Few things are more personal than a bride making her own wedding gown—in our world, anyways. After all, you’re creating a look for a special day in your life that will live on forever through photographs and memories… no pressure. For one bride, she took it one day—and New York City subway ride—at a time to create her own perfect bridal look.
Esther Andrews, a designer (and avid TikToker) just went viral for her post detailing her journey of hand-knitting her wedding dress over a period of nine months while commuting on the New York City Subway.
The video, which has now garnered over 430,000 views, shows Andrews knitting while sitting on the subway, measuring ruffles, sewing the dress together, and embellishing the gown with little knitted tomatoes (the inspiration for the dress was space pirate meets tomato patch “because it was just silly and fun”) over the period of nine months.
The ethereal dress, which totaled over four miles of mohair lace yarn, had a deep “V” neckline that was accompanied by flouncy ruffles on each side. The gown flows into layers and tiers, creating a flowing vintage-inspired lace effect. The sleeves of the dress began tapered before expanding to wide bell-sleeves also finished with ruffles. Lastly, the dress includes little hand-knit tomatoes sporadically placed for a bit of whimsy.
When it was time to put all of the separate pieces together on the mannequin, Andrews was slightly nervous the dress wouldn’t fit or all come together correctly. “When it came time to sew together I was scared because I could only trust that it would fit — no time to go back,” she wrote over the video. “Thankfully it was ok so I could add the little tomatoes!”
Of course, it all came together (she only finished it a day before the wedding) according to the TikTok she shared. The final wedding-day look included black, hand-beaded “starry sky” tights (she revealed in another TikTok) and ivory printed strappy block heels. Andrews also wrote that she designed and created her groom’s outfit, which resembled an astronaut uniform complete with decorative badges and patches.
It’s no surprise that her wedding-day look went off without a hitch because the knitting extraordinaire knows a thing or two about knitting high-end designs. While living in NYC, Andrews designed knitwear collections for Diane Von Furstenberg, Victor Glemaud, and Morgan Lane before moving back to her hometown in Indiana to create Esther Andrews Bridal, a sustainable collection of knitwear for brides.
So if you love her personal, hand-knit wedding dress as much as we do, check out her website for more cottagecore treasures or inquire about custom creation.
