Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #547184 in Books
• Published on: 1996-10
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 120 pages

Amazon.com
Anyone who's ever gone shopping for wedding clothing knows how startlingly pricey veils are. With even the simplest bridal headpieces taking a hefty bite of the wedding budget, it only makes sense to make it yourself if possible. Fortunately, with the help of "I Do" Veils and the wonderful (and inexpensive) lace, veiling, silk flowers and pearls that are widely available, it can be a fun project and not an arduous task. There are tips for selecting the right headpiece style for your face, figure and dress (whether it's a simple barrette with bow or an ornate tiara with cathedral-length veil) ; illustrations to help you decide how elaborate you want your hat, veil, comb or clip to be; and hundreds of embellishment techniques involving nothing more complicated than a hot glue gun. The directions are easy to follow, and for those who don't have a good bridal section in their local fabric and notions store, the list of wholesale and retail mail-order suppliers will be invaluable.

From Library Journal
Certainly if information on medieval European costume is sparse, there is even less on bridal millinery. Despite the cutesy title, this is a well-organized, practical manual that anyone making bridal headpieces will want to have at hand. Lynch makes extensive use of line drawings (more than 500) to guide the reader through every step in constructing veils, tiaras, wreaths, crowns, hats, headbands, Juliet Caps, and other bridal finery. An annotated wholesale and retail resource guide and information on care and preservation of the finished headpiece add greatly to the value of the book. Both public libraries and costume collections will want this work.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

So dated it's useless...
Take a good look at the headpiece on the cover, it's typical of the styles you'll find inside. If you'd like to make a hideous 80's style headpiece with fake flowers, pearl sprays, and large poufs, then this is the book for you. Though there's a brief discussion of the different lengths of veils, the author does not explain how to cut the veiling to achieve different shapes, and the poorly drawn illustrations are inadequate to demonstrate actually attaching the veil to the comb or headpiece, which for most styles you have to do in a somewhat counterintuitive way to hide the comb, and which the book does not mention or illustrate. However, there are entire pages dedicated to oudated topics such as decorating a banana clip and covering a pillbox hat. There are NINE pages discussing picture/portrait hats and even a discussion of cowboy hats (I love the suggestion that you add a tiara to your cowboy hat to "formalize it"), but very little that's relevant for the modern bride.

I can't believe this book has copyright dates of 1996 and 2001, as these styles were dated even then. The whole book is in black and white, and there are no photos, just poorly done line drawings. Though you might be able to pull a few basic techniques from this book, your time would be better spent visiting a bridal shop and studying the construction of the veils there, which won't cost you a dime. If you need a book to tell you to keep your veil away from your cat (seriously, there's even a drawing), or to warn you of the slip and fall dangers of a runaway pearl or scraps of tulle, maybe craft projects involving hot glue guns and sharp objects aren't your best choice. For me, this was a total waste of money.

Almost made me want to go out and get married!
I was interested in making veils after I made one for my neice's Halloween costume. I really liked this book.

She starts out with your work area, and goes on to cover every type of veil imaginable. Hats, combs, headbands, headpieces, poufs--a sewing extravaganza. She covers materials, embellishments and edgings. She also does bridesmaid's and flower girl headpieces and covers how to attach the veil to your head so it won't slide off, and how to store it afterward.

The only thing that holds this book back from a 5-star rating is her lack of yardages, a rather major flaw. She may occasionally say, "Take an 8-18 inch wide piece of illusion from 54-72 inches long," but this is way too general. She also doesn't say how many yards of material to purchase!

Thanks to this book, I can truly say "I Do" Veils"!
I've had this book for quite a while now, and used it to make beautiful veils for two nieces and three of my daughter's friends. Since it first came out when headpieces and veils were more elaborate than they are today, you can find the directions for just about any headpiece and trimming there is. The illustrations and directions are very clear, and you can always simplify the ideas to make the plainer veils that brides like now. By the way, the last one I made cost just $18.00 to make, so the bride saved over $100.00!