Above the Rest’s First Balloon Dress

After an episode of “The Unpoppables” (a series about 3 California balloon artists) was aired on TLC, we received a call with a request for us to create a balloon dress because the person had seen it on the show.

Having never made a balloon dress before, Rachel and I were both excited and nervous about making a balloon dress. The good thing for us was that the request came from a long-time friend not a paying client. So we told her we would make one if she agreed to model it for us at the Fox 43 Bride’s Day show. She agreed.

Rachel got an image in her head of what she wanted to create. We consulted an experienced balloon artist friend regarding how many balloons to order, took measurements, and got a dress form. After we received 300 Caribbean blue entertainer balloons for the bodice, and 400 rounds for the skirt Rachel began weaving the bodice. I began putting together the skirt.

Rachel Concentrating on Her First Dress Weave


Balloon dresses don’t have a long life span, so Rachel couldn’t start weaving the dress until a few days before the show. Even then we had to store it in a bag and keep in the cool air of the studio’s garage to keep it in tact.

Rachel quickly discovered that weaving and making the “bubbles” precise and straight was harder than she initially thought. The whole process took her much longer as well, and her hands became quite sore. Therefore, the length of the bodice shortened and the length of the skirt became longer.

I actually sewed 400 yellow, orange, magenta, and caribbean balloons together making each row a different layer. The layers were sewn together on top of each other.

Rachel is "sewing" Laura into the Balloon Dress

The day of the bridal show, Laura arrived very excited. She stood still as Rachel finished fitting the dress to Laura and “sewing” her into the dress.

Laura Happily Models our First Balloon Dress


Fascination with Laura's Dress

During the show, Laura’s dress was a huge attention getter. People pointed, exclaimed and most often wanted to touch the dress. They asked her numerous questions about how it felt, was it uncomfortable, could she sit. To which she said very comfortable and yes she could sit. Men, of course, made comments about popping the balloons. Women and children wanted to touch.

Overall, both Rachel and I were thrilled with this first-time accomplishment. We learned a lot about the time involved in making the dress–we had over 15 hours. We also know we’ll make another sometime in the future–who knows you may want us to make a balloon dress for you to make a big impact at a trade show?

Thanks, Laura, for watching the show and asking us to stretch our abilities. We have wanted to make a dress for a while. Your request and enthusiasm pushed us to actually do it. We are grateful!