I Have Returned

Obviously, it has been awhile since I last updated my blog. I am no longer sewing professionally. Since my marriage in August of last year, I am delighted to have started a new career as "domestic engineer." I still sew a bit, too, as the notion takes me. (No pun intended.)

I sewed for our wedding, of course. I had to. No one else could make my dress for me--and I certainly would never find such a dress in a store.



Yes, that is my wedding dress, and yes, it is blue. I have never wanted a white wedding dress. The fabric I used is actually drapery material. A seamstress friend gave me a roll of it years ago. I thought it was beautiful at the time, but it never occurred to me that I would end up using it for my wedding gown.

The princess-seam gown has a very full skirt: It is nearly a full circle. It is fully lined with cotton, which is cooler and more comfortable than a synthetic lining. The raglan sleeves are darted at the top to give them a bit of shape, and they are roomy enough for swing dancing (which was essential for the dance at our reception). The original pattern had a scoop neckline with a zipper down the back; but V-necks look better on me, and my husband likes buttons down the front. So I changed the pattern a bit and made a practice dress to try it out. It worked.


The ornamentation is handmade Irish crochet. My mother did most of it; I added a bit, as well. Each of the buttons has a tiny crocheted flower stitched to it, with a ring of opalescent beads in the center. (I made the buttons.) All of the threadwork has beads in it.



Here is the back. I made the snowflake-like motif in the center of the design and a few of the small flowers. Other than that, the credit goes to my mother. She made a large number of individual motifs and sent them to me, and I figured out a placement for each of them before hand-sewing them into place (and adding beads where necessary).

I did some other sewing for the wedding, too. Perhaps I will make some posts about that another time.

Runners for the Bride

As in "table linens," of course, not sprinters.

The bride who had me make a sash for her dress also wanted coordinating runners to decorate the tables at the reception.




The fabric is actually more navy than it appears in the photo, and the lining is more ecru than actual white. It has a poly/cotton fiber content. It had to be a closely-woven cotton or cotton-blend, because the bride plans to have a wreath design screen printed on to match the graphics on the wedding invitations. Each of the runners is seven feet long by one foot wide, with a decorative seam two inches from the edge.

Simply elegant.

Something Blue

More wedding wonderfullness!!

Perhaps that is a tad too gushy for this little project, but it is for a wedding, after all. Is not the occasion supposed to be all bubbly and iridescent?

The soon-to-be-bride in this case had a slight problem with her wedding garments. The gown itself is a simple, lovely white lace little thing. The sash with it, though, just did not do it for her. I would have to agree.

It is not that the sash itself is bad, per se; it just is not right for the dress. Obviously, I haven't a picture of it with the actual dress, but I can show it to you against a white lace background. The color, as you can see is champagne. Against the dress, it is really quite jarring. The color is the first thing that makes it wrong for the dress.

The second is that it is too long. The dress is floor-length with no train, and the bride is not a tall woman. This sash, even when tied in a bow, extends a few feet beyond the hem of the dress. It just does not look quite right.

The third difficulty with it is the weight. The thing is heavy. The dress is empire-waisted, which means that the sash has to be attached to the dress by means of a couple hooks that are inserted into thread loops at the waist seam. That makes for an awful lot of weight dragging on the bride as she walks, not to mention a lot of pull on the dress itself.

This sash just will not do. Here is its replacement:

Once again, my client decided to go with something slightly off the beaten path of wedding tradition. (I believe her shoes will match the sash, too.) The navy contrasts prettily with the white lace, and the single layer of fabric is nice and light. (The edges have a rolled, serged finish.) Additionally, it is a better length, since it was made especially for the lady who will be wearing it.

It is so nice to supply a bride with just what she wants.

Update: When my client came to get the runners I made for her, she said that the sash looked great with her dress when she tried it on at the final fitting. Her mother, who came with her, also exclaimed that it looked really good. I am quite pleased with such a report.

Not Your Average Wedding Gown

I must admit that I actually prefer non-traditional wedding gowns. Traditional ones are very lovely; do not get me wrong. However, I like something a little more unusual. This recent client of mine presented me with the opportunity to construct something somewhat out of the ordinary when it comes to wedding attire.

It is for a second wedding, and she wanted to be different. She looked at all the traditional nuptial couture and was unable to locate what she wanted. That is when she contacted me. Since she could not even find a picture of what she had in mind, she sent me what she called a "rough sketch" (which is a whole lot better than anything I could draw). This was my introduction to the project:

It is a two-piece dress. The bodice is a strapped corset; the skirt has an uneven hemline, with the front higher than the back. She said that she was thinking of a champagne shade of fabric. I told her I thought it would be beautiful. The material she ended up getting is more gold than champagne, but I think it made a gorgeous gown.

