When Emma Richards got married last summer, she searched high and low for the perfect wedding gown. Seeing nothing to suit, Emma got the bright idea of knitting her own…

“I should point out that back then I was a new knitter and had only done a couple of projects, nothing bigger than a bag. But, with just a few months to go, in April I found the Lelah top pattern on Ravelry, and it struck me this could be my wedding dress!” explains Emma. As she was a fairly new knitter, adapting this top to be the dress for her big day was an ambitious plan, but Emma was not to be deterred.

Emma decided to enlist the help of her local yarn store Clare Wools, where the owner Cynthia Binks was more than happy to help. She suggested Rowan Milk Cotton DK as the yarn of choice. As Emma was having a summer wedding, this would provide lightness and an airy feel. Cynthia showed Emma how to make a gauge swatch, and from this, Cynthia was able to estimate that the dress would take about 16 balls, and work out how many stitches Emma would need to cast on for her wedding dress.

As she knitted, Emma kept motivated through the somewhat daunting task, by sharing her work with knitting forums at Crafts Beautiful and Ravelry.  Following Cynthia’s advice, Emma increased her needle sizes as she knitted down the dress so that the dress would flare out at the bottom and skim her figure.

And what a result! The dress was finished just a few days before her wedding and earned her serious brownie points from fellow knitters among the wedding guests, including her husband’s aunts and nana!

You might wonder what’s become of the dress now the big day is over. Well, this labour of love certainly hasn’t been packed away to gather cobwebs in the attic. It’s already been dyed green as an autumn dress, and more recently become a strappy top and shrug. How’s that for recycling and making the most of all that beautiful work?