The Sewing Place
The Emporia => A bit of a 'do' => Topic started by: Bumblebuncher on October 13, 2021, 08:07:10 AM
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So I trundled off to the pub as usual last night after measuring GS's for PJ's and met up with BFF, we were late.
She asked why and I told her.
Another, shall we say acquaintance not friend but we get on really well (another Londoner in the sticks), stared at me.
'You sew?'
I cautiously answered yes. You just know whats coming next don't you?
Can you take up my curtains? Or put a zip in my jeans?
But no..
'Can you make a 1950's dress for my wedding?'
Interest piqued she showed me the pic of what she wanted. I showed her pics of DD1's wedding and the 1950's dresses they all wore :D
All excited now, I'm making her wedding dress :dance:
She was like a kid in a sweet shop, so happy to have found someone to make what she wanted and it was someone she knows. I am happy to have a decent project to get my teeth into :D
Payment? Well that got even funnier as her OH had given her pretty much an open wallet. We settled on a girlie weekend away for me, bride and BFF :laughing:
He has to pay for the hotel room :D
BFF reckons the weekend away should include shopping for fabric for the dress, I said I don't care as long as it is near a bar :laughing:
BFF is going over brides house this morning to show her decent wedding photos, this should be fun
BB
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Ooh what a lovely project for you - enjoy x
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Sounds fun.
Looking forward to seeing pics of fabric shopping (your drunken girlie weekend). :laughing:
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That sounds like a really fun project @Bumblebuncher !
I do hope you are allowed to keep us updated - we won't tell!
Jessie
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Absolutely can keep updated, only person out of the loop is the man paying for the weekend away and I don't think he will come on here :laughing:
BB
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So looking forward to following this! :loveit:
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Ooh how lovely! exciting stuff, look forward to seeing your photos! And I'm in awe. xx
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This is the pattern I immediately knew I had when bride showed me the pic of what she wanted!
Vogue dress pattern (https://jaycotts.co.uk/products/v2903)
The only difference being the short sleeves as she wants sleeveless.
I may even venture down the route of an integral corset.
Of course, at this point, she may change her mind as the wedding is in June, so nothing committed yet.
:dance:
BB
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Love it :laughing: :laughing:
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I was going to say make sure you go to the fabric shop before the bar, but it might be more fun the other way around... ;)
Gorgeous dress. :D
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@Acorn I was thinking bar, fabric shop, bar :VV:
BB
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@Acorn I was thinking bar, fabric shop, bar :VV:
BB
then back to the Fabric shop again? :thumbsup:
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BFF talked oop t'north and offered to drive. That would mean a visit to Immanuels and Abakhan and I feel the excitement may be too much for me at the moment :D
BB
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Fabric decided :D a taffeta of shot purple and pink that I have in my stash :D pattern decided :D a 50's Vogue pattern that I already had too. Bridesmaid (did I mention that is happening too?) pattern decided as i had that pattern in my stash :D although fabric needs to be bought for that one!
Groom trying to find a tailor but I am not going down that route :laughing:
Day being arranged for bridesmaid fabric shopping (and maybe, well definitely, the pub/bar). Bride asked me about fee tonight and was shocked when I was genuinely happy to make the dress for a night out :dance:
All going as planned. I will make a toile for both and move on from there.
It seems her bridesmaid/daughter is well endowed and as the owner and mother of well endowed bodies I am more than acquainted with the FBA so that is going well too!
All going well so far
BB
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@Bumblebuncher ... Thats lovely for you but Im so sorry I must add a word of caution here.
It sounds great, much fun to be had and everybody is great friends right now!
But wedding and bridesmaids dresses are extremely sensitive things ... They are hard to make, generally because of the fabrics used and the complexity of fitting things to a more normal shape than the sculptured lines of a drawing and tensions will rise. ..
You must get paid! Properly!
for the fabrics used (whether in stash or bought) for the thread, for the embellishments they will suddenly decide they want, for the 'Oh could you just ...' that there are sure to be at least three of ...
You must value your skill, experience and time you will give up to this ... Its worth a darn sight more than a weekend away boozing.
Or it could all go swimmingly;
Bride wont turn into Bridezilla,
Bridesmaid wont be keeping secret the fact she is in her first trimester when first fitted and suddenly swell up to double the size a week before the day.
