We all have them....UNCUT PATTERNS

For those that follow my blog you know I am addicted to patterns. I have what me and my sister refer to as "uncut patterns". You know the ones you buy just because you love the look of them, but sit in your pattern box uncut and almost forgotten.

Recently I got this from Butterick 5696. It is so pretty. How I would love to make it...

Those pleats scare me and if I ever do make it I honestly will probably gather the edges instead.



Plum Crazy

I adore this little dress. It is almost done I just need to add three roses to the mid-section, though I think the twist is super cute:

I have two done aside from the roses and have three more to make. Two will be maternity dresses. I will post them as soon as I'm done. I have the perfect design in mind so they will look like the other bridesmaids but still be maternity.

A little break from green dresses

I had to put the green dress aside. One I started early because I did not have my next order's measurements, but the main reason is when you are struggling with something it is best if you can to set it aside so you get a new light on the project.

This next dress is a new design. Here is a sneak peek at the bodice. I have to make three roses which will go in the middle. It will also have spaghetti straps (adjustable of course). The skirt is going to have pleats instead of gathering and the lining is going to have a netting ruffle for a little swish when they walk. I have 5 to make.

The dress is a deep plum. Gorgeous color selection and the ruffle netting is grey. I believe they are wearing red shoes with the dresses. I have a lot more done than the bodice. The lining is done and the skirt is attached to the bodice. I'm working on the straps right now and soon it will be flowers, zipper and hem!

Inspiration is a customer's pictures!

I believe I made this dress early this year. I just now got some pictures of the wedding day! I am so in love with the overlay, but it not available anymore. She purchased the last bit of it!

On the form:

Not sure about this dress

This dress has been a lot of work for me. I've been working on it for a week and I'm still not done. I'm at the point that I almost want to contact my customer and say I just can't do it! My sister is coming over for an outside view. It is so out of my normal element, so maybe I'm just being harsh on myself. I do love the back though. It needs to be pressed but that detail on the back bodice turned out really nice.

 It needs the side zipper put in and a 2 inch hem. The front of the dress is supposed to have one side longer. Hopefully it will look better with the hem.

The fabric is not a joy to work with. I think it is a rayon satin. It unravens and slips. Soft though.

White Wedding Turned Black

Here is my completed white gown. Unfortunately the bride to be was not happy with it and is returning it. I think it is beautiful, but it is her special day and she has to be happy with it.

 Hopefully I can sell it to someone else. It is a bit disheartening, but part of making wedding gowns I supposed. This is the first time I've had a return for the reason of not liking the dress so that makes it a bit depressing.

A modern dress

Well I'm on my second day of this dress or I should say attempt of a dress. I got half the bodice the way I think it should be. It has all kinds of shapes and lines. It can be a total success or a total failure. Shall we take a poll :) Skirt is entirely wrong and I have to start over!

 I've only sewn the pleated section to the one side. I'm trying to get a good fit for the middle section. The back will have the same detail. I initially was going to make this a wrap dress, but I don't think it is going to work so plan B a side zipper.

I have two of these to make. I hope I can make them exacly the same.

Playing around with petticoats

Here is my newest version of a petticoat. Not sure if I ever want to make it again. I think it looks really pretty and I added the blue ribbon for "Something Blue".

I will show you soon how it looks under a dress. Just waiting for my customer to see the dress first.

A Skydeck Wedding!

I get so much joy seeing pictures of weddings. This one though is WOW can you even imagine getting married here. I think I got dizzy just looking at the pictures! Thank you my wonderful customer for sharing your big day! It means a lot to me!!!

 Got to love the shoes!

 It always amazes me how pictures can capture the happiness and love in couples and families!

 If you are in the Chicago area and looking for a photographer please check out Luzco Photography. All these fabulous pictures were taken by him!

 If you want to see more great pictures of this wedding please visit Luzco Photography's blog here.

Can you say FAIL!

It is 7 pm here. I've got a horrible cold and have been trying to get the white gown done. I was almost done, all that needed to be done was hand sewing the lining to the zipper (yes the zipper argggh), and hand sewing the beading under the bust line. I put the dress on the form so I could see if I liked how the ruffle on the skirt lining turned out. As I zipped up the dress the zipper decided to separate on me! I tried to zip it back down matching the grooves and the handle broke off! I don't mean that it just came off the actual metal broke!!! Now I have to take it apart and do it again. Of course the only white zippers I have on hand are 7"-10". My dear sister has one and will be bringing it to me in the morning.

 Some don't mind zippers. I hate them! I've done enough of them, but I dread each one. I purchased an invisible zipper foot, which makes it a little easier. Today's issue was out of my control. I wonder if I can take it back as a defect. Honestly I'm glad it happened to me instead of the bride. Could you imagine that?

The dress looks bleh right now to me, but in the end I think I will be happy with it. Most important I hope the bride will be happy with it. I don't think I will make my goal of shipping it tomorrow!

Happy Sewing WITHOUT ZIPPERS PLEASE!!! I think I will start doing more knit dresses.

It's a nice day for a white wedding

It amazes me with the amount of wedding gowns I have created that this is only my second white gown. The biggest hurdle to get over is the bodice. Especially when there is a lot of ruching. I never get the pieces right the first time and it is frustrating. They have to be perfect or it will bunch the base of the bodice and mess up the fit. It is only pinned to the form. I also pinned some beading that I'm going to hand sew at the lower edge of the bust line.

The skirt I'm going to experiment with. I want to do a circle skirt then us a vintage pattern overlay for the tulle. If it works like I think it is going to this gown is going to be stunning. I got feed back from my latest gown the Vogue Lace one and I cannot not tell you how much it meant to me. This is what she said:

"Oh Dawn its soooooo beautiful! Its like you plucked my dream out from my head and sewed it together with fabric made of angel wings! Thank you so so so much"

I hope when my client gets this dress she feels the same! I do have the most wonderful customers! I thank you everyone even when things go amiss they always seem to work out in the end except on very rare occasions.

Vogue Lace and a 1950's Style Wedding Gown

I have been so busy that I haven't had time to post as much as I would like to. This gorgeous gown was shipped out this week. I mixed a modern pattern and used a vintage one for the skirt. I had to make sure the skirt was not round at the bottom so I could keep the scallop lace edge for the hem of the skirt. I supposed I could of had the dress part be a circle skirt and used a rectangle skirt for the overlay. I'm testing that on my next bridal gown. The dress has detachable beaded straps. 

The lace was purchased at Vogue Fabrics. Here is a close up of the lace. It is truly beautiful and they have a nice selection. The only problem is you have to buy a minimum of 5 yards.

Another thing I learned by working with this beaded lace is once you cut it you need to make sure to find any loose threads attaching the beads and sequins. A little more work but this dress was worth every minute of it. Because of the weight of the dress 3 lbs 1 oz I added a netting ruffle to the lining of the skirt. It is pictured with a petticoat but is still full without one. I love the swish!

Some more great pictures of my wonderful customer

Here is the dress that I messed up making a low back instead of low front. She was so understanding great to work with. She will be sending me the professional pictures at a later date but I had to share these. She is simply stunning! I love wedding pictures just to see the happy couple with all that love in their faces.