A Christmas Party Dress - Early!

I went on a Sewing Retreat the weekend of November 11th, but haven't been blogging because my computer wouldn't turn on.  At all.  And I'm not talking about the blue screen of death, I'm talking about the black pit of darkness that was my lap top screen.  I finally submitted to the ultimate fix - I took my lap top to work.  I don't know why this works, but as soon as I got it to the office and pushed the power button, it fired right up.  I guess my lap top just likes to get out of the house from time to time.  It's evil that way.

I really don't need to go on a Sewing Retreat to sew - The Carpenter lets me sew any time I want to, but my friend Maria really wanted to go, and Maria is like so many quilters - to really sew all weekend, she has to run away from home and let her family fend for herself.  Maria is a new sewer (which I like to believe I somehow helped inspire), so I joined her at a 4-H camp about an hour and half from home.  It was very productive and I met wonderful women, all quilters.  I was the only garment sewer.  I decided to spend the weekend making my dress for my company's annual Christmas party, which was renamed the Holiday party, for political correctness.  I still call it the Christmas party because if it wasn't for Christmas, we wouldn't been having it.

I normally make my dress every year but I never blog about it because it is the busiest time of the year, plus my dress is usually not my best work - I cut major corners sewing it.  Mostly because I don't have a lot of time.  And I am fine with that because the dress is going to be worn once, maybe twice, three times tops.  I don't worry about finishing seams or any imperfections.  The party is large, dark, and most everyone there is at least slightly tipsy.  No one is noticing whether my hem is perfect.

But this year I set aside an entire weekend in November to focus on the dress.  I like to make my Christmas dresses with circle skirts so I can wear a big crinoline underneath because if it ain't poofy, it ain't a party.

I was inspired by this book by Mary Adams that I bought this past summer when I wasn't sewing but I was reading about sewing:

I love her designs - she makes my kind of dress.  Poofy, feminine, and dramatic.  I was particularly taken with this one:

I love the white/dark blue combination; it looks very classy and chic.  The book comes with patterns for three dress variations, so I used her circle skirt pattern which I traced.  For the bodice, I decided to go with the Kwik Sew pattern 3760 I love so much:

The pattern has the waistband that I added to the circle skirt, and I knew the bodice would fit me well.  I made the skirt and waistband from some royal blue/violet taffeta someone in my sewing guild gave me several years ago.  I don't know the fabic content (although I am pretty certain it isn't silk), but it is stiff and rustles like taffeta.  For the bodice I dithered for weeks about what to use.  I thought that silk shantung would be too sheer (something I learned while sewing my wedding dress), and I didn't want to try to wrangle something like silk charmuse for this dress.  I finally went with a man made fabric I found at Joannes that shimmered a little, even though I usually hate working with synthetics.  The Joannes fabric ended up being very easy to work with, although it  raveled like crazy.  By the end of the retreat, I had a completed dress that only lacked a hem:

Sorry about the poor quality photos - the lighting wasn't great.  But you get the gist.  Here are some photos that show the fabrics a little better:

 I ended up binding the armholes with silk shantung bias strips (silk was leftover from the wedding dress project):

I have found that silk shantung is awesome for binding armholes.  It is thin, presses well, and is very strong, but flexible.  I cut my bias strips 2 inches wide, then folded them in half, wrong sides together, and then I sewed them to the armholes using a 5/8 inch seam.  I then trimmed the seam allowances to 1/4 inch, and pressed the bias strip to the inside of the bodice.  Because I had the time, I hand sewed the binding to the bodice.

So I took more time with this Christmas dress than I usually do - I finished the seam allowances.  When I have the time, I can't NOT do it.  : )

Once I got home, I hemmed it.  The taffeta is very stiff, and because I had such success with the silk shantung in binding the armholes, I decided to use the same process to hem the circle skirt as well.  I used hot pink silk because I had more of it (and the hem of that skirt is yards and yards long).  After I got the pink silk on the skirt, I liked the way it looked, so instead of pressing it up into the skirt, I just pressed it down so it shows.  So now I have a thin strip of hot pink at the bottom of the skirt and it made me so happy I had to dance around in my dress.  I love it when that happens - it is one of those happy accidents that makes my design better.

I'll post a good photo of me in the dress taken at the party, which is on December 8th.  But next up:  I'm working on McCalls 5972.

