Done Deal!

The wedding was June 10, 2012!

I'm STILL giddy!!! I'll be back with the good the bad and the ugly in a bit. Let me catch my breath.

Halt(er)

This weekend, I was ready to start fitting the muslin for the dress top. These are the before pics:

For the muslin I just used some more of the flimsy satin from Joann's. The pattern is old - McCall's 3584 I had in the stash from years ago.

Fitting a halter is such a challenge because the patterns are so low cut.
I closed up some of the top - about three inches - just based on the way it looked on the dressform. The other thing I had to do based on the form was pin out some gaping on each side of the halter.

Here is the lace we got from Exquisite Fabrics in DC. It was labelled French lace, I don't know much about lace, but this is really pretty and very comparable to the lace on the skirt.

My plan was to layer the lace over the satin bodice and midriff. I would also like to shape the bottom hem instead of it being straight across.

And now the after...
















My sister ended up finding a RTW dress on clearance!!! LMAO!!!! She tried it on for me yesterday before I got a chance to show her the top and get the fitting worked out, so she hasn't seen this part yet.

When I saw her in the RTW dress, I was brought to tears because she looked soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo beautiful!! And I knew that it was THE dress. It is completely different from her original inspiration dress but I think the new one is better.

She really found the perfect dress and I am extremely happy for her. It does need a few adjustments so we'll work those out.

Then it hit me that I WAS FREE from the pressure of making the dress (passes out) and I shed a few more tears -- of relief.

All in all, I'm happy with what (little) I accomplished, and I'm happy that I can get back to sewing things for me to wear (not that I'm selfish or anything.)

(happy dance)



...and BTW Baltimore/DC peeps they have very nice bridal satin at G Street Fabrics in Rockville, pricey, but nice :)

Yes to the dress (so far)

The wedding dress remake is going great so far. The hard part is done, meaning deconstruction. The dress came apart so easily! I can breath now.

Here is our starting point:

After a fruitless wedding gown search, sis found this dress in a vintage shop - when she wasn't even looking for a dress. Talk about meant to be!

Not sure how old this dress is, but it was definitely custom made (no tags, unfinished inside seams). Style-wise I'm thinking more than 15 years old but less than 25.

The dress is really long so the bride must have been a tall girl, which is perfect for my tall sister. So thanks, to whomever passed this one on.

This pic was taken before we got it cleaned. The bodice is unusable, the beading has faded and fallen off in between the layers of lace. I thought the beads were bugs at first, lol!

The lace is beautiful! It's ivory with random gold tones. Hard to capture with my camera but TRUST.

Here's what I've done so far:

I removed the bodice and added a 3 inch waistband. That's it, lol. Seriously though, I was soooo nervous. First of all, I was really nervous about taking it apart but  I held my breath and got to seam ripping, eventually I just ripped it apart manually once I saw that it was attached with one seam! All of the original seams are either enclosed in organza, or pinked. The skirt was gathered separately - with super sturdy seams. I was so worried about re-gathering all that fabric.

For the waistband I ended up using flimsy ass satin from Joann's, It was the best I could get my hands on at the time, but it will not be visible since we are doing a two piece dress. This is not a great pic, but you get the gist.

I need to "re-enclose" the lace overskirt hem. Not sure if re-enclose is the correct term, but the lace hem is wrapped in what looks like organza strips. Of course there was none in Joann's and I refused to use their tulle/netting fabrics. Whatever was used originally on this skirt has stained to brown in some spots so it has to go.

The last thing is a couple of small tears in the netted part of the lace, I'm hoping to repair that with invisible thread and some fine mesh from G-Street or Fabric Place.

I had to hand sew!!! Hell to the no!!!!!
Only for my sister though. I chose a zipper closure since this will all be hidden.

Again, not the best, but it will not be seen.

Skirt innards: Not sure what the content is but the satin is very heavy/sturdy. All the original seams are sturdy and the fabric has held up beautifully.

What's to come:

The bodice. She has decided on a halter style bodice. At this point, I am mulling over pattern options. I need to make a decision by the weekend. I want to be done completely by mid May - my own deadline. I will be making a trip to A Fabric Place, hopefully this week, to pick up some real satin for the bodice, and organza for the hem.

