100 Days to Go - Rehearsal Dinner Dress

The Rehearsal Dinner Dress

There is something so absolutely delightful about the color purple, or more specifically, Lavender. 

For my rehearsal dinner dress, I wanted to wear a lacy purple dress, and instead of trying to hunt one down, I opted for creating my own. 

I went to Joann's and found this pattern that was the basis for adding an overlay of lace on a short, basic dress. 

I figured I could alter it to fit me better after making it...

Found this absolutely beautiful periwinkle cotton broadcloth, and some lavender lace to top it. They compliment each other so well! This picture really doesn't do them justice.

Spent the morning cutting out the pattern, which required three pattern pieces and only a few steps of cutting. I didn't iron the pieces first, but they didn't have any delicate cuts, so I was okay with that.

 I pinned all of the lace pieces directly to each corresponding base so that I would only have to do one step of stitching instead of two.

 Here you can see how the colors delicately compliment each other without overpowering. You can see each color, and still see the pattern quite well. 

The zipper did not prove to be a hassle, though I was definitely worried about the overlay not lining up perfectly to the base, therefore creating a strange bunch when putting it on. 

However, it did not, and I breezed through each step.

To alter it to fit me, because there were no darts in the pattern, I put the dress on, and pinned it where I wanted to to fit more closely. This was a little tricky, and now that I'm looking at these pictures, I'm actually thinking about going back and making princess seams instead. 

I love the sleeves, and I created a few little pleats at the top to add some additional texture and body to them.

Adding these pleats took a lot of pinning and patience, but it was totally worth it.

The "finished product". 

Here you can see why I want to add princess seams instead of just darts.

It would add a little work, but I think it would finish nicely. 

Notice the hem has lace that is longer than the base!

Didn't exactly meet my 100 Day Deadline, but I have almost everything done, except details on my wedding dress, one bridesmaid dress, some alterations, and the flower girl dress!

Stay tuned...

127 Days to Go - Bridesmaid Dresses #2 & #3

Bridesmaid Dress Creations!

Writing it out is not nearly as entertaining as the actual process of doing it, but I want to share it regardless. 

The two patterns I chose for my bridesmaid dresses are below. I got them from Serendipitysewing.com, and have fallen in love with the way the designer makes them easy to interpret. When looking at these patterns, it may be hard to see what I like about them because they both have so much going on, but if you take out the different patterns mixed, they are both simple, flattering, and variable. 

 Making the dresses has been quite a process, but I made it work by doing a little at a time, and splitting each dress into two days of work: cutting the pattern & sewing it. That doesn't include alterations, but those are pretty minimal once the dress is done. 

 Making sure the pattern was facing up when working on it got a little tricky because if I cut it upside down, then the birds and butterflies would be upside down on the dress!

Another thing I had to look out for was the placement of the print. I didn't want my bridesmaids to put on their dresses to find a pattern hitting the wrong spot, so I made sure to place it and cut it correctly. 

I think my least favorite part is putting the zipper on. I haven't quite mastered the art of the invisible foot, so when I sew on a zipper, I have to take my time, and keep the foot angled right under the train of the zipper. This can be difficult because if the train gets thread in it, then it won't zip, and no one likes that.

Two of the dresses have this pattern. 

This one does not have the sleeves added yet, because that is the very last step. It also does not look like it has shape because it looks like a box dress until I alter it to fit the bridesmaid!

I have also been working on a little surprise for the flower girl. 

I wanted to add some details to the dress, and instead of adding to mine, I thought it would be quite fitting to create some special details for her.  

More to come soon!

137 Days to Go - Bridesmaid Dress #1: Finished

Bridesmaid Dress #1 is Finished!

With 37 days until my 100 day deadline, I haven't managed to 'pick up production' any...

I did, however, alter the first bridesmaid dress. When my sister came into town last, I had her try on her dress, and I pinned it to fit her. 

I finally took it out this weekend, and finished it by sewing in the alterations, and added in the finishing touches such as the interfacing, and the hem line. 

Hopefully, when she gets into town next, she will try it on again to find it fits her like a glove. 

Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures, but I will update this post when I have updated pictures. 

I have been attempting to bead my veil as well, but I am still deciding on what I want, so I don't want to post about it until I know for sure. 

I still have two more bridesmaid dresses to sew, a flower girl dress to make, and I need to add the finishing touches to my own gown. 

My favorite part about this project is my wedding gown. I am in love. It is exactly what I pictured myself wearing, and sometimes, I just stare at it because it looks like it is floating on its own. Once it is finished, I will love it even more. :-) 

169 Days To Go - Wedding Dress Hemming & Beading

Wedding Dress Hemming & Beading

I never posted an update about hemming my wedding dress, a most uninteresting process, except getting to work with horsebraid. 

Because my dress is made out of cotton, and the crushed tulle is even lighter than the cotton, my train was not falling correctly to the floor. I did some research and decided to buy some horsebraid to add to the bottom. 

Hemming was a process I was putting off for a few reasons:

1. It is almost impossible to hem your dress by yourself. 
2. It is so monotonous and sometimes can become frustrating. 
3. I needed to add the horsebraid, but I wanted to wait until I knew how much to buy, which meant waiting until it was hemmed to measure.

Thank goodness for mothers! My mom came over to help me hem my dress. She pinned everything straight and up for me so that all I had to do was add a few more pins to straighten out the material. 

I did two straight stitches: the first is 1/2 of an inch, and the second is 1/4 of an inch from the edge.

After sewing the 1/2 of an inch hem, I decided to put the horsebraid into the gap, and then sew the 1/4 inch to sew it together. This may not be the ideal way to add horsebraid to a train, but it was a one step fix for the problem I was having. 

Notice how flat it is lying now. 

