Micaela – the most recent bride – and I are in love with black and white dresses for little girls.  At least we are ever since spotting the most adorable ones in Ottawa on the Glebe.  I don’t know who talked the other into a black and white, sophisticated  dress for her oh-so-sweet flower girl, but it certainly reinforced why I love making little girl dresses!  This one was so cute that I couldn’t give it up!

The pattern- Simplicity 4647 cannot be applauded more for it’s ease, correctness in sizing and adaptability! 

On to the Pattern Review

Simplicity 4647

Pattern Description: Child’s special occassion dress in two lengths.

Pattern Sizing: Children’s sizes 3-8  Using 2 measurements sent by the flower girl’s mother- chest and length from neck to mid calf, I decided to make the size 5.  The flower girl is a thin 5 year old and the dress fit perfectly.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes, it did.  It may have even been fuller in the skirt than is pictured.  The dress actually stood upright on the floor all by itself!

Were the instructions easy to follow?  This is a very straightforward, easy dress to construct.   There were a few “whadda mean?” moments, but they may be attributed to the fact that too many dresses were trying to be sewn in a short period of time!  If you know how to sew a dress and a lining, there should be no difficulties with this pattern.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?  I liked the simplicity of it.  The fabric that is chosen and any embellishment that is added really make the dress.

F abric Used:   Black and white gingham taffeta for the dress, black broadcloth for the bodice lining.  Heavy black crinoline for the petticoat..  All from the local Fabricland.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I made the shorter style with the sweetheart neckline and no sleeves.  I bound the bottom of the netting with some of the taffeta just in case the flower girl decide to do somersaults down the aisle- she didn’t but she did play bocce ball during the reception!  <This dress was made “from a distance”.  The mother sent me the chest measurement as well as the length from shoulder to mid calf, as I requested.  From those measurements, the size that I chose fit perfectly.  The zipper was hand stitched to ensure that the gingham matched perfectly.
I was not happy with the size of the bow.  I drafted a new bow which ended up about 50% larger than the original.  I hand tacked the bow to the left side of the sash and used a hook and eye to attach the bow completely.  It caused no difficulties throughout the day.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? This makes an adorable, easy dress for an occasion such as a wedding.  I would definitely make this dress again.

Conclusion: The flower girl looked and felt like a princess!  It even won first prize at our local fair.  The judge was especially impressed with the bow! Truthfully, I felt like a bit of a fraud, this dress was sooo easy to make, and the little model was a pefect angel all day and night!

I know you are all thinking “enough with the teasing- let’s see the bride’s dress in all it’s glory.  Patience my friends, Patience!  I’ve been trying to get things sewn for the Wardrobe Contest on PR, and have 5 items this far from done.  I keep changing my mind on the “topper” but I think I found just the right item while doing some window shopping a few days ago.  I need a raglan sleeve, turtleneck pattern to make it, and as I don’t have one, I am going to get a Simplicity pattern that I think will do the job.  No time for pattern drafting at this late date!

Picture this.

It’s wedding day morning at the Bontje household.  7:30 am

The hairstylist is here (Krista rocks!).  Micaela is trying on her dress one last time, as I wanted to check the fit at the back one last time before I handstitched the lining down.  The fit was pefect- then I saw it….

The zipper had separated!!  Ahh the horror. Aughh the look of fear and dismay on my face  when I mentally went through my invisible zipper stash in my head and realized that there was not an ivory or white invisible zipper to be had! 

Served me right really – using an generic brand, Fabricland zipper.

I was on tenterhooks till the fabric store opened at 9:30.  In fact, I was waiting in front of the door 10 minutes early, with my hair already in wedding state, in case they happened to see me there with my hand on the doorknob, ready to sprint to the zipper section.

There was one other woman waiting as well.  We struck up a conversation, compared family, sewing, and it was then that I found out that she owns a brick and mortar as well as an online fabric store!  One that I never knew existed- less than 20 minutes from my house. I promised her that I would visit her, and review her shop here and on PatternReview, threw opent the door of the store, grabbed 4 invisible zippers, and ran to the checkout.  My 18 minute drive home was consumed with reviewing all the steps I needed to do to quickly insert the zipper.

