EMBROIDERED FLORAL WEDDING VEIL

Tambour embroidery on mesh
Project Details

Year:

2025

Type of Project:

Commission

Services:

Branding, UI/UX Design, Front & Back-end Development

Project Description

This project started with the enquiry:

“Let’s make some leaves” and “I want some embroidery in the front part and some at the bottom.”

I really appreciated the opportunity to work as an artist — developing a truly unique design without the pressure to copy a specific reference. That’s not the type of commission I take on. I propose materials, create original sketches, and deliver genuine bespoke hand embroidery.

They say floral motifs are obvious. I say a bespoke order can’t be obvious — it’s personal.

Full view of a bespoke wedding veil laid flat, featuring hand-drawn floral embroidery in tambour lace by Ksenia Semirova.
Bespoke wedding veil draped on mannequin, showing tambour lace floral embroidery created by Ksenia Semirova.

Challenges

Working on tulle is often a challenge itself: it’s difficult to transfer a pattern, thread choice depends on how soft (or not) the tulle is, and the size of the mesh cells can seriously affect how the stitches behave.

In this project, I embroidered directly on the final veil fabric, which meant any mistake would be permanent.

The veil size — 4 metres in height and 2.3 metres in width — also made the setup and handling far more demanding than a standard piece.

Design

I started by designing a rough motif to reflect the initial request for leaves. Then I refined it into a fully bespoke composition with minimal repetition. The motif flows organically across the top front section, from one side to the other, without mirrored patterns.

The master design for the bottom section was drawn in half and then adjusted during the embroidery process. Although I began with digital sketches, all final designs were transferred by hand using traditional transfer paper and liner.

Full-scale floral embroidery motif sketched on paper, used to plan composition for bespoke tambour lace wedding veil.
Tambour lace embroidery in progress, with the artist stitching white thread onto tulle using a tambour hook.

Materials

I initially planned to use Madeira Polyneon 40 and Madeira Glamour threads. But after testing them on the final veil tulle, it became clear that these threads were too heavy and rigid.

I switched to DMC Mouline for a softer and more suitable result. To support the embroidery process, I combined the client’s original tulle with a layer of couture-grade tulle—rigid and with a smaller cell size—placed beneath it.

Techniques

The entire piece was embroidered using the tambour technique.

Since I couldn’t frame the actual veil, I framed the couture-grade supporting tulle and pinned the softer original tulle on top. Once the embroidery was complete, I carefully cut away the base tulle using sharp manicure scissors—leaving the original veil intact and embellished.

Close-up of tambour embroidery in progress, using a hook to stitch white thread on fine tulle for a bespoke wedding veil.

Embroidered Floral Wedding Veil

This commissioned piece features bespoke floral embroidery on a four-metre wedding veil. The client requested leaf motifs at the front and bottom, and I developed an original, flowing design — without repetition or reference copying. The work involved drawing the design directly onto the fabric by hand, careful thread selection, and embroidery on delicate tulle, supported by a couture-grade base.

All embroidery was executed using tambour technique, resulting in a tambour lace effect on the finished piece. The project reflects my ability to combine high-level craftsmanship with creative freedom — delivering personal, one-of-a-kind results at a professional standard, suitable for an heirloom piece.

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