A lacemaker who learned her craft from her mother has made her own spectacular wedding dress, an homage to tradition and culture, using ovals of lace made by lacemakers from 15 different countries around the world.
Engineer and bobbin lacemaker Carol D‘Silva, 30, was born in the Indian city of Goa and moved to Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, as a teen. Ms. D’Silva, who now lives in Brisbane, always knew she wanted to make her own wedding dress, and when she met her future husband, Mark Wiemers, her plan took shape.
“I want to keep the traditional art of making bobbin lace still alive. Today, you have everything that’s machine-made and quick and easy. But for me, it’s keeping those traditions still alive,” she told The Epoch Times.
“My wedding dress front was chosen by my husband, Mark, unknowingly. I asked my husband, ‘What do you think you can see me [wearing] walking down the aisle?’ I asked him to send me a few pictures, and I didn’t tell him which one I picked.”
Designing the Dress
Unsure how to showcase the handmade lace on her wedding dress, she came across a wedding dress on the internet designed by the Middle Eastern designer Zuhair Murad that inspired her to adorn the train of her dress with the lace. Since many of her childhood friends from overseas would be unable to attend the wedding due to the pandemic and long distance, she came up with an idea: she asked some of her friends and bobbin lace makers to make lace ovals for the dress, instead.Together with her mom, 65-year-old Nelinda Da Silva, Ms. D'Silva grew the idea into a larger project to pay homage to their shared love for lacemaking. They contacted internationally located lacemakers known to them and government-supported lace associations in 15 different countries.
“The wedding dress consisted of lace by lacemakers from 15 countries: Australia, India, Poland, Russia, Italy, Spain, Canada, Slovakia, Austria, France, Portugal, Croatia, Belgium, Bulgaria, and Switzerland. The Croatia lace pattern is UNESCO heritage listed and protected,” Ms. D'Silva said.
“It took me about a year and a half to put it all together. I started off with actually designing the dress pattern—the skirt, the top, sleeves, everything—and then the back of the lace, because I needed to know where everything would fit.
“When you make lace, the equipment that you use are pins, then the wooden sticks, called bobbins, where you wind the thread around. You’re twisting and turning the thread, and when you want to place it, you put a pin as close together as one millimeter—that takes a lot of time.”
Ms. D'Silva wanted 16 lace ovals measuring 8 x 12 inches (20.3 x 30.4 centimeters) each, representing their national flower or nature—something that was unique to their country of origin. The dress itself was sewn from white satin, with a 100% cotton lining at the bottom so that it was softer and breathable, and a silk lining at the top to make it easy to slip on and off; the finished dress would weigh a considerable 8.5 kilograms (18.7 pounds), with the full handmade lace train measuring 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) long and 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) wide.
In a lace centerpiece for the back of the dress, Ms. D'Silva depicted the initials “C” and “M” to represent herself and her husband.
The Long Journey
Turning her parents’ living room into a makeshift workshop, Ms. D'Silva would return from her day job as an engineer to work on her wedding dress, plus a second fully hand-embroidered dress for the wedding reception, and planning the big day. The methodical art of bobbin lacemaking kept her calm amid the chaos.Both her parents were instrumental in helping her plans come together. “My mom was always there to help out anytime I needed anything,” she said, “and my dad, he always ironed the dress. ... It’s a workout on its own, it takes hours!”
The dress’s ornate lacework train took around five months to finish, with 10 lacemakers working on it at any one time. The 16 lace ovals took around one month to finish, per piece.
“Some of the lacemakers had language barriers,” said Ms. D‘Silva, “so you’ll see a piece over there with two doves together; that wasn’t exactly a flower, but she wanted to depict marriage. Then there’s this one piece that’s a diamond shape. ... That one’s from Italy, and that lady has passed away, so that piece is irreplaceable.”
A seventeenth lace oval sewn by Ms. D'Silva’s mother was not added to the dress, since the bride received a “surprise” contribution from a friend.
The Big Day
The bride’s handmade masterpiece came together in mid-September 2022, a month before her Oct. 23 wedding at Gabbinbar Homestead in Toowoomba, southern Queensland. Ms. D'Silva chose a nearby cathedral for the ceremony, with decor, accessories, and even her husband’s suit picked to match her dress.“My husband did not see the dress until the wedding day,” she said. “I kept it a secret from everybody. The guests were amazed and in awe, especially by how big it was; the width of the dress is 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) and the width of the aisle was 1.5 meters (4.9 feet), so I had to have one of my friends walk alongside the pews just in case the dress got caught!”
After 18 months of planning, the day was “a blur,” said Ms. D'Silva, except for a magical moment at midday when the sun broke through the nonstop rain and “did not end,” feeling like an auspicious sign to the newlyweds.
The bride changed into her second dress for the wedding reception. A book that she had put together, comprising all the lace pieces represented on her dress, was laid out for wedding guests to read.
‘Priceless’
The mother of the bride, Ms. Da Silva, learned to sew from her own mother as a child. After getting married, she would make crochet centerpieces as gifts for people, and her husband suggested she turn her talent into a small business.She opened Nel’s Creations in India, specializing in handmade linen, children’s clothes, and embroidered fabrics such as tablecloths and doilies. With the help of her daughter, she has since moved the business to Australia and showcases at exhibits internationally.
Ms. D'Silva often accompanied her mom to exhibits and demonstrations and went to her first international exhibition and fashion show in Italy at the age of 12.
“I loved how busy it was backstage,” Ms. D'Silva said. “I found that really amazing, that you can show what’s in your head; like, your creativity is actually going down a runway. Ever since then, I’ve always wanted to be a fashion designer. I witness my first international show with Mom in Italy in 2004.”
Since finishing her wedding dress, Ms. D‘Silva has returned to the touring circuit to visit the countries of the lacemakers who contributed to the dress. While in France, the bride’s wedding headpieces were stolen from the exhibition, but she is hopeful they will be returned someday. Due to this incident, Ms. D’Silva is now extra cautious when exhibiting the dress and always requests increased security, as the dress is one of a kind and irreplaceable.
“The lace is priceless. If I even insure it, I can’t come up with a price tag, because there’s lace on there that is made by love,” she said. “The dress represents the unity and collaboration within the lace community and the bond between friends around the world. This is unity on a global scale. Even though the pandemic tried to separate us, we found a way to come together.”
Ms. D'Silva, her husband, and her parents visited Portugal in July to showcase the dress at an exhibition.
“It was a successful trip,” she said. “The dress was well received. The museum had a special exhibition of wedding dresses made with bobbin lace where my dress was the main exhibit, and I got recognition from the Peniche Municipality Councilor [for Culture], Ana Batalha.
“She mentioned that this dress represents the unity within the lace community across the world and that is also what the international lace exhibition is about. They were very honored and proud to be able to showcase this dress at their museum.”
The talented woman, who admires designers Alexander McQueen, Coco Channel, and Christian Dior, claims her mother has been the biggest inspiration and mentor of all. Her dream is to share the meditative art of bobbin lacemaking with the world.
“My mission is to keep this art alive and pass it through generations to come, by educating others, showcasing its beauty and different techniques, and [that] it is advantageous to help one mentally focus and be calm,” she said.