As you can see my sis has VISION galore, cause I would have taken one good look at that original thing and turned my nose way up. But working with it I see the beauty and potential. We'll see how this thing turns out. Wish me luck.

The Bridesmaids

So the bridesmaids dresses have been approved!! And I met my first wedding sewing deadline..

My sis has three Bridesmaids (BM), littlest sis + 2 girlfriends; and two Maids of Honor (MOH), me and the BFF. We are all wearing different dresses, handpicked by the bride. The lineup is stunning!

The BMs are wearing blush colors and us MOH's are wearing champagne gold. I *think* we are all wearing gold shoes-of our choice, and matching brooches. I CANT WAIT TO GO SHOE SHOPPING!!!!!! ok, lemme calm down...

Sis wanted to purchase convertible dresses for me and BFF from an Etsy vendor. Unfortunately, the vendor discontinued her chosen color so I offered to make them. We literally found the fabric on a fluke. G Street Fabrics turned out to be a bust so we were going to order online. I wanted to stop by a local Hancock Fabrics that was closing and stumbled upon this perfect match color for about $4/yard! So 2 bridal dresses for $40 and elbow grease. Let's say it together: SCORE!!!

I used pattern McCall's 6353. It turned out to be a decent pattern to work with. I was annoyed at having to cut the extra long ties on the floor, but in the end they are perfect and not bulky at all.

I am using what I consider medium-weight poly-Spandex knit. Like 10 yards of it had some weight! It has a lot of crosswise stretch and very little lengthwise stretch.  My only issues with the pattern is that there are ZERO finished measurements for bust-waist-hip and the ties are the same length in all sizes!!! (I made a 14 and a 24 and the ties are the exact same length, only difference is the width.) I didn't realize it would make a (small but noticeable) difference until we tried them on. It's still stunning on her and fits great, I just wish there was a bit more hang for the larger sized tie. Um, derr, McCall's...

Yes that's a wig... Let's focus on the dress!

My MOH dress back... I feel like a peanut head in this dress.  Bwahhahaaahahah! I will probably wear a big flower in my hair to balance me out.
My sister didn't approve my Kardashian style weave idea, lol.

BFF-MOH dress front... I will say this dress is flattering on all sizes!

BFF-MOH dress back view...
We're not 100% sure how we want to tie them yet, but she liked the one shoulder look on her. It was really cute!

I would like to wear mine another way since all of the other BM's have different dresses (theirs were purchased in various places).

Here's me in my new hat wig. I've only worn it once, just for fun.
Not sure if I can make it a regular thing, gotta get used to it, lol.


Wedding dress update next post...

The couple

Awww.... my boos were featured on The Belvedere Bride yesterday (and I'm just finding out today, hmph.)

Check them out!!!

I can't sew

Somehow I'm afraid to start up any big sewing projects for me because I have the wedding to sew for and I'm not allowed show you what I'm working on. My first deadline is March 31st for the maid of honor dresses and the skirt of the bridal gown. But, I'm gonna try and sneak some pictures in tho, shhh.

Thursday morning I got up at 5am after tossing and turning all night damned insomnia! so I decided that I was gonna sew something new for me. I serged off a yard of fabric for a scarf, and my fuzzy brain handled it well. It was a nice & quick sewing fix and I felt cute wearing it that day. Good enough.



Scarf: "silky" double border print from fabric.com
Dress: Vogue 8679
(I wore it with a boring black blazer and pumps, but I was still cute tho, lol)

Love this print, it's black and white with a pop of  coral, red and yellow on each border.

Full shot.
Ehhh, should I stick to wearing dangly earrings with this haircut?
I have on "diamond" studs and I'm looking bare from the neck up, at least in the photo.

Ciao!

Inspiration

Went fabric shopping this weekend...

Romona Keveza

Finally Organized

Thanks for the encouragement/comments from last post!

This past weekend I cleaned up and rearranged my sewing area to make it feel like a real workroom instead of just a bunch of "junk" stashed in the corner.

