BY LOUISE CHAMBERS | AUGUST 8, 2023 | The Epoch Times

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.”

Carol D’Silva’s wedding dress weighs around 18.7 pounds (8.5 kilograms) and consists of lace made by lacemakers from 15 countries. She has also put together a book about each lacemaker’s piece. (Courtesy of Carol D’Silva)

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.”

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