Project Wedding - Post 14

Argh! Down to that time. Only a couple of sewing days left and I really wanted to get good headway yesterday on this but didn't get much done. 


THIS is my least favorite past of sewing............ The finishing work......


Anyone else?


The procrastinating must stop today because I just dont have any time left! 


Here is my list of stuff to do, I really need it done by Wednesday night when I go to sleep. 


I'll check back and cross it out as I get it done. Maybe that'll help motivate me a bit more.


Baby dress
1. Hem sleeves
2. Hem skirt
3. Neaten and tack down top of zipper area (hand sewing)
4. Finish sewing on beaded trim (hs)
5. Fuse neckline to lining


Little E's dress
1. Hem Sleeves
2. Hem skirt
3. Neaten and tack down top of zipper area (hs)
4. Sew on blue pleated trim
5. Sew on beaded trim (hs)
6. Fuse neckline to lining


Big E's Dress
1.Draft and sew in sleeves. 
2. Hem skirt
3. Neaten and tack down top of zipper area (hs)
4.Sew on blue pleated trim
5. Sew on beaded trim (hs)
6. Fill out Petticoat (If she lets)
7. Remove and re-sew in crooked zipper
8. Fuse neckline to lining


Bride's Gown
1. Hem and attach lace to left sleeve (hs)


GULP, Seeing this is not making me feel any better right now. Hopefully as today and tomorrow progress and more and more gets crossed out I'll start feeling better :-/

Project Wedding - Post 13

Yesterday I spent about 6 hours in my sewing studio. The baby's dress and my 5 year old's dress now have sleeves and zippers. I also added to an existing petticoat I had for under my 5 year old's dress. On later of black tulle on the bottom and a bit more around the first and second tiers. When she came home from school she flipped out and wouldn't even get out of her school clothes (not like I would have had the patience anyways:) she took a couple of twirls in the petticoat before I could pop the dress on her. She loved it so much she even smiled and posed on her own which is huge deal for her.

Today hopefully I'll get the baby's petticoat done and maybe the sleeves and zipper on my 8 year old's dress. When the kids saw the dress my 8 year old was hoping this was hers so she cant wait to see how her dress comes out. 

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

Project wedding - Post 11

Ok, so I finally have an update. I haven't been sewing for a bit because after my last push with the gown I got sick for the first time this winter. I think I just wore myself down a bit too much. Thankfully by late yesterday I was starting to really feel like myself again and made up my mind to get a lot done today.

This morning I had a bunch of meetings that ended up running later than I had hoped and I didn't get down to my sewing room until I got home at 1:30! Earlier in the day when I realized I was going to be getting much later of a start than I was comfortable with I called a friend who knows how to sew (she's actually also giving my girls and a couple of their friends sewing lessons on Sundays) and asked her if she could come over and help me with the girls dresses. I'm so glad she came over, it helped so much. I drafted the sleeves for the two blue dresses and she sewed one set on and hemmed the cuffs. She'll be back on Monday to help me finish with the other ones and to help me make the petticoats. 

Meanwhile I was able to make the veil and sew the lace trim to the edge of the back of the dress. I know, it sounds easy but it's time consuming, meticulous work. They both also had to come out perfect because there was no way I would be able to remove these stitches once they went in!

I don't think I mentioned this before, but the bride is wearing Toms for the wedding shoes. When she told me, I couldn't help but wrinkle my nose at the idea but she was very sure it's what she wanted so I ordered them and they arrived today. These are from their "bridal collection"imagine that! When I opened the box I was very surprised at how pretty they are. What I'm going to be doing is applying the lace from the dress onto them so they will match. I think I'm going to have to hand stitch it on.
 Here are the shoes before...........

 Here I'm sewing the lace onto the veil (when my niece was here for her last fitting I had her trim out the lace for the veil while I was working on her dress. SO helpful!)

 

Sewn up, picture is sideways. 

 

 Pinning the trim to the hem of the gown

Really sweating here. This HAS to be perfect or else!!!

 I look calmer than I feel :)

 Here are the sleeves attached to the smallest blue dress. I love the way they came out. All thats left for this piece is to hem, hem the lining (see how long it is?), install the zipper and apply the trim on the waist.

