Case of the Missing Perry Dress

Imagine you're a seamstress getting asked every day for two months "Mom, whey's my Pey dess?" (Translation: Mom, Where's my Perry Dress?)  Now, Imagine this face saying, "Mom, why you seeping?  Jus make my Pey dess!"  (Translation: Mom, Why are you sleeping AGAIN? It's been two months!  There are more important things to do like my PERRY DRESS?  Just make the #&^%(*!@#* thing already!)

I know you are totally with me thinking "GAH! How can you deny that face?  She's only 3.  How hard can it be to sew a little Perry Dress for her?"  And that, my friend, is the exact seed planted in a grand scheme orchastrated by my friend, Stephanie Jones, to get me to offer to help her sew her 3 year old a dress. 

Stephanie knew exactly what she was doing when she decided to get Leukemia last year. 

Here are some super fun facts about Stephanie:

1.  Stephanie was diagnosed with one of the most aggressive forms of Leukemia the day after her wedding anniversary last September: AML (Acute Myeloid Leukemia). AML FLT3 is a rare and very serious form of leukemia for which there is no cure.  Stephanie went into remission after Chemo for about 5 minutes.  They are now in the process of getting everything set up for a bone marrow transplant.  2 donors were found, but now it's a matter of getting those donors to go through the entire thing without backing out.  I don't understand it all.  I don't know all the details, but I do know I hate this cancer with a passion.

2. Stephanie has been married to Tyler for some 4.5 years and they are totally in love.  It's so gross.  My sister and I witnessed this vomit inducing love on our trip to Vegas this passed weekend.  He's been a rock when so many others would have fled the scene.  He's been by her side since day one taking care of her making her feel loved and attractive.  He takes her to every single doctor's appointment, blood transfusion thing, and everywhere else.  (Side note: When they started dating Steph didn't let him leave her house for two weeks.  He was there every day!  She's so slick.)

3. Stephanie and Ty are AMAZING parents. They have three children. Izzy, age 7 (freaking sweetest most considerate loving little girl.) Harley Quinn, age 3 (meh, middle child. She does weird things like wears her ballerina outfit complete with goggles and swimming fins when cleaning.) Locke, age 2 (he's a HUGE flirt and does the smoulder thing with his eyes.)

4. Stephanie and Tyler are the biggest nerds ever.  Don't say "World of Warcraft" out loud or you might hear a cheer about the Alliance. . . or was it about the Hoarde?  And who the heck names their children after comic book villains and video game heroes?  These two.

5. Stephanie has a wicked razor sharp sense of humor.  I suspect that is part of the reason she is able to combat the Leukemia on the good days. 

6. Stephanie is one of the best seamstresses I know.  We met in a clothing construction class at El Camino.  She even got a full ride scholarship to FIDM, the jerk! Stephanie is the girl I went to for advise when Ava and I were fighting.  She suggested things to help make it work and probably saved our relationshop at the end of the day.  Can you imagine being a seamstress and not being able to sew one thing because of a stupid dibilitating illness?  Ugh. It pisses me off just trying to imagine what she's going through.

Because Steph and Tyler have been dealing with this Leukemia thing they are relying solely on the blessings of God, their family, and friends. If you feel so inclined to be an angel and giving them a little help please go to: http://www.giveforward.com/fundraiser/b5r1/jonesfamilyjan . Even $5 would help out. Seriously.

Anyway, this is the Perry Dress.  I went over to Steph's apartment yestereday to help knock it out since Steph had already cut out the pieces (part of her plot to psyching me into "helping" her.)  Perry is the name of the character on this fabric.   

I swear I had to restart once and then ripped this thing open 3 times because of my mistakes.  I couldn't follow the directions.  They just weren't making sense to me.  Maybe because I don't have children so I'm not used to making kids clothing or maybe it was just my post Vegas brain that was slow as molassis trying to process everything.  Eventually I finished and when we tried it on HQ it was too wide.  WTF?!  I ended up just taking it in a little under her armpits.  But she loves it.

