Well, That Was Fast!

I was quite surprised by how many *very* close guesses there were on the "Mystery Giveawway" I mentioned yesterday!

And someone hit the nail on the head -- Cheri guessed correctly that I was making an E-pattern!



Yes, my Scallop Apron is now an E-pattern for sizes S/M -- hopefully L/XL will be coming soon, too. I had a delightful time formatting, drawing illustrations, simplifying instructions, and playing with fonts and details! But at last, it's all ready to go.

You can find it here in my Etsy Shop!

(Cheri, I'll convo you on Etsy to get your e-mail address -- congratulations!)

What I've Been Up To... And a Giveaway!

Yes, I've been absent from my blog for well over a week now. Most inexcusable, I know -- but I do have a good excuse!

I've been spending a lot of time with this:



And this:



And these:



And a *lot* of time with this:



And some time with this, too:




Any ideas? The first reader to comment with the correct answer (or the reader who comes up with the closest answer) will receive an undisclosed prize -- undisclosed, because the prize is the answer! *hint hint*

If no one comes up with the exact answer before February 25th, I'll pick the closest answer and post a "reveal."

And keep your eyes open for some hints...

Simple Centerpieces

Economical centerpieces can be tricky -- flowers are expensive (even wholesale), plus they're difficult to keep fresh, and pillar candles and vases aren't exactly cheap, either.



Our solution was a few layers of lavender tissue paper, wine glass luminaries, a few posies, and a single cylinder vase with two pears resting on a bed of Spanish moss. I absolutely love pears (both their taste and their appearance!), and they fit perfectly into the color scheme. Speaking of which, the color scheme was *officially* sage and lavender. But the bridesmaids' dresses were hunter green, and some of the flowers and ribbons were a deep purple. So we were a little flexible with that!

Here's a better view of the general idea -- complete with two of the bridesmaids' bouquets:



Remember those mysterious wine glasses? I used them as luminaries, with a tutorial I found on www.save-on-crafts.com. I used our silhouettes on the invitation and program, and decided to carry the theme through on the luminaries.



For the bridal party table, I indulged my paper-crafting side by making little placecards -- which, incidentally, went entirely unused. I don't think a single member of the bridal party sat down at that table during the entire reception!



But hey -- they'll look great in a scrapbook! *wink*

Veiled in Mystery

Okay, so I wasn't exactly veiled in mystery at the wedding -- but "mysterious" does seem like just the word to suit the creamy, supple silk that I used for the veil.

My "requirements" for a veil were twofold. First, it had to have a blusher. And second, it had to have a general lack of tulle and frou frou. And in the back of my mind was a veil treatment that I'd seen years ago in a Victoria magazine -- satin ribbon to trim the edge.



And thanks to Dharma Trading Co., I was able to accomplish that! I purchased a few yards of their silk gauze -- a filmy, fairy-like fabric with a soft hand and just the right amount of sheerness. And the price is unbeatable!



It's a good thing I had no idea how difficult the gauze would be to work with, or I probably wouldn't have chosen it! *wink* Cutting it to get the correct drape (which I did by rounding the corners) was quite interesting. Hand-hemming the raw edges (thank goodness for a usable selvedge!) was also quite interesting. And so was sewing around the veil (24 feet) three times total to attach 1/8" satin ribbon to the top and bottom edge! All things considered, the veil took just about as much work as the wedding gown did.



But it was well worth it! The gauze is just beautiful, and was perfect for the style of veil I chose (which was a drop veil). And while the gauze had a decided tendency to develop pulls when snagged on any object, the pulls "unpulled" immediately and left no evidence of any damage. I added two clear hair clips, disguised by a headpiece of cording (leftover from the frog closure I made for my dress!), which I braided and accented with tiny Swarovski crystals.



Veiled in mystery? Maybe not. But being veiled in silk is nothing to complain about!

"The Dress" Details

Making my wedding gown was probably the most intimidating part of the wedding planning process -- most intimidating in theory, but in actuality one of the simplest to execute!

Like most girls, I had a "dream dress," based off of a Jessica McClintock ballgown that I'd seen in a Victorian Trading Co. magazine. Then I found a Bliss Victoria wedding book, published during the magazine's heyday in the 90's -- and another dress caught my fancy, this time with a bit of 18th century flair.