The bodice is boned with ribs on nine of its seams; it will not lose its shape. It is trimmed with the skirt fabric, and the same fabric was also used for the lacing. (The small picture at the top shows a detail of the bodice brocade and solid trim.) The skirt has a darker gold lining, which adds a little interest and subtle emphasis to the high/low hemline.

The wedding is scheduled for September, but my client was quite happy to have the dress taken care of early. She was decidedly pleased with how it turned out, saying that it is even better than she expected to be. Now that makes for job satisfaction.

June is Bustlin' Out All Over...

'Tis the quintessential wedding month. I am not sure why. Here in the South, it is the beginning of hot, humid weather. It must be pleasant enough in other places, though.

At any rate, weddings are fun, no matter what time of year they take place. I had the privilege of sewing for one almost a year ago (a June wedding, to be sure). Among other things, I got to put a bustle in the bride's gown.

For those of you who have not a clue what a wedding gown bustle is, I will explain. Gowns with trains look lovely going down the aisle. The yards of trailing fabric are just so romantic. They can also be a safety hazard during during a reception, not to mention a damper on one movements. Thus, a bustle is contrived as a way to get all that extra material out of the way--while still looking lovely. (And, yes, certain types of wedding gown bustles do bring to mind the bustles once worn by Victorian ladies to--uh--"shape" the backs of their skirts.)

This is the back of the dress, unbustled. As you can see, the train on this gown is not very long. Still, the bride wanted to be unhampered for the reception. Because of the very simple, elegant style, a typical underbustle or overbustle, while getting the extra fabric out of the way, would have disturbed the clean cut of the design. Instead, we decided to go with something a bit unusual but extremely pretty.

The small photo at the top of the post is a close-up of the bustled gown. The shirred effect is achieved by means of "drawstrings" (ribbons) in casings, much like a balloon shade. I handstitched the casings to the inside of each of the three back seams in the train. If you look closely at the larger picture above, you can see that the dress has a sheer overlay. Since it, too, had to be gathered when the ribbons were pulled through the casings, I stitched it to the dress along the seamlines. (The overlay has seams just like the dress.)

After the ceremony, the ribbons were pulled up through the casings and tied to loops sewn above them (also attached at the seams). The resulting cascade preserved the simple beauty of the gown and left the bride free to enjoy the reception.

Here she is, dancing with her new husband. The bustle received a lot of compliments. Everyone was delighted with how well it turned out, not least of whom was the lady herself. That makes it all worthwhile.

Veiled Belle

It is such an honor to be involved with a wedding. I am always pleased when I can contribute to such a joyful celebration. I started early with my wedding experience, since I was the five-year-old flower girl when my oldest sister married. (Incidentally, my sister is a fantastic seamstress, too. She made her own wedding dress, and she and my mother made the bridesmaids' dresses. You might almost say that sewing is in my genes.) Having a relatively large family, I participated a few more times in the nuptials of siblings before I first sewed for a wedding.

When I was asked earlier this year to make the veil for a friend's wedding (actually, both the bride and groom are friends of mine), I was thrilled. She wanted a cathedral-length veil with a lot of fullness and multiple layers. I talked her out of a layer or two, because it would have overshadowed her lovely dress and her lovely self. In lieu of using the added tiers of tulle to achieve the desired fullness, I did a lot of gathering. The result was nice and fluffy.

Is she not pretty? (As a Georgia native, she is a true Southern belle!) This picture was taken during the reception; she sweetly let me reattach the train so that I could take a photo of it, which is why the train is wrinkled. The white background makes it a little difficult to see, but the top back layer of the veil is fingertip-length, while the blusher is wrist-length. The nine-foot train is secured to the comb by Velcro, making it easily detached.

Here it is without the train. She was delighted with the veil, and it received several compliments. Even a couple people who did not know that I had made it commented to me that the fullness was very nice. I am pleased I could add to the special occasion.

Navy and White

It is a very pretty color combination. A project I have in progress uses it, and it reminded me of a friend's wedding, last summer, for which I had the privilege of doing some sewing. Among other things, I made the ringbearer pillows.

My friend had two ringbearers; their sister was the flower girl (a set of triplets, no less). She wanted contrasting pillows for the rings: a white one for the bride's ring and a navy one for the groom's ring. The ribbon trim on for each was the color of the other. They turned out quite nicely, if I may say so. She was thrilled, as well, which was the important thing.