EVERYBODY knows a bridezilla but one newlywed from Birchwood was so relaxed about her special day that she made her own wedding dress and only finished sewing on the lace 48 hours before she walked up the aisle.

Lisa Jackson, 36, from Locking Stumps, started classes at Dolly’s Sewing School on Academy Way less than a year ago but on October 1 she got married wearing her handmade dream dress.

Bride creates her own dream wedding dress - for less than £100

Images: informal wedding dresses

However Lisa did not start sewing to save money or to make her own clothes but because she believes it is a valuable skill.

“I can knit but when I first started I couldn’t even thread a sewing machine,” she said.

“My husband can weld and he has skills – I wanted a skill too.

“I decided to make my own dress after I tried wedding dresses on and I didn’t like them, they were dead long and dead heavy,” she said.

“I knew I wanted a knee-length dress so I could wear some nice shoes and I wanted it to have some swish. I knew exactly what I wanted it to look like.

“I would never pay silly money for a dress but I didn’t make it because of the money – I just couldn’t find one I liked.”

The fearless mum-of-two picked up the lace for £18 and the lining for £9 and put together the top half of a dress from one pattern with the skirt from another to create her design.

Although Lisa is new to sewing, she said the owner of Dolly’s Sewing School, Linsey Williams, made her feel like she could make anything she wanted.

“Linsey’s got the skills and the patience. Without her I could never have done it. It was dead easy to make because she gives everybody the confidence,” she added.

Lisa got married to her partner of nine years, Steven Jackson, at St Helen's Church in Hollins Green and said many of the guests were shocked by how beautiful the dress looked.

“Steven kept saying ‘I can’t believe you made that’ and it was lovely to wear. I’m very proud of it.

“My sons Olly and Henry thought it was lovely, they love things that swish.”

And after the wedding it was straight back to the sewing machine as Lisa got to work on her next projects, a tweed winter dress and handmade Christmas elves for her sons.

Also see: http://www.sheindressau.com/sexy-wedding-dresses