"I Do" Veils - So Can You!: A Step-By-Step Guide to Making Bridal Headpieces, Hats, and Veils With Professional Results (Paperback)

by Claudia Lynch (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
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.

Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: Harpagon Productions (October 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965081362
• ISBN-13: 978-0965081368
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #614,440 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Saves a small fortune, January 22, 2000

By	Kay J Greeley (Simi Valley, California) - See all my reviews

A bridal shop owner told me that my headpiece/veil creation would have cost $400 retail...I spent about $40 using the book's excellent instructions. I would have rated it 5 stars if there had been an ideas section for finished headpieces and veils.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Your Bridal Headpiece, July 4, 2000

By	"slinda" (Port Richey, Florida United States) - See all my reviews

I purchased this book in it's present form in 1997 .This book will show you the basics of how to make several kinds of headpieces. It also tells you what tools and suppplies you will need, and also has a supplier list. I''m hoping to build a business based on applying the information in this book. If you have even a casual interest in making a headpiece or viel, this is well worth the money. Also, I believe the principles could be used to construct different kinds of headpieces, such as a crown for a beauty pageant.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars So dated it's useless..., July 9, 2006

By	Stacey P. (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews

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.