Bridesmaids dresses...one down one to go

[Seweasy]

three years ago I found out that my son and his fiance had set the date for their wedding, 6th October 2018.....and I was asked to make the bridesmaids dresses .... I said yes...maybe too eagerly  as it was before I knew what she wanted  ! ! ! !....then I got sent a photo ...and that was the brief....oh and she wanted tulle layers ....that had to be just peeping out under the hem of the dress....and she wanted piping to match the lining fabric, around the shape of the heart, the neck and the sleeves.....

So I set about doing some research online, about how to do hear shape cutouts on dresses....found a fab tutorial online from this blogger, for a similar thing and went from there.... .

[Bodgeitandscarper]

I love that!

[Lowena]

Three years?? Gosh!!
Lovely dress but looks like it needs a good ironing 

[Seweasy]

I only stared sewing them a couple of weeks ago @Lowena .....  and yes I agree, the dress above does need a good ironing....

I've completed the first one for my six year old grandaughter, I just need to do the same again for my three year old....sadly I cant show the pictures of the ones I've made yet.....as the wedding is soon approaching....but afterwards I'll post pics of them both....

[Seweasy]

Okay....maybe just a couple of photos in the making....

For some reason I cant add the other photo of the bow....I'll try resizing it...done...

[Acorn]

Lovely - very clever! 

She's a lucky soon-to-be daughter-in-law!   

[Seweasy]

There was more than one moment when I thought I'd have to throw in the towel @Acorn , ..... ..

[Francesca]

Amazing!

We're both working on dresses for the same data haha. Unfortunately I really wanted to start mine ages ago but with such a small babe I've had to leave it late. It's all cut out now 

[Seweasy]

Hahaha...what a coincidence @Francesca ...Understandable to wait with teenie tots with the sewing up though....Livvy (youngest granddaughter) was only just born when they set the date, they are now 3 and 6.....and I wanted to do lots of research before I started making the dresses, so I knew what to do best when it came to doing the 'heart cutout'...I've had to keep measuring the girls often during the six weeks holiday as typically this is the time, when they grow the most, ....  luckily the girl next door to where I live, is the same height as my eldest grandaughter, so shes loved being my model...

[Samantha]

Gorgeous! Can't wait until you can show us the finished dresses. I love the colours too.

[Seweasy]

@Samantha ...Thank you...and at first when my daughter in law suggested the colours, Aubergine and Peach.. I thought....Urgh... but when we went shopping and she started to pick out colours I began to think Oooohhh nice... and now like the colours too...

Only five weeks to go till the BIG day so not long to show the full photos...

[Samantha]

@Seweasy yes aubergine and peach does not sound like a good colour combination! They look more purple and pink to me.

[Sandra]

That's beautiful @Seweasy ...and your bow has much nicer proportions to the one in the picture. 

Sandra.
xxx

[Seweasy]

@Acorn, You are right, They are more like purple and pink in reality, everyone who has seen the dresses has said it too.......lol.. . but my Daughter in law, is adamant it's Aubergine and peach......  

@Sandra, Thankyou and yes, I agree that bow in the original photo was a little too big for my liking too....again everyone has said the same, so I toned it down...just a little...and made it 'puffy'....

I started on the smaller version for my youngest grandaughter yesterday, so far so good....at least this time I have a better idea of 'how to do it'...so may get it done quicker than the last dress....and more importantly, in time for the wedding....

[Seweasy]

This is a long post  and I apologise now.... ..but I feel I have to explain my dilemma, one, to get it out of my system and two, hopefully help anyone who also can identify, with my situation...  who like me....has a tendency to panic when it all goes wrong...  

Firstly the reason I went into panic mode, was brought on by the fact that my own dress to attend the wedding in,....is now unavailable to buy in any of the stores....and definitely not available in the store warehouse.... which in reflection, serves me right for not buying it when I had the opportunity...( I foolishly thought, as you do...'there's still loads of time to get it')....but now, months later...and knowing there's only a few weeks left for me to find a dress or something, that will fit me correctly across my chest area, that I won't have to alter around the waist and hips, due to my shape and knowing how difficult it is for me to find anything that doesn't require altering... on finding out the dress was no longer available and I still have the 2nd dress to make...I panicked  ! ! !... and despite not feeling like sewing, when I got home....all I could think  was.... 'there's no time, there's no time,...Arghhh, there's no time .... I'd better start on the bodice of the second bridesmaids dress NOW', ... ...! ! ! ! ..........Really not the right thing to do, when in a 'panic mode'.... so, naturally I couldn't remember, how or what I had done on the first dress, and so cocked up the bodice of the dress and the 'heart shape' cutout....BIG style...

I tried to unpick what Id done...and further disaster ensued...thus more panic took over....then even more panic, when I realised I don't have enough lining fabric to re-cut the bodices out.....I went shopping the next day to get more fabric...and yes more panic, when I found out...the shop had sold out of the fabric I used for the lining...and they didn't have any light weight interfacing either, ....now at this point, I'm really panicking...(feeling sick in the pit of my stomach, panicking), knowing the wedding is three weeks away and that it will take me about another week or two, to get the 2nd dress done.....My son bless him, (in an attempt to soothe me), said 'just use an alternative colour, it's only for the lining...no one will know... ...so I went shopping again and bought instead something that is almost the right shade, (more pink than peach)....but it's still not quite right....and although it's not what I really want to do...I settled my self with the idea that's it's the best option to rectify the situation and headed home.....however, (and here is where I think my guardian angel stepped in)... on the way home, I remembered I still didn't have the interfacing I needed for the 'face fabric' either, so I decided to make a detour to the little fabric shop, near to where I live, just to buy the interfacing.

Interfacing bought, I was just about to leave the shop when I glanced upwards and saw 'right on the very top shelf at the very end of the row...I spotted a roll of fabric, very similar in shade to what I needed....I retrieved the sample from my bag and whilst the guy took the roll down, I explained the situation I was in...once the fabric was on the counter, I placed my sample against it and all I can say is that, someone up in heaven must have been looking out for me, as it was a littel darker, but an almost perfect match.. .... there was only 45cm of 'usable fabric' left on the roll, but still, it was enough for what I needed.....and the guy must have felt sorry for me, as he didn't charge me for the piece of fabric, (as he said it had been there for a while and no one is probably going to want so little amount of fabric, other than me)...so I left the shop feeling considerably more relaxed and calm...I have since, washed it, ironed it and it is now.... a perfect match in colour....... So now....panic over.. ..and strangely  I can remember how to do the heart cutout again....I'm calmly going to make the second dress...and fingers crossed this time nothing will go wrong.. .and no one will notice me wearing my jeans on the day.. ..