Beach Wedding 'Dress'

Several months ago I was approached by a lovely young lady, Jennifer, who needed a very special and unique outfit for her beach wedding.

She wanted something very non-traditional, very beachy. At our first meeting, she explained to me her wants and needs, and I drew out on paper what I envisioned for her. In all humbleness, that seems to be a gift of mine - to be able to envision what is descibed to me.

Several fittings later, and after several alterations, she took her beach ensemble home.

Today I received pictures from her of the beach wedding which occurred a couple weeks ago. She looks lovely! In her letter, she told me she got lots of compliments on her outfit, and was thrilled with it!

I live to serve - and I really love it when my brides are this happy!!

The happy bride!

The wedding Corset and Sarong

The back of the wedding corset

Alterations on an Antique Gown

When the bride first brought this gown to me, I was rather unimpressed. It was obviously old, certainly considered an antique. I would venture to guess that it was perhaps made in the late 40's, early 50's. I've not been able to find out any information from the label.

But, I digress. . . .

As mentioned, I didn't see the beauty in this dress when I first saw it. We discussed what she wanted/needed done. The basque waistline needed to be moved up 2 inches. It needed taking in several inches. Some boning was needed for support, as well as cups. A hem would be discussed at a later visit.

So, I took it home and promptly forgot about it until it's scheduled work day showed up on my calendar.
I took it out of the bag and put it on my dress form to look at more closely.

As you can see, the bodice is done with tiny half inch diagonal pleating. The skirt, at first glance, looks like it is formed of narrow bands of ruffles. Upon closer look, it is actually many, many pick - ups.

As I started to remove stitching at the back of the dress (at the zipper), I had a slow realization that I was being awarded the priveledge of working on a gown made in  true couture fashion.

So much hand stitching!

Here, you can see some of the stitching around the zipper.It was hand stitched  in  2 places before being machine sewn. The zipper facing was overcast by hand and then hand sewn to the underlining.

Here is the thread covered 'eye' for the hook at the back. When do you ever see that in clothing these days?

Each of these pleats was hand sewn to the backing fabric.

As I work on this gown, I am seeing the beauty in it. It is a style from an era long gone. Each stitch was sewn with such precision and care. Little details in the construction are so much different from what I have learned.  I find I have much to learn from working on this lovely gown. I wish I could find some information from the label -

I will continue to search, as I continue to work on this unique gown. I will post more photos as I go. Perhaps you will be as intrigued as I am by the construction of it.

Bridal Fashion Show

Long time no post . . . .

But I am back, if only for this posting. I am still pretty crazy busy with 'the season', but had some time left over this evening and wanted to get photos posted from the Bridal Fashion Show of May 1.

The girls all looked gorgous, as did the dresses!
I won't post all of the photos, but here are the best ones - enjoy!

And finally - all my beautiful models together!

9 Months; 33 Years Ago

I know I haven't posted in a while, and I apologize. I can barely keep up with my sewing right now. Prom season is almost over, but wedding season is just now at it's peak.

So for the next little while anyway, the posts will be few and far betweeen.

But I wanted to share this special day with you -

Today marks my 33rd wedding anniversary to my soul mate!

We were married so very young. I was just 19, he was 20. But back then, you didn't wait.

We have been so very blessed over the years, and when I think of all God has given us, I am overwhelmed by His grace.

Today I will share just one photo with you. It symbolizes who I am and what I do.

And it is very much a part of this special day.

My wedding gown took me 9 months to make. It took 8 yards of satin, 8 yards of satin - faced organza, and 150 yards of hand crotched French lace. I used 5 different patterns to get just the look I wanted. All the lace had to be hand gathered and meticulously pinned and sewn to the skirt. I hung the dress from a hook over the round dining room table and spread it out all around, so my mother -in -law and I could get it positioned just right. She was a master seamstress and taught me so much! I made a hoop-style petticoat to wear under it, along with a crinoline. Going to the bathroom that day was a true challenge!
It was my dream dress, which I styled after a similar dress I had seen in a magazine for about $1500. I only spent about $175.00 on mine.

As much as I love my wedding gown, when I get it out and look at it now- I am appalled at my workmanship! The outside is still lovely, but when you look inside - OMG!!! It isn't even lined! There is no structure to it at all; which may be why the hoop was necessary.

So, on this special day, I may take the time to drag the dress out one more time. Just to look at it and remember. And be thankful, again, for what the Lord has brought me.

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!