The Ashland Dress

I loved the Schoolhouse Tunic so much, I made Sew Liberated's Ashland Dress as well!  Here's a photo of the bodice:

And here's the pattern photo:

 I ended up buying the kit for the dress from Sew Liberated's website, along with the pattern because it saved me from having to choose the fabric for this project.   I know, choosing the fabric is the most fun part, right?  I agree, but in addition to trying brand new patterns, I'm trying to break out of my rut and try new kinds of fabrics that I wouldn't ordinarily try.  The fabric in this kit was a cotton chambray with some lycra in it - something I have never, in the past ten years of sewing, ever used.  I'm somewhat of a natural fabric snob, so sewing with stretch fabrics hasn't appealed to me.  So this was my opportunity to give it a try.

I've also discovered that I am a ditherer - I could spent months trying to figure out which fabric I wanted to use to make this dress.  Frankly, I wanted to just get on with it, and I figured that if Sew Liberated was selling this particular fabric for this pattern, it had a likely chance of success.  We all know that matching up the right kind of fabric with the proper body and drape is the key to successful sewing.

The kit came with four yards of the fabric, a navy invisible zipper, and some interfacing.  I was first puzzled by the color of the zipper, as I thought the fabric was grey:

But it turns out that the fabric is made of navy and white threads, rather than black and white.  I was concerned that the color and dress style would look a little too pilgrimy, but then I decided it was a pilgrim time of year, so I went with it.  The fabric ended up being a pleasure to sew.  Yay!

I also discovered that the interfacing included in the kit isn't enough for this dress, so I used my stash interfacing and I used the kit interfacing for my practice buttonholes.  Interestingly, there were no buttons included in the kit, but much to my suprise and elation I found five one-half inch navy buttons in my stash - and the chances of that happening is right up there with winning the lottery or losing weight on a cruise.

Let me say upfront that I really like this pattern and this dress.  But despite my efforts to move this project along by ordering pre-selected fabric, it still took me over two weeks to make the dress.  The first hurdle was tracing the pattern.  This took significant time and trouble.  Normally, I'm not a tracer kind of gal, but the pattern cost $ 15, and it came with different bodice pattern pieces depending on whether you were an A cup, B cup, C cup, etc.  I had no idea as I wasn't completely sure whether I should make a size 6 or 8, or what cup size I should go for, so tracing made sense in case I was wrong.  But with so many sizes, the tracing was confusing.  Here is a dart in one of the skirt pattern pieces:  

The Carpenter remarked that it resembled an electrical diagram on construction plans, and he was glad it was me and not him who had to sort it all out.  There was at least one pattern piece where I traced the wrong pattern size, but I figured it out before the mistake was irrevocable.

Of course, after tracing, I had to cut out the traced pattern pieces.  Then I had to cut out the pieces in the fabric.  (I'm apparently a slow cutter-outer.)  I ended up tracing a size 8, with a C cup.  I don't normally think of myself as a C up, but the finished measurements of 37 1/2 inches was the same as the Kwik Sew pattern I liked so much. 

The second reason this dress took so long was because there were a lot of pattern pieces to it.  I ended up cutting out enough pattern pieces to complete a step or two in the directions, and then going back to cut out some more.  I eliminated the in-seam pockets and the waist ties, mostly because I didn't want to bother tracing and cutting them out.  The other reasons are that I generally avoid in-seam pockets as my hips don't need extra fabric around them, thank you very much, and I thought the waist ties were unnecessary and this fabric seemed a little heavy for them.

The third reason it took so long was the invisible zipper.  The invisible zipper isn't completely unknown to me - I've managed it before - but its not my go-to preference.  I'm much more comfortable with the centered zipper application so it takes me much, much less time.  So with the invisible zipper, I spent more time putting it in, and even more time dithering and worrying about it beforehand.  I had to rip one side of the zipper out because it got twisted before sewing, even though I thought I had carefully placed it.  But I got that rascal in, and while it isn't perfect, I decided not to worry about perfection.  What I need is practice, so I've decided to use invisible zippers hence forth, and so make myself practice.

One thing I really like about the pattern is the fact that you make your button holes right away while fashioning the bodice.  I think this is an excellent idea - if you muck it up you can just cut a new new bodice and you haven't ruined your dress. I'll think I'll start doing that in the future, to the extent it is possible with other patterns.

Since I had made the Schoolhouse Tunic previously, I understood how the back facing and front bodice go together and it wasn't a problem.  I like it, and it makes for a nice finish on the inside of the bodice:

In the end, I think the C cup was a bit big on me, and if I make it again, I'll try the B cup.  The front gaps a little bit, so I pulled out a white collared blouse I made from an old bedsheet, which gave me more coverage and warmth for this time of year.