By 10:30 it was done!  Whew, disaster averted and the bride looked radiant.

Wedding Day story #2

We are ready to go to the church.  It just so happens that August 15 was also the day of our community’s townwide garage sale.  One we never missed until this year.  I jokingly suggested that since they had a few minutes to spare, they take some “bride goes garage sale-ing on her wedding day” photos.  The photographer was game so off we went. 

It was at their very first stop that a very humerous event occured.  This is so indicative of things that happen to our Micaela.  Every always turns out right in “Micaelaland”!

 Micaela had decided she didn’t want a veil.  She had an adorable headband and her hair was up and looking gorgeous.  Someone happened to see a veil hanging up and she decided to try it on for a funny photo.  It was a beautiful veil!  “Mommy, will you buy it for me?” Micaela questioned.  Now how can you say no to a one dollar purchase!  We gave the guy a five, waved off the change and charged back to the cars eagerly looking forward to the rest of a perfect day!  Oh by the way, it also happened to be the very same place where we bought twinkle lights to decorate the tent with at the previous years garage sale!  We left the female owner of the house with tears of joy in her eyes.

So.  I leave you with 2 questions.

1. Which brand of zipper do you trust your life- not to mention your Wedding Dress- on?

2.  Do you have any Wedding Day humerous stories to share?

By the way, the rest of the day was magical!  I will share more when I get photographers photos back.  And now it is time to be excited for me as this is the first time in 2 years that I have not been in Wedding Mode!  It was all so worth it.  Baby Mode is looming on the horizon!

Some photo’s….
Review of the yellow dress to come. any guesses as to which current Vogue pattern it is?

There seems to be a superfluous amount of accoynms floating around these days.  PR (Project Runway OR Pattern Review), ANTM, SYTYCD to name but a few sewing and fashion related ones.  ( to me- that last one is allll about fashion as well as dance!)   May I introduce to you another one?!

A T W

OR

After The Wedding.

As in

After The Wedding I am going to finish those 2 jackets.
After The Wedding I will run or bike every day (interestingly enough, I first typed “rum”! Do I need some perhaps!
After The Wedding  I will get the new golf shirts done
After The Wedding  we can shingle the roof
After The Wedding I will sew some maternity clothes for Kate
After The Wedding I will be  a more faithful blogger
After The Wedding I will sit on the front porch and read
After The Wedding I will take Sundays off for family and friends
After The Wedding I will I will I will IwillIwillIwill

It’s funny.  It is not like this wedding is sucking my life away.  I do a little bit of work every day- make pew bows, hem a dress, make some direction signs,  do random gluing and pasting, writing a weddingday newsletter, make a hair/nail appointment.  I do work full time of course.  The bride daughter is laid back- aside from our ongoing Facebook saga entitled (randomly)  “chandeliers“, she has made no demands on my skill or time that I have not offered freely.  I don’t want to put any pressure on Micaela to think that this is anything but my own little dilemma.  I want her and Kentie Boy to have a glorious, stress free start to their exciting married adventures.

So why the feeling of aaauugghh?  I have no idea!  I just feel as though my life is “on hold” until the wedding is over.  Stressed?  no not really, although some people might tell you differently!  It isn’t even my day!  For goodness sake, if I was a wedding planner *hey wait- that is what I have been for the past 2 years/3 weddings!*- then this would be my normal life!   

The wedding gown is this weekends work- final fitting, agonizing and last minute alterations will take the place of attending a drag race on Sat and a rodeo on Sunday. 

Some photos for you to get an idea of life in my disarray… not that I mind disarray!

Sewing complete or near complete

Decorating mishmash! 

Sooonn to be transferred to the beautiful yard that is my parent’s farm!  The tent will seat the 180 guests, have an abundance of flowers hanging from the ceiling, candles in the trees and croquet and bocce ball on the lawn We would love to have the wedding here at home, but livestock + food = not so pretty an atmosphere!

