You Hear Bells?

I'm sewing . .  . *deep breath* . . . a Wedding dress.

Crazy, right? I know.

It's not for me. Even worse, right? I know.

Mom is stressing out because the wedding is in two months and I've been incubating this thing for eh... 9 months. No biggie. Isn't 9 months a regular pregnancy term?  Let's just call this wedding dress labor. Sister Bride (not that kinda sister bride, you!!) might be stressing out too, but she isn't showing it much. Could it be that she actually trusts me? Whaaaaa? She's the best non-bridezilla.

PS. There is NO excuse for being a bridezilla ever.  There is a difference between being firm with what you want and being a bridezilla.  I understand there is pressure and stress.  I will even excuse a little bitchiness - I said, a LITTLE bitchiness!  There is NO reason for you to throw a tantrum like a 3 year old girl, you are a woman about to get married.  I don't care if you've dreamed of having this perfect wedding since you were 5.  Guess what? Lots of girls have dreamt of the perfect wedding since they were 5 and they managed to not lose their shit over the little things that may or may not happen.  That is not an excuse.  You are getting ready for one of the biggest days of your life surrounded by people that will help you so much better if you treat them well.  You wanna make your future marriage better?  I got two words for you: Self-Control. Practice that now... I digress.

To be honest it's actually not bad. Yeah, the pressure is on to make it perfect because IT'S A FREAKING WEDDING DRESS; on top of that it's for my very... uh... particular sister, but it's actually coming along well.

I have my time schedule worked out and the plan to have 84% of the dress done by the end of this month (that's right: 1.5 weeks), so next month I can focus on lace appliques and tulle fluffinessing.  My plan is to have the dress completed by the end of next month, 4 weeks before the wedding.

So, sister had very specific ideas of what she wanted: strapless, sweetheart corseted top, fitted tight around her waist all the way to her knees, and then flair out gently to a minimal mermaid bottom. She saw a dress that fit most of her ideas, but was sheer down the front to the belly button and loved it. My challenge as the tailor: make her happy and make her look good. I had to let her know gently that the sheer center and all of that tightness is tres hoochie mama, not the look we are going for. Not the look I would ever want to make either (unless its for the caburlesque show, of course).

First, I took fabric and just started draping and pinning to loosten up the creative rust.  I knew I had to do something completely different from what I knew we would end up with, so I could expand my creativity.  It was a pretty idea, but no.  No.

I then went with sketches to try and give her options and so I really understood the vision that is in her head.  None of these were exactly what she wanted, so I did more and we talked it over.

After making a duct tape dress form of her.  I made a few mockups.  It was important that I do this because I could see where my weaknesses were dealing with the fabrics, drape, and fit.  It was to get a general feel for this very important dress. The reality was I was falling short with every mockup and I couldn't fix it to my liking.

At the end of the day you have to be ok to accept that maybe you will need a little more help than you initially thought.  My help came in the form of a pre-made pattern.  Vogue #V2931 had come to the rescue.  Of course I still had to make adjustments like take off the hideous bow on the front and the straps.  I also had to grade the pattern up about 3 sizes cause they didn't have the pattern set I needed.

After I made the mockup she tried it on. At that point we knew.  It was decided.  I was relieved.  This was the route we would take.

 

The pressure is heavy, but invigorating.  Who am I kidding?  Holy Baby Jesus this is terrifying!  I do not have extra fabric!!  I do not have the luxury of messing up!!!  Dress pins and my iron will be my best friends. 

 

And so the process begins...

 

 

This fabric really is so lovely when it falls.  Pictures off my phone and the terrible room light don't do it any justice.

 

 

 

At this point I am about 33% done.  I will definitely post more as this garment progresses.  Encouragement is always welcome. 

 

I'll be happy to answer any questions you have as well, just leave a comment.

 

Good Niiiight!