This pattern is well drafted, meaning, the sleeve caps weren't drafted with a ridiculous amount of ease like the big four patterns.  Between the nice sleeve caps and the lycra, the sleeves went it easily.  The only problem I had with the pattern was that the sleeve cuffs were somewhat tight on me.  I don't think of myself as having heavy arms, so it is entirely possible that I got confused in tracing all those pattern lines and traced the wrong size.  I might have even traced the cuffs for the three-quarter sleeves rather than the elbow length sleeves.  Who knows?  By the time I was done, I was too tired to find out, and I just let the sleeve cuffs out by a quarter of an inch and they fit fine now.

I ended up putting a one inch hem, rather than two inch the pattern called for since I want more coverage (I'm not in my 20s anymore!).  I give a big thumbs up on this pattern, and I can envision making it in a baby cord fabric with the three-quarter sleeves for winter.  You can see all the summery versions at Sew Liberated's website.

I think I'll make this one again, but this weekend I'm going a Sewing Retreat where I plan to make my dress for my company's Christmas party.  I'm excited about spending the entire weekend with other sewers - sewing and eating constantly!  I'm taking several patterns and several pieces of fabric, so I don't know what exactly I'll end up with.  I never underestimate the power of Sloth in my creative process.  : )

Schoolhouse Tunic

I finished another dress, but let's talk about what really got me excited this past week:  the Schoolhouse Tunic.  Which apparently everyone in the blog world has made since 2009 but me.  I was completely unaware of this great pattern until last week and I not only bought the pattern, which was pretty pricey, but I bought the "kit" that consisted of fabric to make the tunic.  Here's the pattern:

I received the pattern and fabric on Thursday; the fabric was 3 yards of double gauze which I had never heard of before.  One of the reasons that I ordered the fabric was that I wanted to branch out and work with fabrics I normally would never choose. 

This fabric was 14 kinds of awesome.  It is so soft it feels like something babies wear.  And it was wonderful to work with.  I can't wait to buy more and make a dress to wear next summer - it is so cool and soft, I want to make everything out of it - nightgowns, dresses, tunics, you name it.

None of this was cheap; the pattern, the fabric, and the shipping cost me $ 82.00.  So it was an expensive tunic, but worth every penny because I so enjoyed sewing it.

I cut it out Friday night and finished it up Saturday afternoon.  I got the Carpenter to take photos:

Based on the pattern sizing, it appeared that size 8 was the closest to my measurements; the pattern itself has sizes for 2/4, 6/8, 10/12, etc.  I cut out the 6/8.  I didn't bother tracing the pattern, even though it cost $ 15; I was just too excited to get started. Fortunately, it all worked out.  I tried on the bodice before attaching the skirt and I was concerned it would be too tight.  I altered the side seams from 5/8 inch to 1/4 of an inch, to give myself an extra 3/4 inch around.  In hindsight, this probably wasn't necessary, but I wanted to make sure that I could get it over my head and bust.  Since I only received three yards of fabric with my order, there was no room for error, no opportunity to re-cut some pattern piece. 

Let's talk about the awesomeness of this pattern:  it is simple, it is comfortable, and it lends itself to all kinds of ideas for embellishment and fancy alterations.  I love that the front tucks were placed right where the facings are top-stitched to the bodice.  This pattern would be great for a beginner sewer because there are no buttons or zippers to contend with.  Even the sleeves are easy to install.  The instructions tell you to do the double row of gathering stitches thing, but trust me, this isn't necessary.  The sleeve cap is so shallow that you can just pin it to the bodice and sew it on:

I think the single most important element to success with this pattern is choosing fabric was some drape.  I've seen some renditions on the internet that were made from quilting cotton, but I think most quilting cotton is a little too stiff for this project and a beginning sewer will be more pleased with the end result if she selects voile, double gauze, lawn, rayon blend, or some drapey linen, if possible.

I added more edge stitching than the pattern called for.  The instructions have you top stitch 1/4 inch around the neckline and bodice front, but I edge stitched instead and I like it better:

I also edge stitched the sleeves as well.  The instructions have you press the sleeve seam towards the sleeves; I edge stiched them to keep this seam allowance in place:

I also edge stitched the waist seam; the seam was pressed down (so it wouldn't show through the bodice opening), so the edge stitching keeps the seam allowance in place and re-inforces the bodice opening.  I also ended up making the waist seam 1/2 inch instead of 5/8, just to give me 1/4 inch of length in the bodice, which I think was necessary to make sure the waistline was under the bust and wouldn't creep up on me.

