Dressmaker Recreates Grandmothers Bridal Gown

A cruise ship dressmaker who found herself stranded back home during the pandemic has recreated her grandmother’s wedding dress, 59 years after the big day. She spent weeks ordering materials and piecing them together, with only photographs from the wedding as a reference.

The Daily Record reports that 26-year-old Amy Copland found herself back home in Dundee when the pandemic meant she was unable to continue with her freelance job as a cruise ship entertainment wardrobe supervisor.

She formed a support bubble with her gran Jean Short, 79, and started a very special project to keep her busy during the lockdown - recreating Jean’s bridal gown.

Amy spent £100 on painstakingly piecing the dress together, recreating it from a photograph, before an emotional unveiling at Jean’s house on 7 April.

Amy said: “My gran keeps a wedding photo in her living room and I’ve always loved her dress. It’s been decades since she saw it last and, while I’m not working, I decided to have a go at recreating it.

“It was quite emotional when I finally presented it to her at her house. She was over the moon with it.”

She added that Jean was incredibly happy to see the dress, mentioning how beautiful it was and that it fitted ‘like a glove’. Jean paid £10-20 for the original wedding dress, but is so delighted with her new one, she plans to wear it around the house for fun.

Jean married Jack Short in 1962, after meeting him aged 19 at a community dance centre, and the couple were engaged less than a year later. She found the wedding dress in a local shop, and it was so well-loved that two of her friends also got married in it.

However, after lending it out the second time, it was never seen again, and Jean feared she would never be able to wear it again.

“I’m so proud of Amy. Seeing the recreated dress brought back a lot of happy memories,” she said, ”I absolutely love it. Amy is so talented.”

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