LACE DETAIL: 

Because I haven't updated on the train since my last post about it, here is what is going on:

I decided not to use lace for the train because it was falling differently than the crushed tulle because of the weight. Instead, I decided to take it off, and use the lace somewhere else. 

Because I really liked the scalloped edges, I decided to use them for the back detail. 

I lined them up on my cutting board, and used my rotary cutter to seperate the lace from the edges. 

 I measured how much I would need, and pinned it to the zipper. 

I then used two straight stitches to easily add them to the back. 

I love how simple it was to add this detail, and how it turned out. 

It adds an elegant simplicity to the dress. 

THE BUSTLE:

I forgot to take pictures of this process, but I decided to use an Austrian bustle for the back. 

Though my version still needs some 'cleaning up', below is the finished product. 

I basically used the leftover edges to sew a casing (I never cut off the extra until I'm almost done).  

I had some grosgrain ribbon that I put on a safety pin, and ran it through the casing. 

This made it to where when I pull one side and slide it up, it gathers into a pretty little lift. 

As you can see from below, the train is no longer touching the floor, but now I have to figure out what to do with the crushed tulle. I've been thinking about a button that will lift the extra material. Possibly hiding it behind an applique. Not sure yet, stay tuned. 

The Beading

This has probably been the most beautiful part of this project. Something about a bunch of tiny delicate, beautiful pastel colored beads that makes everything perfect.

Besides the four colors shown below, I also had a tub of multicolored beads separated into little canisters.

I used the lid to bring a bunch of the colors I chose together. This made the selection a little bit more random, and I think made the beading more exciting. 

The colors I chose were: 

pearl, sea green, light blue, light pink, silver, and white

Looking at the array of colors below, they bring out all of the colors I want for the wedding. 

I had to use a thinner needle than normal in order for all of the beads to fit through. I started with the top row not including any color except silver, white, and pearl, then the second two rows having blues, greens, and pinks. 

As I did the beading, I experimented a little with designs before deciding on straight rows. I like things to look uniform, and I think it brings everything together. 

Below is the front finished. It is simple, but makes the top look so delicate. I'm in love. 

For the back, I wanted to cover up the lace edges, and so I added three more tiny rows of beads to even it out. I like how it has it's own shape that falls into line with the scallops. 

I have to admit, it was almost sad to finish this step.

It was such a simple task of sewing in and out, while adding beads, but at the same time, it was satisfying to see the beads being put in place, and coming together with the other colors. 

My next step is adding the appliques to the train. Hopefully, it will prove just as satisfying. 

170 Days To Go - Bridesmaid Dress #2

Bridesmaid Dress #2

This past Sunday, I sat down to finish the second bridesmaid dress. This pattern was a little different, and because my sister has to try it on so I can fit it to her, it looks kind of like a paper bag dress...

I used the Willow Tunic by sewserendipity.com as my pattern of choice.

I chose this pattern as one of the bridesmaid options because it has a semi-princess seam, and it can be shaped to different body types rather than the body types having to fit to the dress.  

Below is the process! 

First, I had to do the monotonous process of cutting out the pattern, all while making sure I was cutting everything right side up. 

I forgot to take pictures of the whole process, but I did remember to do a zig zag stitch after each straight stitch to prevent fraying. This helps when you don't have a serger ;-)

I bought four zippers at once instead of buying each one separately to ensure I would have the right color... the two dress patterns have two different zipper lengths, something I failed to notice upon buying the zippers. 

About this time I realized that the zipper was a tad bit long for this dress, but it still worked, just ended up with an unnecessarily long zipper...no big deal.

Below is the finished dress for now. As you can see, there are no sleeves yet, and it falls like a paper bag. It does have a little bit of shape, but that will change when my sister tries it on. I will pin it inside out, and sew it to fit her. 

Upon writing this post, I just realized that all of the pieces ended up lining up to where they are in the same areas on the dress...

178 Days to Go - The Waistband

Adding the Waistband

I've been using a scrap piece of crushed tulle tied in a bow to define my waist when trying on the latest version of my dress. I decided to go ahead and add the waistband to give my dress the shape I have been waiting for. I was loving how everything about the dress fell on me perfectly, but somewhere between recreating the dress and adding the overlay, the waist definition went away. 

As someone who has always had a very defined waist, having one on my wedding dress is a requirement. 

I'm happy with out it ended up turning out! 

 This is the scrap piece I have been using. After lining up the fabric, I used my rotary cutter to even out the ends and rid of rough edges. I double folded it over to make this process go by faster as well. 

After measuring my waist, I evenly gathered the edges by sewing a straight stitch set at the highest width, and then pulled a string to gather it. I then added another straight stitch on top of that one to hold it in place. 

 I had previously used a washable fabric marker to mark where I wanted the waist band to fall, and then pinned the edge to the waist portion of the zipper, between the marks. 

 After sewing a straight stitch across, right above where the gathered straight stitch was, I measured where the edge of the waist band would be sewn on the other end. 

 Again, I used the purple marks as a guide for the waistband, and sewed.

 I have more details to add to the back zipper, and by the looks of it, I need to straighten the left side stitching just a bit, but It fits me so well, and lays on my waist perfectly. :-)

 It is a wide waistband because my torso and waist are relatively small, while my hips are wide, so I wanted my torso & waist to be much more defined than my hips!

 In case you are wondering about my train, below is the disaster I need to fix. 

For some reason, adding the lace the way I did to the train is not working out. 

My solution is the completely take off the lace, and add crushed tulle instead, then add lace appliques to the train, rather than the train be lace itself. It's not falling correctly, and with the rest of the overlay being crushed tulle, I'm not surprised. 

This is all a learning process, and I'm taking my time as I learn something new everyday. 

"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things."

- Philippians 4:8