Labor of love results in win

Cindy McGranahan shows off the wedding dress she created for her daughter-in-law. The dress earned the "Best Overall" title in the Textiles Division at the Clay County Fair.

A garment sewn with love earned its creator the top prize, Best Overall, in the Textile Division of the Creative Living Center of the Clay County Fair.

Cindy McGranahan, who's daytime job is director of the Parker Historical Society of Clay County, took the honor with a wedding dress, designed and sewn for her son's fiancé.

McGranahan's son, Devan, and his fiancé planned a June 27, 2009, wedding at the Conrad Environmental Resource Area at Kellogg, Iowa. Meghan, an art history student, wanted a very special dress for her big day.

The couple had met while students at Grinnell College, and both are pursuing PhD's -- Meghan at the University of Kansas, and Devan at Iowa State University.

"About a year ago, she came to me with a little sundress that she thought could be the model for her dress," McGranahan recalls. "She wanted to know if I could duplicate it for her wedding."

While she was confident in her skills to create the simple style, the bride-to-be threw her a curve a month or so later.

"Meghan was in an airport, reading a bridal magazine, and found a dress she loved. It featured a 'high-low' hemline."

McGranahan searched for a pattern for the style, with no luck. She found the actual dress from the magazine in a bridal shop, which allowed her to study the design. More research, on the Internet and in stores throughout Iowa, helped round out her research.

Complicating matters was the fact that the bride-to-be, a native of New Hampshire, was in New Orleans, completing work for her master's degree in art history at Tulane University.

"I sat down with paper and a pencil and contemplated how to make that hemline," McGranahan recalls. A drawing was sent to Meghan, who gave it her seal of approval.

In Iowa over the Christmas holidays, Meghan and her mother-in-law-to-be picked out the fabric and ironed out kinks.

The challenge was the skirt. Cut in one piece, it required a great deal of skill to create a smooth and even look. Working on delicate fabrics, and creating the design herself, made for a seamstresses' dilemma. The bodice of the piece got its inspiration from a prom dress made for McGranahan's daughter, adapted with a halter neckline.

"I actually sent the dress down to Meghan once, to fit the bodice, and I let Devan take it down once more for a fitting," McGranahan said.

The finishing touches were done once Meghan had completed studies at Tulane and returned to Iowa about a month before the wedding.

And the bride's verdict?

"She loved it. It was just what she wanted," McGranahan smiles. "It meant a lot to her to have a dress made for her by her mother in law."

The bride was just as excited to hear that her dress was to be entered at the Clay County Fair.

"She thought it was really neat that the dress would be entered," she said. "I haven't told her yet that it won."

The big purple rosette, evidence of the title, will add another chapter to a family story sure to be shared for many years.