And the most important pics of all so far..............

What's left for the gown? My niece is coming for her final fitting this coming Monday. My sewing fairy (my good friend Rivka) is coming over to help me so we can finish up in a few hours so I can send it home with the bride. I'm really ready to be done with it! so.......

1. Do final fitting adjustments

2. install zipper

3. hem sleeves cuffs after we (possibly) take the sleeves in a bit more

4. Hem skirt lining

Can that possibly be it? AHAHAHAHAHAH I think so!!!!!

Oh I may make her a petticoat but we'll see...........

I am TIRED!!!!! 

TTFN <3

Project wedding - post 10

I've been a busy bee. Yesterday was crunch time. The bride needed to be fit into the gown as she will be going home (out of town) this morning and won't be back until the final fitting in a week and a half. 


I drafted and sewed in the facing. This is the first time I did this from scratch without a ready pattern piece. It went swimmingly. I'm so thrilled that along with having the chance to work on such an amazing project that I am picking up some seriously awesome construction and design skills. 

Did I show you guys the pattern I used as the base for this gown? I don't think so. Here it is....

It was a great pattern to start with. It  has separate pattern pieces for different shaped bodies to get a perfect fit. I drafted a new neckline, lengthened the sleeves, pleated the shoulder of the sleeves instead of darting them (that was my sewing fairy Rivkah's beautiful idea), redrafted the skirt panels into A- shape, added the godet it the back for the train. 

Sewing in the facing.

Finally sewing the skirt to the bodice :)

 

 

Here she is!! Keep in mind she's wearing a black slip with black tulle underneath. It's all I had at home yesterday. I'm going to make her a new one in ivory. The side seam is getting tacked down, it won't be sticking out like that. The back seam is still pinned because I haven't installed the zipper yet. She will be wearing a 2.5" satin sash at the waistline. 

 

 

 

 

My list of stuff to do until she gets back. 

1. Hem sleeves
2. Hem underskirt
3. Apply lace trim to hemline
4. Fix a couple of tiny cords that pulled to the right side of the lace
5. Sew her veil and attach clips


When she comes back for the final fitting I will install the zipper and send it on it's way. 


She looks incredible. I cannot wait to see her in it with her hair and makeup done at the wedding.

Project wedding - post 9

 IT'S STARTING TO LOOK LIKE SOMETHING!!!!

I got a bit choked up when I finally got the skirt together and pinned it to the dress form. This whole project is a labor of love and seeing it finally look not just like a wedding gown but seeing the excitement on my niece's face is worth every bit of blood (literally) and sweat. 


Today is the last day I have her here for a couple of weeks. I will be fitting the skirts to her, attaching the skirt to the bodice and installing the zipper. All the finishing like the cuffs and applying lace to the hem I'll do before she comes back later in the month so it will hopefully be ready for final fitting at that point.


Here is a shot of the roughed out veil. My niece spent an hour cutting out the trim and did an amazing job. I'll have her work on the trim for the skirt while I'm sewing today. 


TTFN

Project wedding - post 8

I've been very busy the past couple of days. I don't have a lot of energy to write about it especially since today is another really busy sewing day but I figured I would post some pics for those following along.  

Placing the lace for the sleeves

 Ironing the sleeves

 Really sweating here!

Neck will still get cut down. 

 The skirt and bodice is not sewn together yet and the skirt is not fitted yet so it doesnt look the best here but it's exciting to see it starting to look like a dress.  For those who notice, yes those sleeves are a bit different on top and yes they will be made the same now that the bride picked the one she likes better. 

 matching up the scalloping on the skirt, still need to trim to the design.

Fitting it on the bride herself! 

Project wedding - Post 7 Update

The past couple of days I was not feeling well and was busy with some other things so I got no sewing done. I'm going to try to knock out the trim for the girls dresses today and maybe draft a sleeve if I get around to it. 


The bride is coming back to me on Friday. We'll work on her gown for a few days next week before I send her home and hopefully that will be enough for me to be able to finish her gown until final fitting. 


TTFN