The only problem I had with the instructions was step three where the bias binding was applied to the back neck seam.  This fantastic tutorial helped emormously.  Muchas gracias, Ana!

When it was all done, I wanted to make 6 more so I would have one for every day of the week.  But I'm practicing restraint, I already have the next pattern picked out!

Parting Shot:  Nature's pumpkin carving. We bought this pumpkin several weeks ago and little by little, a squirrel is eating the outside rind, effectively carving it for us!  Come Halloween, we will probably hollow it out put in a candle:



The Red Poppy Dress

I finished the McCalls 6503 dress, or as I call it, the Red Poppy Dress.  I made view A which has a ruffled collar and a gathered skirt.  Above is a not-so-great photo (I'm half in sunlight and half out), but I ended up loving the dress, despite some trepidations while making it. 

Here's the back:

 Mostly what worried me during the construction of this dress was the Liberty of London fabric; not only was it expensive (I bought it in 2004 on a trip to Glasgow, Scotland and I made no muslin), but I feared that it would have the same tendancy to wrinkle like my Easter Dress.  While making the dress, it seemed it wrinkled every time I looked it; I was ironing it constantly.  But strangely enough, it doesn't wrinkle nearly as bad while wearing it.  I don't know if this fabric is Liberty's "tana lawn" or not.  But it wears very well and has a wonderful sheen to it.

The pattern is well drafted and the finished dress measurements are very helpfully printed on the pattern.  Size 12 has a 28 1/2 inch waist, so I added a half inch to the waist.  The waistband on this dress makes waist alterations easy:  I just made the front waistband a half inch larger and adjusted the gathers according; no alterations to the front bodice were necessary.  Another change I made was to use scrap fabric bias strips to bind the armholes rather than using purchased bias binding as called for in the instructions.  I also didn't bother to add the facing to the waistband.  I cut it out, but by the time it came to apply it, I was sort of aggravated with this dress, and I realized that the facing was just to make the inside look pretty and really had no structural purpose whatsoever. 

This dress seemed to take me a long time to put together.  Which suprised me because one blogger said that the dress only took her two hours to sew (not counting cutting out).  I don't see how this is possible -  it took me about that long to make the neckline ruffle, attach it to the bodice, and sew the bodice facing.  Having finally learned my lesson while making my wedding dress, I took the time and sewed three lines of gathering stitches on the skirt to make the gathering process easier. 

But in the end it was all worth it:

You can see my "slip" peeking out from my collar above; my "slip" is really a simple Kwik Sew nightgown that I use as a slip if need be.  Because the cotton fabric was a bit thin, I decide an undergarment wouldn't be amiss. 

The sweater is from Lands End and the color matches the red poppies pretty well!

Overall, a very good pattern.  But I'm putting it away and resisting the temptation to make another view in accordance with my new resolve of no repeats - onward to the next project!

Back to Sewing!

 Not only did the Carpenter and I get married, but we bought a house.  And renovated it in ten weeks.  And I put my townhouse up for sale.  My real estate agent recommended a stager, who said, "You need to pack up and remove all your sewing stuff.  And store all your quilts."  (Buyers aren't excited by decor that includes quilts.  Who knew? )

I followed her advice because she's sold way more houses than I have.  My townhouse sold in four days.  (Whoopee!)

What this all means, of course, is that I haven't been sewing, due to everything being in storage, and, you know, moving.  But now we are in the new house and I will now have my very own sewing room, as opposed to sewing all over the house.  I had my new sewing room painted pink because I like pink, and if you can't have your sewing room the color you love the best, where else can you do it?

Right now it is a colossal mess: 

I can't figure out where to put everything because I'm overwhelmed by choice. At my old townhouse, I was limited by space so I made do.  Turn me loose on a clean canvas and I am discombobulated.  I'm confident, though, as necessity is the mother of invention, I'll pull it together eventually.  Friday, the Carpenter installed four recessed ceiling LED lights that light up the room like a Christmas tree. 