Mother of the bride wont buy some hideous outfit in Polyester from China that could only fit Twiggy and ask you 'If you could just let it out a bit ' two weeks before the day ...
and everyone remain the bestest of friends.
But letting them think you can just wave a wand and the dress will appear as if by magic as in Cinderella (https://youtu.be/BxANT4izShI) is selling everybody short.
And if by some miracle everything does go fabulously you'll be surprised at how very many new best friends you'll have who start coming out of the wordwork with alteration and dress requests.
I'll take my bah humbugness away ... just a thought!
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@Iminei I absolutely agree with everything you said and have said as such to the bride.
I have no intention of giving my fabric away, she is more than willing to pay for it. I spoke to her last night and she said over and over about payment. It is me that has said I just want some fun in life and she can organise it for payment.
The thought process on my part is quite simple, it is a favour for a friend as opposed to a work contract.
She was even talking about how she knew I was not into sewing for other people but the thought of doing a beautiful '50's dress is too much for me to refuse. Trust me, I am not a pushover and know my worth, but as I said to her, at the moment my life is pretty awful and it will give me something to take my mind of things, if it gets her a wedding dress in the process, that's fine by me :D
:hug:
BB
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Then that is fine ... Have great fun ... and remember, we want pics, lots of pics!
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Oooh, just cut out the first toile :D
I had an old duvet cover that was the same weight and feel as the actual fabric so that got chopped :D
First fitting to sort out the toile is on 22nd March and then it is all systems go!
So excited to do this after so long with nothing to sink my teeth into. I have gone further and further down the road of slapdash so for once I will be doing my best work :laughing:
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Looking forward to seeing your progress on this. I hope you continue to enjoy it. :)
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How exciting! I have finally sewn up the adjustments on the toile to do final fitting for bride before using proper fabric. I have also cut out and sewn up the under corset for bridesmaids dress. Doing a little bit at a time and all is well, need to do some pressing before moving on!
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Went to check the toile today and ....
Boom! It fit like a glove :D I am not sure who was more excited me or her :laughing:
Absolutely no adjustments other than to the shoulder seam which I had left until the rest of it fitted. I will be cutting out the real thing in the next few days and also continuing on with the bridesmaids dress
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I have finished the bridesmaid's under corset and it is all looking good so far. The bodice is cut out and needs sewing together and attaching but as I can't decide whether the petticoat should be attached or separate I shall leave that until tomorrow and think about it a bit more. The corselet has channels for boning and I have made a muslin inner layer to give a smoother finish to the outside. I will try and remember to start taking pics now I am actually sewing again :laughing:
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So this is the under corset
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It has eyelets and lacing at the back and metal boning, not got a pic of that bit yet.
I put a middle layer of muslin on to make it a bit smoother on the fashion fabric.
The band around the top got added
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and was also added to the actual dress and that is how the two are attached at the top.
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This is the dress with the bodice pinned and the skirt pinned on as well so not a very clean look lol. I am pleased to say I did remember to add pockets :D
I am taking it over on Sunday and will put it on the bridesmaid with the lacing and then insert a zip in the back to cover all the corsetry.
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Love that purple BB, my niece had deep purple in her wedding bouquet and the bridesmaids wore the same colour, looked stunning.
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So what happened was this...
My back decided it wasn't playing anymore! Somewhere between where I posted the pics and next sitting down to sew I ended up with the most excruciating pain within minutes of starting. I was taking full on pain killers just to do ten minutes sewing and then having to stop for an hour because it hurt so much. All with just two weeks until the wedding :laughing:
I did it!
I forgot pics!
I gave dresses to bride and bridesmaid and they were both over the moon.
I still forgot pics!
I went to the reception for an hour before back started hurting again.
I forgot pics!
Luckily, as is often the case at weddings, pics were taken so I will get them to you as soon as possible.
BFF had an allergy to some antibiotics she was given and didn't go to the wedding so didn't get pics either :laughing:
We commiserated on our pathetic bodies caving in.
I have stated that never again am I doing anything to a deadline. I had plenty of time to do both but ended up with my body making it impossible, due to rib and back, to enjoy any part of the process. I don't think I could deal with the stress again :laughing:
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Oh no, after all that excitement. Still you had the satisfaction of making someone very happy!