I really do love all of the planning, organizing and sewing related to weddings and am looking forward to what looks to be a glorous day! 

Boy I bet you are so tired of my years of wedding related posts!  Soon, back to regularly scheduled progamming.

My Lord, I sound like a broken record!  Some day I will be blogging about more than wedding sewing!  I really love making fancy dresses though!  In my secret of secret minds, my career involves making Mothers of the Bride/Groom look beautiful!

You may remember Likely you forget the fabric that I chose for the next (and I have been promised that it will be the last for a while!) Mother of the Bride gown.  It is a lovely silk burnout fabric, very sheer, with flowers in shades of  red/green/pink and black .  You will see it in the following pictures, so I won’t show it here.
I got it off of Ebay last year for a scandoulously cheap price.  I was afraid that it was not silk, but a burn test proved that it was indeed silk and not polyester “silky” fabric.  The old buyer beware adage always comes into play with online purchases doesn’t it?  This time I was lucky.

I have decided not to use Vogue 8556.   
 

I mocked up this pattern in some black and white poly and decided it added undesired bulk on my torso (read- I felt fat in it!)  The bodice was drafted too large for my boob size, and the transition between the ruched waist and the bodice didn’t translate well to my kinda pear shaped figure.  Better to leave this one to large chested, tiny waist women!
There were a few aspects that I really liked in this dress too though.  I will be dragging them over to the  Take Three dress. 
1.  the curved “halter” neck piece
2.  the back strap which I find strangely sexy!

I did some research, and found this pattern which, surprisingly, has only been reviewed once on PatternReview.  Vogue 2847 (LindsayT and EricaB – That to me is one of the good things about posting a review on PR.  You can do a search in one place, instead of trying vainly to remember who made a certain outfit, then trying to find it in their blog archives.) Look up digress in the dictionary.  There is a honking big photo of me right beside the definition!

For my rendition, I am taking the skirt portion, and drafting my own bodice for the top.  Ruched bodice, contrast halter neck band, and the back straps from the other Vogue dress.  I thought that neckband, coming down in a V was an original thought, but then I was at the Burda site and saw this dress, which has the same sort of neckline treatment going on.  I drafted my neck band from scratch – scout’s honour!  Huhnh – so much for originality!
Here it is pinned on the dressform.  So far I like what I am doing with it.  It is by no means near completion, but is coming together in a good way.  I have done a lot of ruched work in the past two years, but never for myself.  My next post will show how I did the ruching on this bodice.   
 

Todays Postscript…. 
It was another beautiful day in the neighbourhood today.  We worked on the yard, cutting down some large evergreens that were blocking the view of the house, and did some very overdue trim work on the yard.  My gardens are dreadfully neglected this year!

What to write about first!  Ahhhh the dilemma! 

Well, let me say that the wedding  was perfect.  I mean, if seeing some relatives who was sweet enough to come to the wedding mass, and inviting them to the reception – thus needing to find 2 seats for them- was the biggest glitch, then I would say this wedding was a breeze.  And doing some last minute alterations while getting my hair done.  And looking up at the sky all day, begging the rain to stay away (it listened!)  But you don’t want wedding details- and if you do want them, flip over to FiveBlondes where Erica is doing a series on the wedding day- you want sewing details!

I have been looking for photos of the day that properly show the dresses – so I can review them.  Apparently my pleas of “fashion shots Please!” went unheeded, as I can find no full length photos of me in my outfit!  Even though in his speech, the best man wondered if he was at a wedding or a Couturesmith fashion show! If Erica’s amazing photographers read this post- I may want a fashion shoot some day!   

I have one really nice photo of the family, however I really don’t want to show that photo until I get all the reviews done, so  a dress form photo will have to suffice for now.  Let’s start with my outfit.  AKA “the MOB gown”  The pattern I finally chose was from the December issue of Burda Fashion. 

