Project Wedding Post 12 - Final fitting!

So we are almost at the end of this sewing journey but not quite yet. The bride had her final fitting and I was planning on sending the gown home with her but decided to add some hand beading around the neckline and sash so I kept the dress and she took home her shoes, veil and headpiece.

I am sooooooo tired from 18 hours of working on this for the past two days that I don't think I have energy to write a blogpost that is too interesting besides for the pictures which I'm sure you'll want to see if you're following my progress.

Next pictures will be from the wedding, unless I post a picture of the beadwork when I'm done with it.

Here are the Tom's she ordered from their bridal collection (see last post for before picture) I applied matching lace to her dress and will post a tutorial with pictures on the blog but that will have to wait until after the wedding.

Here is the label I put in it. It made me so happy to see the way my niece lit up when she saw it :)

Do you think this girl looks like she's happy with her gown? I think so! She ended up talking us into doing the 3/4 length sleeves after all and I'm glad we did because it really looks great. 

Last but not least, I must make a shout out to my very good friend Rifka. I could have done this without her BUT not like this. Rifka used to be a professional seamstress and gave me so much encouragement, help and time from when I first took on the project. I learned so much about garment construction and alterations from her and most of all learned what a devoted and selfless person she is. We didn't record the amount of time that we spent on the dress but Im guessing she's spent at least 30 hours helping me, 16 hours in the past two days alone!! She agonized over every 1/16 of an inch and it made such a huge difference in the fitting. Sure this gown would have looked beautiful if I had done it on my own but her input totally pushed it over the top into a whole other category of incredible. 

Keep in mind these are cell phone pictures in my basement. Keep posted for the professional pics from the wedding.

TTFN