Veronika knitted her own wedding dress in six weeks—the incredible project quickly went viral
Unable to find a wedding dress she liked quickly enough, knitting influencer Veronika Lindberg decided to knit her own. The video of the project has garnered millions of views on YouTube: “I wanted to show people the times when things didn’t go as planned.”
Where can I find a wedding dress in under two months? Veronika Lindberg, 34, was faced with a challenge when she and her partner spontaneously decided to hold their wedding alongside their housewarming party. The couple had been engaged for a year and a half and were about to move into their dream home. After making the decision, they scheduled the wedding day seven weeks ahead.
“My mother and sister immediately asked if I planned to make the wedding dress myself, but at first I thought it would be too stressful,” says Veronika, known on social media as craft influencer Kutovakika.
When Veronika began, she had a clear vision of only the neckline of the dress. Beyond that, she mostly improvised.
Veronika wanted a lace dress with an open back and long sleeves. When she couldn’t find one after five days of searching, she began to warm up to the idea of making it herself. After considering sewing at first, she decided to trust her strongest skill—knitting—and incorporate a bit of crochet, too, into the dress.
“Even though taking on a six-week project alongside moving and planning a wedding was a pretty crazy idea, I somehow trusted that I could make the dress work. I felt that this time in my life would leave me with an amazing memory if I made the dress myself.”
So, Veronika ordered white silk yarn and began to knit. When she started, she had a clear vision of only the neckline of the dress, for which she took inspiration from her go-to dress. Beyond that, she mostly improvised.
“I felt that this time in my life would leave me with an amazing memory if I made the dress myself.”
There was one time when Veronika had to unravel a considerable portion of the bodice because it had turned out too large.
“At that point, I began to wonder whether my vision would work out.”
Despite the setback, the work continued. The skirt portion, however, consumed the bulk of the available time—almost four weeks.
“At first, I thought about crocheting the skirt section, but at some point, I realized that I didn’t believe in my crochet plan and decided to knit it entirely.”
The most challenging part was finding time to knit while simultaneously moving and planning the wedding.
The culmination of the intensive project
However, the most challenging part was finding time to knit while simultaneously moving and planning the wedding.
“Some days, I had to tell my partner that I wouldn’t go to IKEA with him or do anything else, but that I just had to knit from morning till night. As time started to run out and there was still work to do, I became more tired and stressed,” Veronika says.
Despite the tight schedule, the prevailing feeling during the project was the joy of creation.
“It was fun to realize that I could design as I went. I could just enjoy the process and didn’t have to think about techniques like when I’m making a pattern. The project also provided me with something to focus on in the middle of the all the chaos. I think that it helped me cope.”
“Some days, I just had to knit from morning till night.”
After one and a half kilos of yarn, the stunning dress was complete with five days to go until the wedding.
When the wedding day arrived in September, Veronika was nervous about wearing her creation. Friends had followed the project on social media, and the dress became the day’s topic of conversation.
“It was incredible to be able to put on the dress. Guests came to see and marvel at it. It felt really nice that I had been able to share the whole journey with my friends. It was really cool that knitting was part of my wedding.”
Veronika feels that by knitting, she was able to process this important milestone in advance, which gave her a way to feel the joy of the wedding longer.
“The celebration was wonderful, and I wished it could have lasted forever, but I had already been able to think about the wedding day throughout the process.”
“It was really cool that knitting was part of my wedding.”
She was satisfied with the result for practical reasons as well, Veronika says with a laugh.
“The dress was really comfortable! It was fantastic that it had some stretch and I could eat and drink normally.”
Veronika’s knitting video becomes a worldwide hit
After her wedding, Veronika published a video about her project on YouTube, complete with its ups and downs. In just over a week, the video has garnered over 1.5 million views. Comments have poured in from interested viewers from as far away as Australia.
“It’s just crazy! It has felt great that my work has received so much attention. I wanted to show people the times when things didn’t go as planned with the video. That way, even those who don’t knit themselves realize that there’s a lot of work involved in crafts and that there are going to be bumps along the way,” Veronika says.
Enthusiastic knitters have already been asking for a pattern for the dress, but for now, Veronika has no plans to make one.
“This was just for myself.”