I've also been wrestling with a lack of inspiration.  I knew I needed to go a different way on my sewing, but I wasn't sure where.  Should I just stop garment sewing and return back to quilting?  I finally figured out no, I just need to try new patterns and techniques in my garment sewing.  I usually just use the same old patterns because I know they fit, but I was inspired to try a totally new pattern, Kwik Sew 3760, that I saw on a blog whose name I can't recall.  I really liked the green version, but I decided to try the orange version first:

I used a rayon/polestery linen-looking fabric that I bought at Hancock's for $ 4.99/yard.  I love this fabric; I've used it before.  It sews beautifully, it takes high heat during pressing, and it a breeze to wash and wear (no ironing required).  Ignore the wrinkles in my photo above; it was taken after a full day of work.  

This is a wonderful pattern.  I've shied away from Kwik Sew patterns after trying one nine years ago where it seems that it was drafted for someone with a large bust and small hips, and most women aren't built that way.  But this one fit perfectly.  The pattern contained the finished garment measurements on the pattern pieces, which is crucial for figuring out what size to make; I made the size Small straight up, no alterations.  The pattern went together wonderfully; all the seams and notches lined up exactly the way they were supposed to. 

(Again, ignore the wrinkles, this fabric really is nice and wrinkle-resistant.)  Normally I am a natural fabric snob but this very reasonably priced fabric at Hancocks is a pleasure to sew.  This pattern miraculously renewed my excitement in sewing!  And then I decided that I needed to pick another brand new pattern for my next project:  no repeat projects, is my new rule!  (But if I do, I'll dispense with the armhold facings and just use bias binding instead.)

I saw McCall's 6503 dress on Gertie's blog and went out and bought it the same day:



Moving has allowed me to be reintroduced to my stash!  I found a Libery of London print that I bought in Glasgow, Scotland probably around 2004.  I decided it would be perfect for view A. Fortunately, enough time has past that I have forgotten how expensive this fabric was or I would be afraid to cut it.  But in my renewed interest in sewing, I've also decided that the time has come to use the "good" fabric rather than saving it for some mythical perfect project.

My progress:

Can't wait to get this one finished so I can pick another new pattern!



Easter Dress

Here's my Easter Dress, which I finished just in time:

These aren't great photos, but here is the back: I used a cotton voile I got from Chadwicks here in town. It's a delicate floral print:

This shirtdress gave me fits. Which I don't understand because I this was the fourth time I had used this pattern, from the 1950s:

I've used it to make the Crab Dress:

And this one:

Clearly, I made some changes: 1) I put a gathered skirt on it instead of a three panel skirt; 2) I made elbow length cuffed sleeves that I borrowed from this pattern; 3) I made a shawl-like collar instead of the notched; and 4) I made the bottom bodice darts to be tucks instead.

Still, this dress shouldn't have been this hard. I couldn't figure out how to get the collar on properly and I had to visit VickiW to get it sorted out. This made no sense, as I have made this dress several times before. While trimming the sleeve allowances, I nicked the front bodice with my sissors, which I repaired with a little fusible interfacing; I don't know how long it will hold. Finally, for whatever reason, the waist ended up too big, so I used a lace scarf as sash. All these issues caused me to wonder if I had used up all my sewing knowledge on my wedding dress, and now I have become a sewing idiot - it was all so frustrating.

I think one of the problems was that I was too ambitious for this fabric. I think this delicate voile wanted to be a summer blouse and I tried too much and made it a dress instead! The fabric wrinkles like crazy, so in retrospect a blouse would have made much more sense. I originally made the skirt ankle length, aiming for a Downtown Abbey sort of look, but I ended up more with a Christian Fundalmentalist Ranch sort of look instead, so I took more than ten inches off the length, hemming it just below the knee so as to diminish dowdy factor.

I love shirtdresses, but I realize this isn't the most chic look, and the gathered skirt makes it less so. Still, I think this will become a good Saturday-running-errands dress - it will be very cool and comfortable. Next time, though, I'll make it more like the Crab Dress!

What I Learned While Sewing My Wedding Dress

(The pattern: same one used by my grandmother to make my mother's wedding dress in 1962.)

(My parents, July 14, 1962. In France. I always loved this dress my grandmother made.)

(My version. I made the dress with 3/4 sleeves instead of long sleeves, and buttons down the back instead of a zipper. This photo was taken right before Mass when The Carpenter and I were with our priest in the sacristy.)

(A friend who came ready to party!)

(The Carpenter and me, February 17, 2012. I wore my mother's pearls that she wore on her wedding day - they were a gift from my father as a wedding present.)

(In front of the statute of St. Joseph, the patron saint of carpenters!)

