Say YES to the Skirt!

The tent frame went up and now I/we have a much better idea of how it is going to look.  The tent is huge!  My imagination went absolutely wild.  When the hayfield greens up in the Spring and the leaves are out this is going to be a beautiful setting.  I have no doubt that Brittney and Jon’s wedding is going to be the event of the year in North Garden, Virginia!  They have friends and family coming in from everywhere!

 

Now for an update on the DRESS.

A couple of days ago I cut out and seamed the skirt together.  I slipped it over the head of the dressform and it fit perfectly!  WOO HOO Am I a lucky girl or what!  The seams matched up the length in the back in exactly like we wanted it and all that is left is to trim some of the fabric off the front of the skirt!!! 



 

So basically all that is left is to make one more skirt, try the muslin dress on Brittney, make any adjustments necessary and it will be time to cut out the beautiful silk fabric and lace overlay.

There will be a coral sash around the waist that hangs nearly to the hem of the dress.  It is going to look spectacular with her coral shoes.  Can you tell that I am excited?

I told Brittney that I think this dress is stunning even made out of muslin.  This is going to be the Best Wedding Dress Ever!

What did I learn this week?  I confess that sometimes while channel flipping I stop and watch the TV show “Yes To The Dress.”  I am learning that the important thing about wedding dresses is not the gals in the showroom, it is the seamstresses in the back room or in the basement that do all the challenging work.  There is a lot involved to make a dress conform perfectly to a brides body.

Perhaps this dress will be put away and worn by a daughter or granddaughter in the family on her special day.  How awesome would that be?  I can tell you…..pretty darn awesome! 

 

Tinkle, Tinkle Little Bell

My sewing room is about fifteen steps inside the front door.  It is a ‘door-less room.  Since I started working on Brittney’s wedding dress I sort of freak out if I glance up and see that someone has come in the house without me knowing it.  What if it’s my son Jon?  The groom.  

Sometimes when I am deep into sewing my cat Zippy sharpens her nails on the runner near the front door and it startles me.  It sounds a little bit like someone is coming in.  My other cat Finn bangs against the front door when he is trying to get it.  There are people (whose names I will not reveal) that don’t close the door tight and it will blow open...BANG!

I had gotten pretty good at flying across the room and swooping my arm across the table and sliding all the dress pieces into a box.  But now I have an entire wedding dress on my table and it is pretty much un-swoopable.

I finally attached a little bell to the front door that tinkles when it opens.  When it does, I ask “stop, who is it?”

“It’s just me again” laughs my hubbie.  I think he is messing with me. 

 

The Turtle Wins the RACE

I hope everyone had a joyous Christmas and New Year surrounded by family, love, laughter and good food.   

 

Break is over and now it is time to focus on more important things like the wedding dress. My blogs entries will be picking up from here on until it is finished.  We left off with the bodice construction AND that is where we pick up.

We don't think about the back of our clothes very often but we do with a wedding  dress.  In some cases it can be the focus as a bride walks down the isle or stands at the altar so the back must be as beautiful as the front.  So let me show you how the back of Brittney's wedding dress is going to be constructed.

Just a reminder to everyone I am working on sort of a pre-dress to make sure that the bodice fits Brittney’s body like a glove.  When I am satisfied with the fit then I will use this as my pattern...after that things will move faster. I sort of want to apologize for how long I am taking but you remember the story about the turtle and the hare...the turtle wins the race.

Today I worked on the back of the dress.  The sleeve attaches in three place on the dress 1. on the front like a strap then 2. back to the nape of the neck, and 3. down to the under the arm into the side seam.  It is an odd shaped piece and the one that has been the most challenging.  You can see in this photo...the yellow part that I had to revise three times.  Now it is perfect.

In the original design the two pieces that come together at the side seam did not touch but I decided to tie them together so it will fell more structured to wear and so it would give me more fabric to attach the lace to.  In the next two photos you can see the back/sleeve which is one piece.

 

Here is how I plan to tie the pieces together

with an crossed over lap.

This is a pretty good shot of how I altered the back slightly.  It may look odd but wait and I’ll show you how it will look with the lace over it.  By the way the purple stitches are temporary just to hold it together.  

Now you see it!

Now you don't!

I have that part of the pattern figured out…on to the shoulder piece.

Here’s the top of the back.  From the underarm where we just were the lace goes up to the mid back at the nape of the neck.

 

At the nape I am going to put some kind of fastener…maybe an invisible fastener or maybe a loop and pearl button but for now I am not going to worry about that.

 

I have one more piece to work out and then I’m going to begin cutting the silk. 

Are you lost?  That’s okay, it will become clearer as I reach the finish line.  See you soon!