And then it hit me. Why not make a Regency dress? I was already planning on using the Regency gown for my bridesmaids, I love the Regency style, and let's face it -- I'm just a little bit fond of Jane Austen! *wink*



I decided to make two pieces; a dress and a "pelisse." With this design, I'd be able to use the dress again in a variety of ways.



I ended up using two patterns to base my design on -- the wonderful Sense and Sensibility Regency Gown pattern (which I used for all of the skirt pieces, as well as my base for designing the pelisse bodice), and McCall's 3571 (which I used for the bodice and sleeves of the under dress).



My requirements? 3/4 length sleeves (my favorite length!); a modest neck/shoulder area; simple, tailored lines. I decided to use dupioni silk for the gown; I love the texture, the drape, everything!

For the underdress, I played with the Sense and Sensibility bodice, but I just couldn't get exactly what I wanted. So I decided to try my McCall's pattern, which I've had much success with in the past.



By tailoring the bodice seams, I was able to get the right look. Since I was wearing a pelisse over it, the lines needed to be smooth and fitted. Providentially, I came across an article some time ago that mentioned using flannel to interline formal gowns -- it adds body,and also hides the seam allowances (which "disappear" into the soft flannel). I tried it for the bodice, and it worked perfectly!



The entire gown is lined in Egyptian cotton -- lining the sleeves made everything simpler (no sleeve hem!). I also avoided my serger for all but one seam edge (on the skirt placket), and stuck to French seams and bound seams. For the sleeves, I modified the McCall's pattern to remove the center seam, and I also changed the shape of the sleeve "hem" to be higher in the front and slope gently down to the back. It not only adds a bit of gracefulness, it also prevents the sleeve from having a cut-off look.



The buttons on the underdress are from my paternal grandmother's stash -- she was an avid seamstress in her lifetime. Having grown up in the Depression, she knew the value of repurposing. I even had a box of used sewing machine needles that she'd saved! At any rate, these beautifully demure mother-of-pearl buttons blend perfectly with the silk.



For the pelisse, I used the Sense and Sensibility pattern as a base. I darted the bodice front (instead of gathers), changed the neckline to a "V," made a 'solid' back, and added a front closure. For the skirt, I added a 1 1/2 foot train to the back, and changed the front to close in the center and cut away to the sides. The idea of a 3/4 length sleeve with a woven oversleeve caught my fancy, and I was able to scrounge up a few very blurry screen caps from the Kate Beckinsdale (or "Brown") version of Emma to help me with my design:



It took several trial runs, but it was worth it! I think the sleeves are my favorite part of the whole dress, actually.





Figuring out a closure for the pelisse proved to be more difficult than I thought! Most clasps are made of metal, and I didn't want to break up the simplicity of the dress with something metallic. During a browse through JoAnn's I discovered some decorative frog closures in black and gold. No white. But they did have white cording, and I'd experimented with the little frog toggles before. So I dug out my vintage Vogue sewing book and set to work!



After the dress was complete, I felt that I wanted to do something more. I loved the dress, but there a total lack of embellishment. So I decided on some simple embroidery for the waistband of the pelisse, using the simplest of embroidery stitches.



This is the second generation of wedding dresses that have been sewn on my paternal grandmother's machine -- she made my mother's wedding dress with her machine, and now I've made mine with it, as well! My beautiful mother still fits in her wedding dress, so we had our photographer take some shots of us together.



The total cost for the dress, notions, veil, and shoes was about $100 -- thanks to JoAnn's 50% off coupons, Dharma Trading Co., and Payless clearance! *wink* I'm so glad I decided to make my own gown; it was a wonderful and (relatively) stress-free experience. The veil, on the other hand... but I think I'll save the veil for a separate post, since this one is already quite full!

Credit for these photographs goes to our wonderful photographer, except for the detail shots of the dress and the design sketches

It's About Time...

I'm finally able to post some pictures of the wedding! We received our CD of pictures in the mail on Friday, and had a grand time browsing through them -- all 1,079 of them! I'll be posting my favorites over the next few weeks.

These may take a while to load, since I've left them a bit bigger than usual so that you can see more details when you click on them.















Tomorrow I hope to post all of the juicy details about "the dress!" Forgive me if I load up my blog with all thing wedding related for the next little while -- I had too much fun planning this wedding to not blog about it! *wink*