The Shimmery Lilac Satin & Organza Assymetrical Wedding Gown with Swarovski Rhinestones

I really can't believe the day came and went! I can't tell you how excited, humbled and fulfilled I feel in having been able to make my client's wedding day so special ---and in such a BIG way. I was happy to deliver the wedding gown of her dream! I'd been working with Ms. T (I guess I can call her Mrs. T now--LOL!) since late July in planning this gown. It was truly an amazing experience from start to finish! This was my first BIG wedding gown. I say big as in the fact that this gown contains about 43 yards of fabric with 40 yards of them in the skirt alone---mainly comprising of the shimmery organza When I first met my client and she'd showed me the gown she had ordered from China that came in the wrong color I had to jump to work to plan out the details of this gown. I knew in the end I wanted to create a dress that made her look like a Princess! I wanted to create the effect in the skirt like "she was walking on a bed of clouds". We had a few challenges in the beginning in trying to hunt down the perfect color fabric to match her Aladdin theme but all of that came together and we were able to move forward with the rest of the details. I had alot of new experiences with this dress. I worked with sew-on Swarovski rhinestones, I a ton of organza fabric, learned how to make a huge tufted skirt etc. My client was an absolute DREAM CLIENT and allowed me to use my expertise to interpret her desires and create the gown she wanted.  And amazingly enough I was able to do just that and she loved it and everyone else did as well. Well I'm not going to talk about construction details now (I'll save them for the NEXT post)---trust me there's lot's to share instead I'm going to relish in today's events and share some pictures. It still all feels so surreal. It took me months of planning and 2 weeks of continuous sewing to complete the gown. So I'm appreciating kicking back & relaxing!!!! I'm amazed and so thankful to have received this opportunity. I started this project not knowing exactly how things would turn out but I'm SO thankful to God they turned out beautifully!!!  Again, I'll cover the construction details for my fellow sewers in my next post---as for now please enjoy the pics!

(The gorgeous couple! I love the side view fullness of the skirt)

 (The gown is assymetrical so you can see the short length in the front)

 (Another view of the train)

(She needed someone to carry the gown around until we bustled it before she danced. It's ALOT of dress!)

(The wedding was colorful and beautiful!)

(Earlier I had the privilege of helping the Bride get dressed)

 (Here are some Informal dressing room pics pre-wedding of course)

 (more informal dressing room pics)

(.....and one more so you can see the train)

 (The Bride and I)

 (BTW, not that anyone cares after having seen the Bride's gown (LOL!) but I made up this dress for myself using NewLook 6120 and a cool poly print from my stash and made the obi belt out of a berry colored fancy cotton fabric. I needed something quick to make, yet stylish. I whipped it up in a few short hours. I had to represent being the fashion designer that I am! I made this dress before and the review is HERE.

Studio 54 Meets the Far East!

Ohhhhh.....just 2 different projects I'm working on that have to be complete in the next 48 hours. You know the same M.O. around here! LOL! I'm making a metallic gold cheetah costume for my daughter for Trunk or Treat (our Halloween Alternative) on tomorrow. That fabric is so disco ready! Gawdy but fun!  And I need to crank out an outfit for myself to wear to the wedding of the bride I made the gorgeous 40 yard fabric gown for. The wedding's Saturday and I need to be cute to represent. I picked this bold print and it has an Asian feel to me. I ran out of fabric and had to be creative in cutting 2 of the pieces. I'll divulge later. Anyhow I'm exhausted but I got to get it done. I do my best work under pressure. But not without some "shut-eye" first. Night, night. Will showcase the finish products soon.....

(Daughter's costume fabric on the left and my dress fabric is on the right. Patterns and final pics coming soon)

Lacing up a Corset Back Gown

I'm handing my client's wedding gown over in less than 24 hours and it sure feels good! A TON of work went into it but it turned out quite stunning!!!! The wedding is this upcoming Saturday so I'll have informal pics for you then. The back of the dress so happens to be a corset back. I ran across this video while looking for another tutorial. Glad I did, because I discovered I'd been lacing up the dress the wrong way. Who knew???? So I thought I'd share.....

BurdaStyle Pants Fitting Webinar on tomorrow, Thursday, Oct 16th

Somehow I've been wrapped up in sewing the 40+ yard wedding gown (which is coming along beautifully, I'm 96% done) that I failed to mention that I'm teaching another BurdaStyle class for all those who are interested. This one's on pants and is from a different angle of what I taught about on pants about a month or so ago. If you enjoyed that one then you'll love this one as well so I encourage you to sign up. Remember you don't have to be present for the webinar at the actual taping. You'll receive a recorded version afterwards. Those who have taken my webinars know that I LOVE TO TEACH! It's a gift. I don't give dull or boring presentations. Having worked in research science for 15 years I learned how to break down information and compile it it in a way that's insightful, fun and entertaining. Plus I love "AHA moments"---my own and giving them to others! Nothing like when the light bulb comes on and you realize something you hadn't before. Fitting pants is such a struggle for so many sewers, and was that way for me for years until I discovered solutions to the problem. Those are what I'd like to share in this presentation. So here's the details....

You can find the Webinar details HERE....

Again, my webinar is on tomorrow Thursday at llam HERE . You don't have to be present to see it just purchase before showtime and you'll receive a link to access it later. Thanks for your support and I hope you'll enjoy the webinar. I always put my heart and soul in them!!!

Wedding Dress Bling

I mentioned before that I am currently working on a wedding gown for a client. It's an amazing dress and I'm glad I get the pleasure of creating the gown of her dreams.  I can't reveal much about the dress until after the Oct 25th wedding. I will say 3 things however, it's a bit non-traditional in color, it has 30 yards of fabric in the skirt alone (if you didn't know-----THAT'S ALOT OF FABRIC!!!!) and the bodice is embellished with  Swarovski crystals.  I've use Swarovski crystals and applied them using glue to embellish dance costumes a year ago. This was my first time working with the sew on's and much larger sized rhinestones with various shapes. I used 3 shapes---the circle, marquis and oval cuts. The fun part was deciding on the perfect rhinestone pattern that would suit the sweetheart neckline. Here's the design I came up with. We didn't want to go overboard and only wanted enough to cover about 1.5" within the bodice edge. I played with several designs----laying them out on a sample piece of fabric with the shape traced on to it. I came up with one that worked great and created a pattern of sorts. I plan to do a video tutorial on how I actually mounted the design. All I can say is it was super easy and I LOVED hand sewing each one on. It's so RELAXING!!!!

(Zoomed in. I traced the shape of bodice on sheet fabric. I marked the edge of the fabric and where the seamline was to be. Then I began laying stones. I came up with this design mixing all of the shapes. I intentionally picked these shapes since I knew they would fit in between each other well and maximize the space.)

 (Zooming out you get a better sense of the overall pattern. It extends from the middle of the bustline to the side seams/underarms. The final product looks WAYYYYYY more lovelier on the fashion fabric!!! I just love how these things sparkle.)

 (Nothing better then getting a load of swarovski crystals in the mail!!!! Love all that shine!!!)

Ok, I'll be wrapping up that dress in the next 7-10 days. Again the wedding is at the end of this month and I'll be showing pics the.  In the meantime I've got my hands full with some other projects---some really fun one's I'll be sharing fairly soon.