The Dress...

I went to the craft store in search of inspiration. I knew I needed to find a pattern that was super super simple. No fancy sleeves, or collars, and especially no button holes... I hate making button holes. I landed on this little number. I knew that I was going to have to make some alterations in order to make it a little more grand. I was seriously not sure if I could pull it off. I haven't sewn since Mrs. Heaton so lovingly helped me with every stitch of my pajama pants in the 8th grade. (thanks dot!) ;)

So the pattern was chosen. It said I would need 1 1/8 yard of the main fabric and 1/4 yard of an accent fabric. I had no faith whatsoever in my abilities, so I got 3 yards of the satin and 1 yard of the overlay, just in case I screwed it up royally and had to start all over. I didn't want to have to go back to the craft store!

I already had these funky, beautiful freshwater pearls. I love them because they are not uniform in shape, and they have an old brassy look to them.

After painstakingly altering the pattern to be longer (which was way harder than it sounds, and probably more so than it should have been) I simply had to sew in the pleats... and sew the front and back together. Finished off the sleeves, and added in the neckline. Sewed a zipper in the back, and that made up the basic body of the dress.

Then it was time to dress it up! The pattern shows a big bow on the neckline, which was really pretty. I tried three times. I cannot sew a bow. I know it is lame, but it is so true. it looked awful! So I got my little brain wheels spinning and came up with the rosette idea.

I had to serge around the edges of the sheer fabric because it frays so easily. I was worried that it would look horrible, as there was no way to hide the serged edges, and naturally I had tan string in my serger, and no white to be found! (out of moral obligation, I could not return to the craft store just to buy string) So I took a leap of faith and started making them. I actually love the way they turned out. I think the serged edges give them dimension, and it works well with the brassy colored pearls.

So after 2 days of cutting, stitching, pinning, unpicking, and re-sewing... I have reached the end. I am so impressed that I really pulled it off. It is far from perfect. My seams don't all match up, and my "straight" stitches are rather wavy, but it looks great from a distance! lol... As I was literally sewing on the last of the rosettes, I thought, UGH! I wish I would have made it out of my wedding dress! But alas... I did not screw it up, so I had to reason to start over... but how cool would that be?! oh well... maybe I will make one for one of my grandchildren... anyway... I love the dress... =)