On to the review…

Pattern – Burda Fahion 12- 2008 Style # 133- bustier, and 134 – skirt

Pattern Description:   “Bustier” style top with faux wrap and trumpet style skirt.

Pattern Sizing:   This is a plus size pattern that I graded down to fit.  I am a 40 on  top and a 42 from the waist down.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?:   Yes.  No?  Okay, somewhat!

Were the instructions easy to follow?:  Mheh. You know Burda.  You have to know how to sew. 

What did you particularly like  or dislike about the pattern?:  I liked the glam.  I was finding it difficult to find a style that would work if it was a warm spring day, didn’t want long sleeves, but wanted some coverage.  And I adore that silhouette- off the shoulder kinda thing.  I didn’t especially like all the fabric coming together at the centre front, but more about that in a minute.

Fabric Used: Fabric for the top is sooo hard to explain without you actually seeing it.  It looks tweedy in the pics, and in real life has a tweedy feel, but it is very airy and light.  There are gold  and bronze strands running though it.  The gold strands wreaked havoc on scissors by the way!  I cut it on the crosswise grain to take advantage of the way it ravelled.  Emmaonesock “provided” this fabric.  I used a deep bronze coloured silk organza for the underlining.  The skirt was gold coloured silk dupioni underlined with light silk organza, and lined with um, um um…gold bemberg lining?

The design and construction process:    I started with the collar.  I figured that the bodice was just a regular corset, and the whole look hinged on the way the collar would look, so after a fast and dirty muslin to check fit, I worked on that collar thingy.  Since my fabric was so light as well as ravelly (you know- it ravels easily!)  I opted to both underline it with organza and added a layer of netting to ensure that the pleats stayed put. 

The difficult part was trying to figure out
A.  Which way was up, down, inside out etc and
B.  how to insert the somewhat bulky collar into the lower front seam.
The collar is supposed to be sewn into the lower front of the top , and attach via hook and eyes behind the neck.  We could not – for love nor money, get it to sit properly.  I ended  up making it look right at the back and sewing the back seam permanently, and did a nice hand job of finishing the front edges, tacking them together and tacking the whole thing in place.  It made for less layers and less bulk.  I also made a flower from the organza and sewed it on as well.
The bodice itself was easy.  I thought it would add interest if I sewed the seams inside out, exposing and fringing the fabric and organza.  There were two camps on this effect.  Younger people seemed to like it, while the older crowd went “whaat?” 
The top called for a back zipper( I think), which I moved to the side.  I also left off the straps.  They looked out of place. The collar helped make sure that there were not wardrobe issues during wear.

On to the skirt.  For the front I used the Burda pattern, and I altered the back to incorporate a small train.  I both underlined and lined the skirt, and used horsehair on the hem.  Pretty basic.  I really liked the way the trumpet skirt looked although I could have  done without the shinyness of the silk.  I underlined and finished the edges in one step, following an email conversation with the fabulous Summerset.  Here is a link to her blog and the tutorial on the underlining method.  Pins and Needles  Thanks Summerset!

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?  To tell you the truth, I didn’t like the way this outfit was going up until a week before the wedding.  That’s when my mother came over and helped me edit it.  Thanks mom!!   The tweaking that we did made it work,  and in the end, I am pleased with the way it turned out.  Won’t make it again, as I only need one of these,  but would reccommend it for a dress up occassion. 

Conclusion:  Just make sure you don’t need to throw your arms up in the air too often!  The wrap portion ensures that you look elegant with your arms down!  With modifications, it is a pretty glamourous ensemble.  On to bridesmaid and wedding dress reviews!

The photo’s do not do it justice.  The gold strands shimmer wonderfully.  I can’t seem to get the camera to pick that up.

I’m to the point in all of these dresses where mundaneness has set in.  Yes that is a word.  If I type it, it must be so.  I even looked it up.  mundaneness – the quality of being commonplace and ordinary.
You know the sort of boring tasks I am talking about.  Understitch, sew in zipper.  Sew down lining.  Un pick the lining. Take out zipper.  Sew in Zipper again.   Fun stuff that is only made important by how great the dresses look once they are complete!

