How to make a personalized bride-to-be sash:
What you will need: Burlap with lace overlay (1.5 yards), cotton fabric (1.5 yards), cardboard letters, acrylic paint, lace trim (5-6 yards), embellishments, glue gun, sewing machine
Looking for a way to put all eyes on the bride-to-be at her bachelorette party? Follow the steps below to create a rustic chic bride-to-be sash, or choose fabric and embellishments that match your bachelorette party theme to create the perfect accessory for the big celebration!
For this sash, I used burlap and lace to create a sash fit for a weekend of line dancing and wine tasting. I found a roll of burlap with lace overlay at Michael’s, and purchased plain white cotton fabric for the back side of the sash to make it more comfortable. To start, I cut two pieces of fabric from each material that measured around 1.5 yards long and 6 inches wide. I needed to make sure the sash was thick enough to fit the cardboard letters, and I cut the fabric approximately 1.5″-2″ wider than I needed to so that I had plenty of extra. Remember – trimming excess fabric is much easier than adding more!
Once the fabric was cut, I held a piece from my shoulder to opposite hip to get an idea of the length I would need. You may need to shorten the sash to fit your bride-to-be, but again, “more is more” in the world of sewing, so don’t worry if you have extra! I then cut four pieces of lace trim, and pinned them to each side of the burlap (lace side up) so that the finished side of the trim was facing in.
Once the lace was pinned in place, I pinned a piece of the white cotton fabric on top and placed pencil marks along the edge to ensure that the width was consistent throughout the length of the sash. Note – When you are sewing two pieces together to hide a raw seam, make sure that the right sides of the fabric (sides with the desired pattern/texture) are facing each other so that they show when the fabric is turned inside-out.
Once everything was pinned in place, I started to sew! I created a single seam on each side of the sash with my sewing machine, making sure the lace trim (sandwiched between the two pieces) was incorporated. I measured the distance between the two seams to replicate the width on the second piece, and turned the sash piece inside out.
I repeated these steps with my second pieces of burlap, white fabric, and trim, and again turned this piece inside out. I then pinned the front and back pieces together to get an idea of sizing. I sewed the two pieces together at the top at a slight angle so that it rested comfortably on my shoulder, again making sure that the two lace sides faced each other so that the seam was hidden.
For the bottom, I sewed the two pieces together at a more extreme angle so that the sash’s seam was parallel with my side, and voila! Time to decorate!
To give the cardboard letters a more bridal look, I painted them with white acrylic paint. Once they were dry, I glued them onto the sash using a hot glue gun. Warning – a couple of the letters started to fall off throughout the night, so I would recommend using a generous amount of glue instead of just a few dots on the edges of the letters. I then glued white flower accents to the sash, again with a hot glue gun, and set it aside for the bride-to-be!