(Loved my dress!)

1. You are going to need this book by Susan Khalje, "Bridal Couture". It is out of print, so beg, borrow, or steal it. VickiW loaned me hers. If your sewing friends love you, they will do the same.

2. To gather a skirt, you really do need three rows of basting to control those gathers. I never before did this - I thought one row, possibly two was really all you needed - and then wondered why my gathered skirts were so hard to make. But I followed Susan Khalje's instructions and lo, and behold, the three rows of basting did the trick. I'll never do it any other way again.

3. You are going to have to resort to hand basting your invisible zipper. I've tried every way I know to pin an invisible zipper so I wouldn't have to pull out the needle and thread, but I'm here to tell you there is no other way. I hand basted the invisible zipper on my wedding dress and it went in with no trouble the first time. Didn't even have to do it twice.

4. Buy way more fabric than you need. The last thing you want is sewing stress because there is no extra fabric if you make a mistake. I bought my silk shantung from NY Fashion Center Fabrics and was fortunate that I was able to buy extra when I discovered my cutting layout was going to require more fabric. My lace, amazingly enough, came from Joannes for a very reasonable $ 7.50 per yard, so I bought nearly a half a bolt. That amount of fabric gave me peace of mind that should a mistake be made, it could be rectified.

5. Choose your fabrics carefully. I went with silk shantung because it is one of the easiest silks to work with. If you have never worked with gauzey silk sheers before, your wedding dress is not the place to start.

6. Similarly, choose a pattern that fits your skill level. It's okay to stretch (I had never used boning in a garment before), but don't overreach. Ideally, choose a pattern you have made before, but if that isn't possible, make sure its not "advanced" unless you are an experienced seamstress. The pattern I used was the same one my grandmother used to make my mother's weddding dress in 1962. This was a fairly simple pattern, as it was not uncommon for women to make their own wedding dresses 50 years ago.

7. Ask for help. VickiW came over to help me fit the silk underdress before I attached the lining. She suggested lengthening the bust darts a half inch and that worked. And in the end, I hired a woman who did wedding alterations to hem my dress. My dress was really two - a silk underdress and a lace overdress. That was a whole lot of hemming that I really didn't have time for the last few weeks before my wedding (we only had three months from the time we were engaged until the wedding). Also, I asked her to sew on the button loop elastic and buttons (38 of them!) for me down the back of the lace overdress. The original pattern called for a zipper in the lace overdress, which I didn't care for, although that is how my grandmother did it. I can't imagine how much time I saved by hiring the seamstress do it for me.

8. Be willing to start over. My usual M.O. when sewing is to forge ahead, no matter what - I hate re-doing. My usual rationale is that no one will notice. And usually that is true. But with a wedding dress, you can be sure people will be looking at you, and your dress. So there were several times I started over. I originally used silk organza for the bodice underlining, but while I was cutting and marking it, it was slipping around and my gut told me it wasn't going to be accurate. I scrapped that, and went with a firm cotton/poly voile as my underlining and I believe it worked much better than the organza. And while making the lace bodice, I discovered that I put in a sleeve completely wrong, which I found out only after I had double stitched and trimmed it. I just started over (I had plenty of lace, remember) and re-cut the bodice and sleeve, re-marked it, and re-sewed it. It didn't take as long as the first one, and my second effort was much better.

9. There is no other way to mark lace other than thread tracing. I tried. The washable marker I used simply would not wash out of my lace. Another reason to re-make that lace bodice. : )

10. Have a Plan B. If your dress doesn't work out, keep an eye out for that consignment shop dress, the one on Ebay, the off the rack dress at Davids, your mother's dress, a good friend's, etc. Having a Plan B will help reduce the stress that all is riding on your skills as a sewer. I know what I am talking about here as I had no Plan B. Really didn't. Somehow I just knew it would all work out. But do as I say here, not as I do. Get a Plan B.

I ended up buying my veil. I just ran out of time and in the end I just "clicked and added to cart". I got the exact veil I wanted, and quickly too.

The conventional wisdom is that you should never make your own dress - too much stress, not enough time, etc. The conventional wisdom is correct, but I am very glad I was able make this dress that was so special to me. My advice is, sew your dress if you want to, and have a Plan B so you can enjoy it. One of the biggest payoffs is that your dress is your ace in the hole when playing the "my wedding was so stressful" game with other brides. Any time you can say, "I sewed my own dress," they always say, "You win."

: )

Happy sewing y'all!