Meet Our Seamstresses: Dalene B.
~by Cheryl
Two weeks ago, Nancy wrote about our In-house Alterations Studio. Last week, we interviewed Mary M., one of our amazing seamstresses. Today, we feature Dalene B., who has been working with Nancy for the last four years. Below she talks about her experience with sewing and working with Nancy:
The first item I made was a purse when I was five years old. I then advanced to making doll clothes and then to making my own clothes. My mother taught 4-H for many years and I was her first member. With the patient teaching of my mother, I turned in a clothing project every year for 8 years, beginning with an apron and ending with a prom dress. My formal education was acquired through a year of advanced sewing in High School and my experience came from sewing all the time. In addition, I spent several years at a sewing factory. It was at the factory that I learned how to sew with speed and accuracy and where I learned how to use many different machines.
I have been making wedding dresses for nine years. For the last four years, I have been working with Nancy Barrus. She has taught me many couture sewing skills. My favorite part about creating a wedding dress is that of taking a drawing and turning it into a beautiful wedding dress as well as making and placing all of the details just right so that it becomes a work of art and not just a dress. One of the important elements of a wedding dress is the material it is made from. Becoming familiar with the fabrics and how each fabric will hang or drape on a dress has been one of the things I love about making a couture wedding dress.
Her personal life:
I was born and raised in Idaho. After High School and two years at Ricks College, I moved to Utah to go to school at BYU. My major was in Interior Design and I graduated from BYU with a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts. I met my husband when I was attending Ricks and married him white attending BYU. We have six children and fifteen grandchildren.
What she enjoys about Avenía Bridal:
Working with Nancy the last four years has been a joy. Discussing the details about a dress and then deciding what to do to make it work has helped me to learn the fine art of dress making. There is nothing more rewarding then to see a finished wedding dress on a bride and then to have her tell me that it is even more beautiful then what she expected.
Thank you, Dalene! Be sure to come back next week to read about Elizabeth L., our East coast transplant.