Neck deep - no end in sight!

Prom season began about 3 weeks ago for me, and even though it seems to  be early this year, there still seems to be no end in sight. I am currently accepting clients from 2 differnt counties, with prom dates spread out from April 22 to May 7.
Apparently, word has gotten out, and every girl going to prom has told her friends that I do prom alterations. And they tell 2 friends, and so on and so on . . ..
Last year I had maybe 3 -5 prom dresses total that I worked on. This year I have lost count. And I know that as each prom date approaches, there will inevitably be those girls that wait til the last minute to think about any alterations they need.
I've gone through more 'boobs' and more beads and sequins than I ever thought I could!

As a matter of fact, I had to make a rush order to Atlanta Thread Comapny   for supplies. I was so thrilled when it arrived just 3 days later - and in the nick of time!  I orderd 15 sets of Push-up bra inserts (which will probably be gone in a month), some black thread, cream thread, bridal bags, and on a whim; because i can never seem to find them when I need them) a HUGE box of eye hooks! I had no idea it would be such a large box with SO many in it! I will never use them all - but then again, I'll never have to look very far for them, either!


I also had to purchase a new iron over the weekend. My old faithful ,which I have only had for about 2 years, finally fell from it's perch one too many times, and broke it's tip -

I didn't even realize it had broken until I snagged a piece of shiny actetate. Not a good thing.


Between prom dresses, beading, boobs, wedding gowns, sash making, veil fixing, and buying new irons, I am also working on getting things ready for the upcoming Bridal/Fashion Show I am helping to coordinate on May 1. As I mentioned in a previous blog post, my Fantasy Table will be based on the movie, "Breakfast at Tiffany's". The other day my good friend Carol, other wise known as The Pearl Lady, stopped by to show and lend me some of her beautiful pearl and crystal jewelry to be used at the Fantasy Table, as well as in the Fashion Show on the models. Some of the jewelry will be diplayed in these Tiffany's boxes -

and some of the jewelry will be displayed on the dress forms. So many details to be worked out, and now I can't get enough models! Still need 2 more, but not tiny things - I need girls about a size 10 - 14. Part of my problem is - again - prom. It is the night before this event.


So, as I head to bed tonight, I will be praying for and agonizing over models, dresses, logistics, beading, sequins, bra inserts, prom deadlines, wedding gown deadlines, and the fact that I still haven't had time to do what I really want to be doing right now - planting flowers.


Maybe next week . . . .

Lovely Destination Dress

Back in January, I had my first consultation with Kathy. She was planning a spring wedding, at the beach. Very small, simple wedding. She didn't want the traditional gown; just a pretty ivory chiffon dress. She had a  photo of a dress, but couldn't find any info on where to purchase it.  

I found a very filmy light as air silk chiffon in ivory, as well as some pretty appliques that I cut down to size for the neckline and sleeve trim.

At the second fitting, I made a couple fitting adjustments, and we discussed placement for the appliques, buttons, ribbon sash, hem, ect.  

There was a lot of hand sewing on this dress! Much more than I had anticipated. But it's the little details that make a dress like this so special.

The dress has an empire waist, with dolman cut sleeves that fall to just past the shoulder. The v-neck line and sleeve edges are trimmed in tiny lace appliques. It has an attached 'slip' lining; a side zipper, and covered buttons with loop closing at the front; although with the side zipper, the  buttons are really just for show. The empire waist is covered in a 1  1/2 " wide satin ribbon. She didn't want a bow at the back, but she did want a tail, so it has a simple knot, instead. The hem is cut at a flattering tea-length, with the chiffon layer being slightly longer than the 2 lining layers.

The china silk lining consists of 2 skirt layers, and 2 layers at the bodice cut in a slip style.

Front of dress

Front Detail

Sleeve Detail

Back of Dress

Back Detail

She is scheduled to pick it up on Wednesday, this week. It turned out as a very pretty, easy to wear dress, that she should be able to wear even after the wedding. It has kind of a vintagey look to it, I think!

Simply lovely!

Tiffany Gown - Finished!

Officially , it was finished yestereday. Late. But when I went to take photos of it this morning, I realized that I had forgotten the back trim! So, after finishing the alterations I had already planned to get done today, I finished the trim at the back and took the photos.

From the front

From the back

Detail beading at the drape

Back detail

I absolutely love this gown. Ofcourse, I usually end up falling in love with most, if not all of the gowns I make.

I am anxious to debute it at the May 1 Bridal Fashion Show at the new Morrow Event Center Facility in Morrow,Ga. I will also be debuting the 'Almost Contest" dress! I guess I really need to come up with a better name for it!

Day 5 - Tiffany Gown

Despite the day starting out with a series of minor catastrophes, the work went pretty well today.

It started with my getting up way too late! I am usually up and going by 7 or 7:30 at the latest. It must have been the thunderstorms, but I slept in til 9:00 a.m. this morning! Then my husband had a minor emergency when his truck died. While we were in the middle of that crisis, I got a call from a client, whose appointment I had forgotten! After all was said and done, I didn't get started on Tiffany til about 1:00 p.m.

I began today's work with attaching the lining and the foundation to the gown. Not difficult, but with all the little extras I add when doing this step, it took longer than it probably should have.

