Artfully Romantic Gown

Back in February, I mentioned I was creating a gown for  a contest sponsored by Brides Magazine. It was to be done under the theme of  'Artfully Romantic'. Unfortunately, my gown didn't make the cut.

I gave you glimpses of the gown before it was finished, but now it is finished, and though it won't be entering any contest, I am still quite proud of it. I still believe it embodies all things romantic,and it also shows some creativity in the use of the 'felted silk' on the embellishments.

The dress is a strapless/one-shoulder gown of ivory satin and pink and ivory beaded lace, over-layed with ivory silk oragnaza. There is asymetrical pleating at the right side of the bodice, as well as pleating at the shoulder. A pretty 'fall' of lace at the shoulder sets a frame for the embellished flower. A pale pink ribbon shows off the waistline and an additional embellished flower. The skirt is slim fitting through the hips, flaring into a trumpet skirt, with one lace godet at the right front.

The lace is layed asymetrically across the front and back hip for a flattering line.

The lace gives an antique look to the gown.

The flowers are what I am really happy with! They started out as an experiment. My very good friend, Jill, does a lot of felting. I was curious about how silk would do with felting, so we started a bit of playing with different types of silk and different needles. We got some very interesting textured silk - which I used to create the flowers seen here on the shoulder and at the waist. They include tulle, and some small pieces of the beaded lace as well.

When I think of romantic, I think of lace, pink, feminine details, flowers. All the attributes that I put into this gown. I don't know why it wasn't choosen to be in the contest, but I am at peace with it. I love this gown, and hope you do as well!  It will be shown in the May 1 bridal fashion show I am coordinating, and you will see it soon in my Etsy shop as well!

A Hint of Sweet, and a Bit of Nasty!

I have spent the last week or so working on the dress I am entering in the Operation Dream Dress contest. Lots of lace. Lots of hand sewing. But it is finally starting to look like my vision!

Here is the finished sleeve. I really wasn't even sure I was going to have it there, but everyone who saw my initial sketch idea, commented on how much they like it. Now that I have the lace finished, the rest of the dress should go fairly quickly.
As the theme to the contest is 'Artfully Romantic', I felt I needed to have some kind of creative/artsy application to the dress. It will be presented in some silk flowers I plan to put at the shoulder, the lace godet at the skrt, and on the sash. What makes them special, is that they will be made from some silk that I have needle felted. I have a friend who does felting with actual felt, but I had read about fleting on silk. So we started playing with her felting tools and my silk. Here is what we came up with -

Such an unusual texture! I plan to fashion flowers from this felted silk and organza, then embellish with some beading.
So much for the sweet. Now for the nasty.

Last fall, my husband had gone to China for the first time. As would be expected, he bought several things to bring home. Some beautiful scarves, pearls for myself and our girls, he bought himelf an airplane model of a chinese fighter, and, well, something I really can't figure out. You have to understand that he is not a drinker - maybe a glass or 2 of wine once in a while. Thats it. And yet, he brought back an entire case (12 bottles!) of Chinese wine! And not just any wine. It is called vinegar wine. It looks like a dark beer. Smells like sour molasses, and tastes like, well, shit. Excuse my french. I could harly get a swallow down. I hate to hurt his feelings, but I really don't know how he can drink this nasty stuff. But he will have to, because I am not touching it! And there are now 12 bottles sitting in the pantry closet!