Peek-A-Boo

Brittney tried her dress on to see if the length was right.  The lace showed just a little toe.  Absolute perfection!

Did I remember to take a photo?  :(  I was too late.

You'll have to visualize coral painted toes in these shoes.

The Train, Horsehair Braid & I'm An Idiot

The other day I heard someone say "if you're coming over to see me. you're welcome anytime, but if you're coming over to see my house, make an appointment."  My sewing room is a mess please ignore or make an appointment and I'll tidy up. 

Yesterday I managed to cut out the 7 main pieces of the skirt it took me nearly 3 hours but I am glad that I took my time…”measure twice cut once is what they say.”  What took the longest was tapering evenly from the top of the toe in the front to the back so that there is a small train of lace.  I had to make sure that I stayed on track with the scalloped edge so that although the skirt has seven long seams that the hem look continuous.

This is the front panel and you can see how the curved hem
of the pattern piece and the scalloped edge of the fabric don't
line up.  That's okay because I will take advantage of it to
 make the tapered train.
 

Close up of scalloped edging pinned together.



This is the side view where you can see the panels tapering from
 the center front on the right side of the photo and then increasing
 in length as it moves toward the back on the left. 

 

I bought some neat nylon horsehair braid edging that sews in under the lace all around the edge.  It holds the edges and it does a pretty good job.  In this photo I have everything pinned together…the seams, the waist, and the horse hair braid around the edge.

Horsehair nylon braid barely visible.

 Even though the horsehair stabilizes the edge when there is movement the train doesn’t retain its nice shape so I think that the train will need to be arranged by one of the maids-of-honor.

 

I tried to put some light weight organza to line the backside of the lace but it showed through so I scrapped that idea. 

I keep peaking in my sewing room to see if any new ideas spark and hoping maybe the 'cleaning fairies' will have come to visit.  I love how the train looks but I don’t want it to hang up on anything and I somehow want it to kind of maintain the nice circular shape.

Oh and remember when I described my awesome idea for raising the height on the dressform and then locking the wheels?  I'm an idiot. 

I accidentally pushed the form just a little and it came off of the blocks.  I leapt and caught her just in time.  I managed to get her back up on the blocks so back to the drawing board.

 

Valentine & Dress Length

 

Happy Belated Valentines Day! 

I haven't gotten a handmade Valentine since Jon was a little boy.  This particular was from my husband Cameron.  I was tickled to find it taped on the bathroom mirror. Actually at the bottom of my Valentine it said "and I let the cat out."  Ahhhh LOVE!

I'm drinking a cup of coffee preparing to start my day sewing.  I learned the hard way not to take anything other than water into my sewing room...thankfully not this wedding dress. 

I have been trying to adjust my dress form so that it is the same height as Brittney.  With her shoes on Brittney shoulders are much higher than the form.  So we raised the form as high as it would go and then Cameron and I cut out blocks to raise the form so that it is the proper height. 

We were quite the pair laying on the floor measuring the skirt to make sure that it was perfect because with this fabric the length can't be changed if it is too long or too short...there is a scallop on the edge.

 

The skirt has to be 2 1/2" off of the floor.  I am going

to cover the blocks with little 'block pillowcases.'

Sadly I didn't figure out how to lock the wheels so that it wouldn't fall off the blocks until it took a topple...we caught it just in time.

The cutting tables will be free at Les Fabriques the fabric store that we bought this fabric from so I will carry the lace and the silk to the store for the final cutting.  This week they are sponsoring a after school program and using the tables so I am a little behind the schedule I set for myself but I'll make it up.

While we lowered the neckline 1" last week, I am going to make it even a little lower because the lace is going to fill the neck line in considerably.

And with that I am off for the day...with a bottle of water of course.

Yesterday I learned... to lock the wheels if you're going to raise the dress from on blocks.  I was able to do it which is proof that you can teach an old dog new tricks.

Lost in My Sewing Room

I am writing about the lie I told you last time...about more frequent posting.  I have a lot on my plate but I admit I could try a bit harder.

To begin with I need MORE room!  My sewing room is 11’x10’ and my sewing table is 4’ x 4’ plus I have a desk, ironing board and dressform all crammed in this little space.  I want people to come to see her dress so I am pushing hard for more space.  My upstairs is unfinished and it would be the perfect place to set up my sewing machine HOWEVER everything that was packed in the closets is sitting in the middle of the floor…it’s only been 30 years.  We are going to work on it this weekend so maybe by next time I write I will have more space.

Last Sunday Brittney and her friends Stacey and Krysta came by and she tried the skirt part of the wedding dress on.  I'm always excited to see the dress come to life.  If the part I have been working on fits perfectly my heart sings.  If no then I jot down little things that need to be tweaked.

 

The skirt has seven panels…fitted at the top and then flaring out in a full skirt more than 6 feet around.  Wearing her pretty coral heels the underskirt was the perfect length just above the toes.

 

As always with a fitting we had to try on the sash, and lay the lace over the fabric and then stand back and admire how beautiful Brittney will look on the big day.  Brittney was happy, I was happy, her friends were happy and life is good.

 

On Monday I put the overskirt together with some yard sale lace just to get an idea of what it would look like.  It is shaped differently than the underskirt as it has a bit of a train and it is a tad longer in the front.  I thought that this would be the most complicated part of the dress but it wasn’t and it went together in about an hour.  These panels are the same shape as the underskirt but as they move around to the back they lengthen.

We tried the lace on over the underskirt but it kept getting underfoot so we re-thought the skirt length and decided to shorten the lace so that it was just off the floor but keep the train length as is.  You are probably wondering about the lace on the floor or hayfield.  I was too so I talked to my friend Carla and she suggested that I put an organza lining around the bottom that can be removed after the wedding...And that is exactly what I shall do.

What did I learn this week? 
I learned that we are going to have an unusually warm April.  The long range forecast for April 20^th 2013 is high 70 low 50...sounds like a beautiful day!



Jon and Brittney in the Hayfield

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!