Making a dress by surprise

The best thing about this dress is that she didn't know I was making it for her.  She came over to try on what she thought was the floral dress I made her, but I blindfolded her and then once standing in front of a mirror, let her see what I had actually made! So, I uploaded the picture of her surprise!

The one that is up close uploaded is the only one I have up close, but the neckline/lining was not done yet

Silk Dress for a Missionary

A young lady at church decided to go on an 18 month mission. Part of that, she is required to wear only skirts or dresses to represent the church in a respectful, reverent manner. So, I offered to make her a dress, her choice of pattern and her choice of fabric.  She has a very pleasant figure, and being new to fitting, I thought it would be fairly simple.  I made a muslin, and had her try it on.  I thought it fit her nicely and took some pictures.  Upon review of the pictures I realized I had missed some big fitting issues, I had not seen before.  I ended up sewing 4 different bodice muslins till I got to a well fitting garment.  I thought the hard part was over, however the fabric she chose was the most difficult.  She picked yummy silk organza type fabric with chiffon florals on it.  This required it to have an interlining, which was an italian, stretch silk, and then a cotton silk blend for the lining.  Sewing the two layers together was quite a challenge to keep them behaving well together and not slip around.  In addition the rolled hem on the chiffon was very difficult because it went from chiffon that folded over easily to the charmeuse that didn't.  In the end the project turned out beautifully, I do wish I had matched the pattern at the invisible zipper.

Resolutions can be stumped by technology

So, in an effort to follow through on my sewing resolutions, and working on my blog, I am being thwarted with the technology to be used.  I have tried to find ways to post pictures on the blog, but to no avail.  All the while, finding that one of the "fixes" I tried completely disabled me from getting to the dashboard.  So I reversed the attempted fix, and here we are again.

Inspired by Mood

So, Mood Fabrics recently put out a post for a new blogger to join their group as a couple of them were unable to fulfill the commitments.  With the new year, resolutions, the realization I am just happier when I sew, I thought I would love to be a Mood blogger someday.  One of their preferences is that you are a consistent blogger and sewing all different types of garments with different types of fabric.  So, this year I would like to resolve to sew each month, and post a blog entry about it. This is a very ambitious goal for me, given that it is January and the beginning of my very busiest time of year.  I really like being a CPA, I love to help people with something that they just feel lost on and showing them that they, indeed, can do it.  However, the down side is that you have to put your personal life on complete hold at least from February-April 15th each year, typically adding a couple weeks on the beginning and end of that time period depending on your practice.  I hope to be able to fulfill this resolution, stop stressing so much about some other struggles in life and just enjoy the moments as they come.

Catching up!

So, I finally am getting around to updating my blog a little and I can't get my photos to upload.  So, that is very frustrating.  I can see that they are there, and when I choose to add them to the blog, it just sits there with a  "dumb look" on its "face".


So, I will try some wording then later go back and add some pictures....


In June of 2013, I made four flower girl dresses for a wedding in France.  Yes, it was as exciting as it sounds.  It was wonderful. The girls were from 2-4 years old and all I had to make them was their chest measurements and height.  They dresses turned out great and fit the girls just fine, which was quite a worry since I would not be able to change anything nor fit the dresses to them prior to the wedding.  I used a wonderful champagne colored dupioni silk with scrolled embroidery on it.  They had long skirts with a big bow at the waist and the bodice was a cross over.  We almost didn't go to the wedding due to the cost of the travel, but as I was sitting there in the church waiting for my "daughter" to walk down the aisle, I couldn't think of another place in the entire world that I wanted to be than right there, right then.  It was such a wonderful, happy feeling.  Claudia and JB are such a wonderfully matched couple, and at that moment, I had such a strong realization how much we truly loved her as a daughter just as our other children.  To be there for her wedding day, knowing it was important to her, was more priceless than I can describe.

Here is a picture of my Virginia trying on one of the dresses since she was the same size as a couple of the girls.

Oh yes, yes I did!

I haven't written in here for a very long time, because the job that pays for my fun has hit its busy season.  Yes, I am a CPA; I work from home for my own firm. January through April I hibernate from nearly everyone, even my kids wonder where I have gone at times.  They get very accustomed to seeing me sitting in my office working for hours and hours till late at night.  However, by this point in the season, it seems every year, they all get really tired of Mom always working.  I have really enjoyed my new sewing room that we built into the house and so, I am looking forward to getting to sew again.  Fabric Mart sends out emails about their sale fabric; today they sent out an enticing one with duponi silk embroidered fabric for $14 per yard.  I got so excited I bought enough of various colors to make a dress for me, and one for each of my 3 daughters.  So, yes, YES I DID, I bought my after-tax-season fabric!
Not a very good picture, I admit, but you can get an idea of the basic color.  It is so timeless.

Fabric Chosen

Well I have chosen my fabric for my dress. I ordered the light background with the blue flowers. I am going to do the waistband white as well as a hem band and a neck band. I think it will be wonderful.
Now I have to get the second bodice made for the muslin and tweak on that so I am ready for the underlining and fashion fabric.