I warned Stephanie she would have a time trying to get the thing off her.  Last night I received a text that Harley HAD to sleep in the dress.  I doubt that little girl is ever going to take it off.  Yes, she's still in the dress.  This morning I received this photo:

 I have learned my lesson about helping others.  It's a nightmare! Be warned.  Don't ever offer to finish a project for someone else!  Unless you love them, then it'll still be a nightmare, but it'll sorta be worth it.  Sorta.

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!

 

Lola

It's true, you know,... Whatever Lola want, Lola gets.  And Lola got me.  What started out as a simple woman inspired turned into something challenging and utterly wonderful.  Lola showed me how easy it was to fall in love.  She showed me self-doubt would never do; it would only block us from success and destroy us in the process if I let it.  She showed me how to be patient and persistent.  She showed me you can shout at a whisper, laugh out loud when you are alone, confront insecurities, and love with your whole soul.

Meet Lola:

I knew someday Lola would be mine when I saw the cover of The Taken: 

This is the beginning of Vicki Pettersson's Celestial Blues Trilogy.  This is the book where we meet Griffin Shaw, P.I. dead 50 years, and Kit Craig, Rockabilly reporter.  If you haven't already guessed - Yes, I do love the story.  However, this post isn't a review.  This is about The Dress, who finally told me her name was Lola.

The first time I saw her I knew I had to have her.  She radiated a quiet confidence knowing exactly what she was even having been partially hidden by obnoxious patterns, knits, and wovens alike.  I reached for her and she came to me easy.  The others ceased to exist.  Lola had me under her spell from the beginning.

I found her in one of these shops at the fabric district in Downtown LA:

I practiced a few options for what I would create.  The first was from a McCall's pattern #6350.  I sewed it up with an eager pink ombre woven fabric:

But I knew, we knew, Lola had bigger plans.  So I draped her just to see and she showed me possibility after possibility. . . 

We decided I had to use my own pattern and so I started creating something with Selena's help:

As I do with most every garment, I made a mockup to figure out the fit and fix any errors.  We found pockets would be GREAT!  (I love a dress with pockets, don't you?)

 

 

Our relationship was good.  Whenever there was a problem it was always me.  My insecurities would rise up.  I would lash out and threaten to abandon her.  I wasn't good enough.  I wasn't talented enough to pull this off.  I didn't know what the hell I was doing.  On top of that I was too heavy, too curvy, too "Thick" to do this whole idea justice.  Lola would sooth me and remind me it would all work out in the end.  Of course we had our disagreements, our arguments, but with every shout, every seam ripped open again and again Lola would whisper, "Don't worry. It's ok. Iron and press ahead."

 

 

 

She continued to encourage me, "See, you can do this..."

 

 

She bared her deepest innermost self to me. She showed me it was ok to be totally vulnerable, to bare it all - ugly insides included. 

 

The day of the book signing for The Taken came.  Lola and I had so much fun putting on makeup and getting ready, and making Duck lips, of course.  God, I love her.

 

 

She accompanied me to our first book signing ever at Dark Delicacies in Burbank to meet Ms. Pettersson.  One of the best nights ever!  (By the way: You don't ever need a reason to get dressed up.  Just do it.  Stop trying to argue with me.  I win.  Dress up anytime.  I don't care.  I'm not listening to your reasons why you can't or shouldn't... lalalalala.)

 

 

She went with me to a few functions after that and looking back through all those photos Lola told me I must get back into good health.  We had a hard talks about the weight gain, about the "being thick".  She loved me dispite it all, but if I wasn't happy I needed to make changes. 

Lola said, "Don't just get depressed about it, do something!  Do something if you don't like it.  You've done enough of nothing.  Change already.  You know what you need to do.  Do it."

"But--"

"No, buts.  No more excuses.  You don't like it.  Change.  Period."

I didn't listen to her at first, but a few months later we went to see a caburlesque show and I saw the future Lola saw for me.  Someday I was going to join those girls and their skimpy clothes on stage.  That someday came on February 8, 2013 with the Sweethearts LA show.  And that someday will come again on April 26 at the NoHo Music Hall in North Hollywood in Miss Bunny and Lady Di's Spring Fling.

At the end of the day I can thank Lola for seeing me through my creative process, nursing me through my insecurities, and for opening the door for Ava and all future garnments.  For that, I will always love her.

