique Spotlight: Underlining (pt. 2)
In part 1 of this blog series, I shared what the sewing technique called underlining is, what underlining does, and I even offered some fabric…
Sewing Technique Spotlight: Underlining (pt.1)
Have you ever wondered if there is an easy way to make your handmade garments look professional instead of home-made? A sewing technique called underlining…
POPULAR POSTS
Duplicating the Vintage Dress’s Pattern (without taking it apart)
In my previous post, I introduced Jenn and the custom bridal wear project(s) for her wedding weekend. Check out the full story for all the…
I Made Myself the Coolest Dress pt. 1 – Pattern Design & Mockup
Though my personal wardrobe is mostly “the dressmaker has no clothes”, when I do make something for myself, it’s usually an epic project. I’m so…
My 10 Year Blogiversary! (pt. 2)
I’ve been blogging for TEN YEARS now, ya’ll! In “My 10 Year Blogiversary pt. 1”, I share links to each bridal blog series that I’ve…
Deborah’s Wedding Day!
It’s finally time to share about Deborah’s wedding day! HOORAY! Deborah and Blake were married in November 2017 at a church in Greensboro, NC with…
- Brides ·
- Construction ·
Crafting Deborah’s Skirt
While crafting Deborah’s bodice, I also began crafting the skirt of her custom wedding dress! Her skirt was designed to have the loveliest deep pleats with gorgeous…
Creating My Own Dress for Cameron’s Wedding Reception
(Okay, so I’ve been away a bit while creating my newest eCourse but…) After the final post in my blog series about creating Cameron’s gorgeous…
- Brides ·
- Construction ·
Helping Brides Make Their Own Wedding Dresses
If you follow this blog, you know by now that I love making wedding dresses for others and I loved making my own wedding dress. You…
How to Choose and Use a Thimble
There are many great pleasures in my life and sewing practice that I originally resisted. I would never have learned to sew at all if…
Two Myths of Learning To Make Your Own Sewing Patterns
Before becoming a custom wedding dressmaker, I had an unusual introduction to sewing which took me from absolute beginner to sewing professionally for Broadway in only 5…
My Sewing Machines
Before I start blogging about my summer bride, I thought I’d tell you a bit about my sewing machines, including the new additions to my…
DIY Professional Ironing Table
I’ve been blogging at BrooksAnn.com for a little over 6 years now. While most of my posts are following the story of a bride and…
Small Sewing Space Solution: Portable Ironing/Cutting Table
As I work with my students through my online courses, we often talk about solutions for working in small home sewing spaces. While it’s fantastic…
Caitlin’s Couture Bridal Buttons, Linings, and Waist Stay
After Caitlin’s final fitting… …it was finally time to do all the couture finishing work. I love this part of the process! Couture finishing requires…
Sewing Technique Spotlight: Underlining (pt.1)
Have you ever wondered if there is an easy way to make your handmade garments look professional instead of home-made? A sewing technique called underlining…
DIY Professional Sewing Room Table
Last week, I sent an email to those on my free newsletter subscription list featuring a clever solution for making a small sewing space feel like a…
Retrospective: My years as a custom picture frame craftsman
In last week’s post, I mentioned that I no longer have a day job. You may not have known for the past 9+ years, while…
Finishing Loula’s bustier!
After our fitting, I was able to take Loula’s bustier apart in order to put it back together permanently and with better materials. During the…
- Business ·
- Construction ·
Retrospective: The making of a dress, a blog & a business
Leah’s wedding dress was the first real wedding dress that I created for someone I did not already know. It’s funny to think of…
- All the Brides ·
- Brides ·
Retrospective: My Own Raw Silk & Cotton Lace Wedding Dress
Yes, I made my own wedding dress. After making his sister Katie’s wedding dress and his sister Melissa’s wedding dress, I got engaged to my…
- Brides ·
- Construction ·
The Construction of Lila Rose’s “Space Bustle” pt. 2 (Ta-da!)
If you are just joining, you are probably wondering what in the world I am making! Lila Rose is a non-traditional bride who commissioned a…
- Brides ·
- Construction ·
The Construction of Lila Rose’s “Space Bustle” pt.1 (Prep)
After the collar was constructed, I was able to add the invisible zipper, begin to close up the dress, and start on the unique bustle…
- Brides ·
- Construction ·
Using “wiggle bones” in Lila Rose’s stand-up pleated collar
As you may recall from the mockup and sketches, Lila Rose’s dress will have a pleated stand-up collar. Our original inspiration photo had a very…
- Brides ·
- Brooks Ann ·
Two weddings and a funeral
If you’ve been following the story of Greta’s dress, you may know that- though I am behind in posting the progress of its construction- her…
Initial Consultation pt.2 (Strapless)
As I explained in pt. 1 of this blog post, Michelle’s face lit up when we started talking about style. She loved the inspiration of…
Recent Posts...
Figuring Out Fabrics by Designing Digitally
Welcome to a somewhat meandering story of three custom garments! This blog post loosely threads between my previous tutorial post on creating custom croquis, a couple of my “Custom Sewing Love Letters”, and there’s even some bridalwear throwbacks… The common thread: My iPad.
How To Create Custom Sketching Croquis from Photos
It’s early 2010. Michelle, my very first custom bridalwear client, is leaving my home studio after our Design Consultation. I snap a photo of her on her way out the door. My mind is buzzing with ideas. My table is scattered with images and inspirations. I pull out a blank piece of paper. I’m ready to…
My 7 Year Quest to Custom Jeans (+ more about those pockets!)
Contrary to what you might think, I don’t have a lot of clothes and I tend to wear the same (old) things over and over. Almost all of my custom garment making is for others. Even the custom clothes I have made for myself were mostly crafted on-screen while sharing with my students. But I’m…
My Sewing Story Pt 4: Pandemic to Present
(If you are new to this series, start with Pt 1: Academics. Otherwise…) It’s THE END of this Sewiversary series! My previous post “Entrepreneur” left off in October 2019, when two of my custom brides walked down (different) aisles in the same weekend. I was working in my dream studio while teaching couture sewing to…
My Sewing Story Pt 3: Entrepreneur
If you are new to this series, start here with Pt 1: Academics. Otherwise… Welcome back! Let’s pick up my sewing story 15 years ago at my own March 2008 wedding, which is where we left off in Pt 2: Employment. In my free time, I had designed and made my own wedding dress (after…
My Sewing Story Pt 2: Employment
Welcome back! In this second segment of my Sew-iversary series, I’ll share about the various ways I was employed before going solo. While putting together Pt 1 Academics, I predicted Pt 2 would be a quick post. I didn’t remember having many photos from my Employment Era. But after poking around and digging deep into…
Hi there! I'm Brooks Ann.
I’m a former professional costumer and couture dressmaker for one-of-a-kind bridalwear located in Hillsborough, North Carolina, who teaches custom garment sewing too the sew-curious online.
My blog mostly follows along with the couture process of how each heirloom-quality custom wedding dress was made from idea to wedding day, as well as other interesting tidbits related to sewing, weddings, and body positivity.
Stay in Touch!
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