Previously, I let my husband talk me into believing my sewing stuff was junk, so my setup mode was hide my "junk" as much as possible. I was so embarrassed about my stash, that I kept moving my stuff around the room trying to constantly organize it, constantly purging and regretting, that I almost just gave up and got rid of it all. No more of that - new attitude.

I live here and so does my "junk."

Now my things are a LIVE part of the basement which is the family room / play room and now part craft room. Everything is organized - easy to get to and easy to put away. I won't be embarrased when guests come over. Everyone knows I sew anyway.

Jr's play area. He loves his decorated wall. 
It's all from Dollar Tree, except what I printed from online and my little craft project up top, lol.
My "junk" used to be on this side.

mommy's play area :)
ALL this used to be crammed on the other side which is a lot smaller. It was a mess, lol.
White dresser holds patterns, it's from Ikea.
 I didn't buy anything new except the tabletop for my sewing machines(below). everything else I had somewhere in the house.

...machines & stuff. I can turn and see the TV from here! 
My sewing table is just a bunch of craft cubes from Michael's that I have collected over time, on sale, and a piece of melamine shelving from Home Depot. Ikea chair was thrifted. The red ottoman will be recovered soon and put back on the TV side of the basement.

My computer and office stuff is in the cabinet.
Table top is a 1x40x72 inch piece of plywood from Home Depot. I have a vinyl table cloth over it. Ikea lamps. On three sides of the table are Target cube shelves I collected over time, on sale. They hold his toys, and my fabric & books.

On the fourth side is two file cabinets with patterns and office files. The ironing board is against the wall by the pattern dresser. And there is one more plastic Ikea ottoman/hamper full of fabric on the side. I still have a lot of fabric. There's two more tubs behind the curtains on Jr's side. I'm working on it though.

Of course my dream is to have a room that I can lock myself in, but this will work. At least I can supervise the kids.

wooo-saaaah

I wasn't going to share this at first, but my Sister said it was OK.

Now, back to my whiny post the other day. The real reason I was feeling inadequate in my sewing is because I have been tasked with making a wedding gown for my sister.

Yea...

holy.crap.com
what.is.i'm.gonna.do.com
give.me.oxygen.com

Background: So when my sister announced this summer her upcoming nuptials (congrats Boo!) I knew I wanted to be a big part of the behind the scenes, so I offered up my services for the bridesmaid's gown. The problem with that was coming up with a dress for multiple body types. My suggestion was the convertible dress, something like:

via www.mccall.com

Everyone agreed and she found the dresses in RTW. Fine, that saves me some time/effort for something else. But I told her I'm still making mine because I don't want to pay $90 for a polyester dress, when I can make a silk one for equal or less. I'm the Matron of Honor anyway, and I can be "special". So that solved, up next was the problem of the wedding gown.

now, my sister (middle child) is...... how can I say this without pissing her off........

a dreamer

delusional.

The dress she envisioned was not working out on the day of our gown search. I felt really sad for her that day and wished that her dream could come true somehow. She really deserves it. As fate would have it, the very next day (or week later) she found a dress in a vintage shop that she could modify into her dream dress. So we got the gown cleaned, and came up with a game plan.

Now guess who became the lead on that project?

I'm making a wedding gown.

The panic/sheer terror/heart arrhythmias have settled. But, I'm making a wedding gown. Not from scratch, gosh no, I am modifying an existing gown.

but it's my sister's wedding gown.

I am honored and excited and and and... there is miles of lace/tulle/satin/beading involved.

Of course I didn't tell her I was nervous about it, but I let her know what I was comfortable doing, and you know what? I am going to ROCK THIS THING OUT!! I think it's the perfect challenge and confidence booster to take me to the next level in my sewing and creativity. I'm not going to let any self doubt and negative thoughts cloud our vision and block her dream.

So, I guess I will be sharing a new "adventure." (I really am taking several deep breaths here.) The plan, the prep, the process and the progress. While I won't be able to reveal the dress until it's all over, I will share the things I make for myself and my daughter, Miss Junior Bridesmaid. Possibly some things for the bride to be.

So stay tuned...