I have all sorts of “I want to sew” projects on my list, so I really want to get these dresses for the wedding done.  The time factor seems to be the issue.  Thank God for my wonderful Mom, who has insisted on coming over for a few days to be my sweatshop queen. 

I am not allowed to post photos of the most important dress.  Mr Groom just cannot stand waiting for things, and has been known to insist Miss Erica open Christmas gifts early.  I like these 2 photos too much to not share though.  Denis, if you look, I will find ways to make this wedding not occur.  Just kidding.  I do love the Son-in-Law in waiting. 

so…

That’s all you get.  Till the wedding!

Self covered buttons are today’s topic of discussion.  Big buttons are easy enough to cover and kinda fun.  Little eensy weensy ones on the other hand are a huge PITA!  Locating the suckers first of all.  20 mm buttons are the smallest available locally, so when I was in Toronto last, I searched out smaller ones, and found 18 mm buttons at a small shop.  Just the right size for some detail down the back of a wedding dress.

Last night, sitting – WOW actually sitting and relaxing!- I decided to tackle covering them.  I am pretty practiced at covering buttons, however the last time that I covered buttons that small, I was 20 years old and making my own wedding dress!  I know there are tools available for this job, – like the ones in this kit-

but there were nothing the proper size in my house- and yes – again – none in Southwestern Ontario either.  Not to be swayed from the job at hand, I brainstormed, looking at my boxes of supplies. 

Then came the eureka moment.  The gadget that is used in covered button making is basically a jig, to hold the fabric and button in place while squishing the fabric into place. (yes I know- there I was using great words like “gadget” and “jig”, then I had to thow in a kindergarten term like “squish”!! Gotta keep you on your grammar police toes dontcha know!)  There just had to be something in all that STUFF that would work. 

I tried a few things.  Felt like Goldilock. 

Some were too big. 

Some were too small. 

One was JUST RIGHT!  

A grommet. 

This  simple grommet had an opening just the perfect size to securely hold a button and a layer of peau de soie so that I could squish the fabric in and pop on the back!

So now I challenge you.  Tell me what strange things you have done to (stealing from my favourite bobble head guy) “make it work“ ?

On the heels of the “What is Michelle wearng on Inaugeration Day” hype, and all the kudo’s and critisism that followed, I have decided to turn my thoughts more seriously to what I will wear as Mother of the Bride(s) this summer.  Don’t worry- I know my mention will be relegated more to “Oh yes, and Connie wore….”.  Much like the comment I read in one article this morning.  Mr President recieved  one line -”Oh, and the President? He wore a white bow tie and tux…”  

To all you Americans- congrats, although I’m sure that I will be feeling a bit sorry for Mrs Obama for the next four years if all the hoopla surrounding what she wears continues.  Can you imagine being scrutinized soooo closely about your choice of clothing- not to mention accessories- where you buy them, if they clash or are to matchy-matchy.   
I have no idea what our Prime Ministers wife, Laureen wore after Stephen was elected.  (confessing here that I had to look up her name as it completely slipped my mind!)  And I am fairly politically astute.  Future PM candidates who may read this (hahahaha) should note that I have met and had conversations with 2 Prime Minister candidates in the past couple of years – Stephan Dion in the election  that just whizzed past us, and Stockwell Day  when he was around.  Both of them sank into oblivion- maybe because of their meeting me??!!!
Anyways,  I think that I  need to watch our Prime Ministers wife, Laureen, and be her “watchdog of fashion”!  Especially since- whoa hey I didn’t know this,  I am looking up some facts about her!- she grew up on a rural Alberta farm milking cows.  That’s just a hop, skip and a jump from living in rural Ontario, feeding pigs!  Gee ,we should become best friends!

Away from politics and on to sewing…

I have narrowed down the choices for the May wedding to these two Burda WOF outfits.  The first one is from 07/08.  What do I like about it – the collar and the ruching.  I am afraid it will end up looking a bit stuffy though.  And maybe too wintery for a May wedding.  I would change the skirt to a long one though- probably like the skirt in my other choice.