Ava

Meet Ava, queen diva among all the garments I've created thus far. She's such a diva I couldn't get you entries of garmets I've made before this. I couldn't even get in a post to properly introduce myself to you. She had to go first, there was just no arguing with her.  This is her after our many construction battles and before her big debut in Sin City next week.  We'll be there for a book signing of The Lost by Vicki Pettersson. 

 

 

So, I s'pose I should tell you what, or rather who, started this whole thing.... 

 

That broad, Vicki Pettersson, that's who.  Her, her stories, and the covers of her Celestial Blues Trilogy.  It's a Fantasy/Crime Noir/Romance misha-mash.  A fresh idea mixing Angels and this Rockabilly reporter babe named Kit - all in the belly of Vegas. 

 

I ate through the first book The Taken in a couple of days and loved the world Ms. Pettersson created.  A post about that dress will have to come later, Ava is givin' me the eye for even mentioning it. She's the jealous type. 

 

I was fortunate to win a copy of Book 2, The Lost, through Goodreads. Boy, did I love it!  So far it's my hands-down absolute favorite book Pettersson has written. I won't be doing a review here as the book will release on the 19th (...Yeah, same day Justin Timberlake's new album drops.  I'm just saying. Problem?) I'll do a separate entry about Vegas when I get back.  I will give you this much about the book: 

 

I CRIED. 

 

Anyway, here's the cover for The Lost.

 

 

I was on a mission to find this Lost fabric in downtown LA.  Let me tell you, the fabric district is this seamstress' Disneyland.  I had a blast, but I gotta be honest I thought I wasn't gonna find her.  We were coming to the end of our day and I was about to lose hope.  That is until I arrived at this obscure shop and found her hanging against a wall, near the floor, covered by a blue fabric version of her.  She had thread runs, she was the end of bolt, practically discarded, but I saw her beauty through it all.  After a tense bargaining session with the owner of the shop he finally let her go. (I got enough to make another dress and a corset, by the way.)

 

 

I started out draping muslin on Selena.  My dressform, Selena, will be featured another time.  Here, I'm just fixing where I want the darts and seamlines, using pins and a marker to draw guides.

 

 

I took the muslin from Selena, ironed her out, then transfered her to paper pattern using a spiked tool that looks like it could have been used as a torture device during the Spanish Inquisition.  (Torture tool: not shown.)

 

I had to make a mockup to make sure the fit was true to me.  This is one of the most important steps. Especially when you are working with a fabric you are afraid to make mistakes with.  You will also want to wear whatever foundation garments you plan on wearing (ie. corsets, pointy bras, granny panties, not that I'm wearing granny panties... Stop trying to look.)  Here, I could see that I was going to need to lower the dart a little as well as take in some of that fabric at the collar. In heinsight I should have also made that dip at the collar a little more dramatic, but I was excited to get on with the project so I didn't notice. 

 

Here we are with most of the tools that would make Ava what she is today.

 

 

Below I'm sewing in the darts wearing my favorite pin cushion.  (I got her on clearance at Joann's years ago.  I've looked, but haven't seen one since. Sorry!)  At this point in time Ava was starting to get her confidence.  She knew her shape was beautiful.  She started to know what buttons to push, what to do to get to me. 

 

 

Here, Ava and Brother John are conspiring against me. I would find this out as I tried to sew in her sleeve.  A girl can only deal with so many pricks at a time.  Ava was using all my own needles against me.

 

 

I was starting to lose my temper.  I even threatened her with violence.  I was reacting to what she was giving me. She wasn't letting me work the sleeve like I wanted.  She just wasn't cooperating, at all.

 

 

I felt bad I threatened her.  So I apologized and we took a break from each other.  I needed a nap and she needed to stay draped over the ironing board.  I came back to her after a couple of hours and apologized.  We kissed and made up.  She even allowed me to stitch the lining to her zipper by hand with no problems!  She can be such a beautiful creature when she wants to be.

 

 

And that's all for now, folks.  It's getting late here.  I need to sign off and get into bed.  Don't worry, I promise there will be tons more pictures and posts come next weekend.

 

Leave your comments and/or questions and I'll get back to you.

 

Oh, and my name is Jessica.  It's a pleasure to meet you.