 I also added the zipper and finished the hem edge to prepare it for the hemming tomorrow.

Doesn't sound like I did much, does it? In my defense, I also had 4 appointments today.

All in all I was fairly satisfied with the days work. Tomorrow I will do the hem, as well as add some crinoline to the lining. I will also finish the shoulder wrap and add a little embellishment.

Then - TA-DA!! Finished!

Day 4 - Tiffany Gown

OMG!!! Can I just say that I am in love with this gown! I don't know if it is the fabric, which is a dream to sew with, the pattern/style of the dress, or the simple fact that it is going together so well. But this gown is just so pretty! There will be one tiny style change from the original sketch, but it has been approved my the designer ( my daugher, Brittany), so I will move forward with it.

Today I put together the dress pieces, the neck drape, and the lining. WOuld have gotten a bit more done, but my sweet husband dragged me away for a bit to go see the new Sams Warehouse. Spent a deliteful couple of hours with my sweetie. Not exactly a date, but fun just the same. 

Tomorrow I will put all the layers together, the zipper, the hem, and add a tiny bit of embellishment. I may also have to finish the inside seams of the skirt with some hem lace. I'm not comfortable with how much the silk is ravelling. Even with the underlining - it's making me nervous. I rarely see wedding gowns with the seams finished, but in this case, I would just be a bit more at peace, I think.  Have you been waiting for photo's? Well, I only have a few, and they have been cropped so you can't see the whole dress - that's for later!

First, the original design for the back detail:

And here, the change:

And a little peek of the front:

It has been asked, several times, by several people, in tones of disbelief, "how can you possibly make a wedding gown in just a few days?! Well, Dear Readers, you must understand, this is ALL I DO! I do not have a life. I get up, I feed the animals, get dressed and throw on make-up (yes, I am one of those people who wears make-up at home; you just never know when I may get called out to an appointment, or a client will show up here), and check email, then it's upstairs to the sewing studio. I do not come down again unless I have to. During my busy months/ weeks, I live on diet coke and crackers. I will sew sometimes from 8:30 a.m. till 9 or 10:00 p.m. or later. I usually come down to throw some dinner together for my husband. Then it's back upstairs. I do have to leave for appointments some days, but for the most part, I am upstairs. It is all I do. It's a good thing I love what I do. I can't imagine doing anything else. So, if you wonder how I can possibly complete an entire wedding gown in just a few days, this is part of it. The other part is that this is a very easy dress. No complicated pieces. And I have done enough wedding gowns to not have to stop and think about or read instructions.

Now, will I actually have it done in a few days? Tomorrow will be my fifth day. I have given myself till Wednesday to finish. If it continues to go as well as it has so far, yes, I will have it done!

(Famous last words, right?)

A Gown named "Tiffany"

I'm crazy. I'm insane. These exhausting, busy, challenging and sometimes never-ending days of spring don't give me much time for anything but sewing. Between bridal alterations, prom alterations, and several dress construction projects, it's a wonder I have time to sleep. And yet, somehow, in between all this insanity, I have been working on organizing and putting together a Bridal Fashion Show for the Southern Charm Wedding and Event Professionals Bridal Show on May 1. But that's not all, dear readers. At this event, vendors are given the opportunity to showcase their product on 'Fantasy Tables', which we can decorate how ever we choose. So, ofcourse, I had to do one. Only because, as we,  the show coordinators group, were discussing it, the most creative fun idea came to me! Wouldn't it be fun to do a table dedicated to the movie, "Breakfast at Tiffany's"!

I won't share all my ideas with you at this time ( you will just have to stay tuned), but I will tell you what I have been up to! 

I have been working my tush off to get to a point with my alterations work that I can afford to take some time 'off' to work on a dress for this table. I really didn't have a design in mind, so I asked my youngest daughter, a designer in progress, to think about one for me. She and her sister are both avid fans of the movie, and I figured if anyone could come up with something, it would be her. She didn't disappoint. Not 24 hours later, I had a sketch in hand. Now I just had to come up with the time to make it! 

After a couple weeks, I thought, this just isn't going to happen. But, as I said, I worked my tush off, and lo-and behold, by this past Thursday, I found myself with 5 extra days. Well, that may be pushing it, but, I will make it work.

DAY 1:

 Pattern development, and muslin

Day 2:

Fabric Shopping and cutting  out pattern.

Between appointments I went to Gail K's in Atlanta and found a cream colored silk twill with a cotton backing. The dress also calls for a piece of Tiffany blue charmuese. Thus the name 'Tiffany".

Day 3:

Applying the underlining to all the pieces. By hand.

I had to do this between appointments again, but it really went relatively quickly. I underlined the silk twill for the gown and the foundation with cotton batiste,

Bodice pieces

Foundation pieces

Skirt pieces

And the Tiffany Blue charmuese piece with silk organza.

This evening after dinner, I went back upstairs and put the foundation together.

Ofcourse, none of this would be possible without my trusted assistant. As you can see, she has exhausted herself, and fallen asleep on the job (again).

Tomorrow I will put the dress and lining together. Monday will be finishing. Will I have it done Tuesday? We shall see . . ..

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!