The second choice is from 12/2008.  I adore that issue -there are quite a few dresses that hold promise.  It is a plus size outfit but won’t need a lot of grading down.  What do I like?  the gathering on the collar, the princess seaming and the bare arms(I think!)  The straps need some redoing- they look so matronly there!

The fabric is a brown/ gold lightly woven ribbony bouley something!  I think it is fabulous- and hope to make some use of deconstructed seams and unravelled edges trimmed with gold ribbon.  I am underlining it with brown silk organza.  It may need some lining, I will decide upon construction.
I have mocked up the bodice of the top outfit and it looks okay.  I haven’t given it a long hard look yet.  I may get to the other on on the weekend, depending on how far I get on the bridesmaid dresses and the brides dress.  – which may not be far considering it is 8:30 and I begged Mike to ski patrol for me this evening so that I could sew- but all I have done is write!

For Micaela’s August wedding, I am turning to Vogue.  I had purchased this pattern- get over the fugly lame style on the fashion pic and concentrate on the design lines!  I could even add an over the shoulder piece like Michelle Obama wore for the inaugeration ball.  
  

But then the new Vogues came out and I really like this one- especially the neckline.  I can see some jewelled beading happening at the neck. 

The fabric for this outfit has been purchased .  I found some great patterned burnt out silk on Ebay, and on a whim bid on it. 

I  tried on a dress on Richmond Row a few months ago in that colourway and in the styling of the above two patterns and it really looked nice.  Having said that, I really need to TRY on clothes and have someone critique how they look on me.  I am a horrible judge on what I should wear.
 All 6 yards are coming my way from HongKong as we speak.  Let’s hope it is Silk and not “silky“, and that looks as nice in person as it does in the photo!  It was only $60 for the whole 6 yards, so I am not too worried if it doesn’t turn out to be right.  I’m sure Ann at Gorgeous Things will get in some great patterned silk for the summer (hint, hint Ann!)  She actually has some a few pieces a LOT up right now that is calling my name too.

That’s it, that’s all.  No postscript today- I think this post was long enough!

So, my friends.  Remember this bolero?  The one I made 2…or was it 3?! mockups for?  The one I asked for input for?  The one I schlepped to Philly for critiques?  The one I bought $26/yard trim for at M&J Trims?!

Well forget it!   Yesterday, Miss Erica came by with a totally different idea.  And asked me to draft it.  Sooo, a half hour later, I had this mock up in paper….and today made up this one in
fabric…. Please remember that all these pics are mockups. Hence the frayed edges, and lack of pressing or steaming.  But then, you know me well enough to know that I don’t leave frayed edges on finished things!

Basically it is a long piece of fabric, tapered at the ends, pleated, with fabric flowers.  The draft tweaking was done with the aid of a napkin at breakfast after church today.  I didn’t want a seam visable at all, so I had to figure out how to cut it, with tapered ends, and have the seam at the centre back.  I am trying it with a back attached, but that will be Erica’s decision.  I think it will look good either way.    Oh yes- the flowers will be ivory silk / organza to match the dress too- but I wanted to make some colourful ones!

Now for those flowers!  They are a blast- I really love the look of them.  Kinda roses, kinda ranunculus.

I found some directions on this website, but thought that a tutorial with photos would help.

Fabric Ranunculus Flower Tutorial

Start with a square of fabric.  The length should be about twice the size of what you want the finished flower to be.  For instance, if you want a flower 4 inches in diameter, make your square 8 inches by 8 inches.
Fold it into a triangle, right sides together.

Handsew a running stitch along A. The folded edge, and B. ONE open edge.  I have marked the sided to stitch with pins.  That’s right, hand sew!  Vary the length of your stitches from 1/4 inch to 1 inch in length.    Stitch about 1/4 inch from the edge.  Any closer and it comes apart later.  Oh, and use strong thread, or double your thread.  Otherwise you run the risk of snapping it later, and having to start over!  Those varying stitches make the random width of the flower “petals” . 

