Sorry for the slightly weird question but I recently made a coat for my daughters new rescue greyhound and because of her shape ( the dog not my daughter!) it was way too big around the body. They don’t live near so measuring is a challenge. Does anyone know of a specific greyhound pattern?

Looks like you have got yourself a single issue, but if you ever need one in future newsstand.co.uk usually have them and post out pretty quickly. I love Threads and so wish the suppliers that advertise were here in the UK!

It has continued to haunt me. I had worked out a scheme to unpick 4 pattern repeats, move the motifs up and then cut the underneath tulle to the new length matching the 2 under layers - however - I had not accounted for the fact that the motifs are part sewn and part GLUED on! There is no way to remove these without ruining the tulle they are attached to. I officially have to give up. 

Gorgeous dress! Yes, a TON of work.

But what am I missing here? The scalloped edge appears to be stitched over the top of the front motifs already. As pictured on the model, those motifs would still look fine if 8" were cut out. Obviously though, the beading would be problematic. Is there enough scalloped edging to not have to remove all of it from the back and simply allow for an extended train?

Turning the 32B into a 36F sounds like the biggest challenge. My best friend at uni measured for a 42DD but refused to wear anything larger than a 38D. Physically, I don't know how she did it, the pain would be excruciating to me, but she always looked great in her clothing, even though she was large. I'm guessing your friend may be used to dressing similarly as accommodating 36F's into today's RTW can't be easy.

If the front motifs were shortened, they would provide extra lace for the chest area work that needs to be done.

Any chance of recommending someone else do the job? Around here marked down wedding dresses have been unreturnable/no refund/no exchange for decades. Unless she can find an online buyer, your friend is stuck with this dress. (Online buyers aren't that hard to find.)
[/quote]

I am not looking for anything other than a vent for a dear friend. I am already working on her bridesmaid's dress (subject of a different thread in this section) and she asked me if I could do alterations on her wedding dress. she bought a shop sample as she had a very small budget paying £1000 less than the original price. the dress is a Mori Lee Pia 2030 which I found out is available in 3 lengths. I believe the bridal shop has sold her the longest length and she is only 5ft 2. They made a big show of putting her picture on Facebook saying she had said 'yes to the dress' whereas I think she should have said no! as they gave her very unrealistic expectations on alterations. It is a lovely lace gown but there are flaws like missing buttons and threads where beads have fallen off - easily fixed - however it has a scalloped hem and train and is about 8 inches too long  I have been awake at nights trying to think how to alter it. the lace is pieced onto tulle so in theory they could be unpicked and moved up with the scallop, however to make the pattern of the lace look right it would be weeks and weeks of work and I don't have time as I work and sewing is my hobby. There is only 9 weeks until the wedding.  Alteration at the waist is not possible.  At the moment I have the inner layers tacked up but the lace is pooling on the floor and my worry is that she will trip over it. She actually feels happy with just having the inner layers the right length bless her but the perfectionist in me hates it! The easier bit of alteration is removing the 32B bra cups to replace with a sewn in 36F bra to support her.

Thank you. This is the pattern. It scared me a bit that the reviewer had boned the neckline as I didn’t understand exactly why. She said something about the weight pulling the neckline down. I am thinking to go with underlining!

I use Beckfordsilk.co.uk Their prices are competitive for silk and you can purchase shade cards or a swatch for about 95p

Happy New Year everyone. My daughter is getting married this year, she picked out some violet/Cadbury purple satin from my fabric stash for her bridesmaids, but of course there is nowhere near enough. I  have no memory of where I got this fabric and although it is described as 'Cadbury purple' I find that this description in itself is no good as there are so many different shades. It is more of a violet than a purple.  I'm stuck as I have a good 5 metres of this fabric so my ideal would be to match it rather than go with a slightly different shade. we have gone through the options of having organza overlays on the skirts so we could have a slightly different shade on the skirt but I would know what lies underneath! so my main question is does anyone know of any fabric supplier who offers a fabric matching service? If so is it expensive? I am probably going to take a trip to Goldhawk road and trawl around with a swatch, but I have had no luck whatsoever so far with local fabric shops.

I'm lucky enough to travel with my job. there is an area in Madrid called Pontejos behind the Sol public square, there are dozens of haberdashery shops there selling the most gorgeous trims and laces. there are also some shops just selling fabrics - beware of the siesta period, they all shut down in the afternoon and don't re-open until around 4 or 5pm but then they remain open until 8 or 9pm. there is a lot of competition so prices are reasonable. I favoured the ones where they had laces and trims on reels as a lot of them have books (like the Argos catalogue) where you pick out what you want from small samples and they go and fetch it for you -  but unless you speak good Spanish, the shops where you can look and feel are better and I got by pointing and using my fingers to say how many metres.