Leave long ends on the thread too.  Gosh, I hope you read the entire instructions before you begin!

Turn it rightside out.  This is the beginning of forming the flower.  Those stitching lines will run across the flower when you are done (just an observation for you) Start pulling those threads, forming the flower as you go.  Really it is magic!  I didn’ believe it until I actually made one!  When you get it as tight as you want it, tie the ends together.  Using the thread ends (if you used a long enough thread, otherwise grab some more)  tack down loose edges, and make any structural tacks as necessary.  I used my needle to coax the shape.  Steam it when you are done.  To finish, handsew a piece of felt or organza on the back to cover up the raw edges.
Voila!  A lovely flower, or two,  to adorn a coat, sweater, scarf – or a bridal wrap!  Adding beads would make them look even more perfect!

I have been spending this weekend- between more wedding dress snoop shopping, driving in treacherous snowstorms to go to The Quilt Gala, church, and chores- trying to finish up Erica’s wedding dress bolero mockup.

If you remember (or if I remembered to tell you!) Miss Erica
fell in love with the idea of a large pleated collar as a design element, and we decided to incorporate it into the collar treatment of a bolero type jacket to go over her wedding dress for the church ceremony.

When Erica first broached the idea of a bolero, I immediately thought of Burda 7987, since Karen had such a good experience with it. Here is her review.

Here is a poor photo of the dress mockup and the first draft of the jacket. Both the dress and the bolero will use ivory silk Peau de Soie in the Real Version.

(I actually HATE the words bolero, coverup and shrug. One sounds like a person should be facing a bull with a red cape, and the other two seem so – casual!) You can see that one side was pleated and the other ruffled. Or maybe not. That picture really sucks! We wanted to see the comparison, and ended up liking the pleated version better.
I made redrafted the collar about 3/4 of an inch higher to make it a bit more dramatic, and added enough length to it to allow for 3 more pleats going a bit further down the neckline. The length of the bolero itself was cut down- it may be altered even more once I fit it over the dress properly.

The bottom edge of the jacket/bolero/coverup/shrug will have a heavily beaded edge that I may pick up in New York or Philly next weekend. (hows that for casually throwing in my much anticipated travel plans!!!!)

Herein lies the delimma. What should I do about sleeves? Erica says no sleeves. I am not sure that is a good idea, but I am scratching my head about alternatives. Bell sleeves are most certainly OUT. Not a single person in our family is a “bell-sleeved” kind of girl, and besides, the dress is too tailored for that shape.

Use this shot of mockup number 2 for reference!

I took my trusty “cheater crouquis” and did some drawing. I will admit that “drawing” is a grandious word for what I acomplished, but it gets the idea across.

The options?
1. sleeveless a la bride
2. slim 3/4 sleeves no embellishment
3. slim 3/4 sleeves with a wide (2-3 inch) folded up cuff with slit
4. pleated cuff
5. 3/4 length with narrow band and covered button to match the covered buttons on the back of the dress
6. another brilliant idea that comes from one of YOU!!

Okay Erica, I can hear you now- “MMOOMMM- those drawings look my hips look huge” As a caveat, readers, Erica is Tiny. Pathetically tiny. Bony when you hug her tiny. There dear, does that make you feel better? Thought not!

Well anyways, that is what I will be thinking about this week. I know the perfect solution will come to me….eventually!

Today’s Postscript.

Last weekend, young Miss Lauren and I headed off to Toronto the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair, where our girls have been “showing pigs” (read “competing”) for the past 6 or 7 years. She flew in from Ottawa where she is going to University, and we had a blast! We even got some quality shopping in, although the only fabric I was allowed to bring home was some Russian netting for Erica to make her birdcage veil with. Here is my winning (well – second place) daughter and her gilt “Pancake” who is now(stop reading if you are squeamish or otherwise adverse to the realities of farming) umm the part of the foodgroup that usually accompanies pancakes- namely Bacon!! You can read her blog post about showing, and what it entails at Fiveblondes.