Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Change the Dress

Th general alterations I do on most wedding gowns are simple things like the hem that aren't really noticeable in a picture. This gown required work that shows very clearly. The bride loved the dress, but not all the fabric on the skirt. I made it into one layer over the top and then hemmed both layers. The other change was in the bottom of the bodice. The dress originally ended in a V-point in front and the bride wanted it more round. The "after" picture of the dress looks like it has a lot more shine to the skirt, but the real difference is just in the use of natural light in the "before" picture and a camera flash in the "after" picture.

Before

After

Friday, November 6, 2009

Halloween

These are a couple of costumes I did for Halloween of (I think) 2007.  My husband and I were Aragorn and Arwen from Lord of the Rings.  I didn't make the boot covers, but I did cut the fabric strips for my husband to wrap his boots. :)  The look I was going for in the picture was melancholy, but it comes across as irritated.


For Halloween this year we didn't dress up (life was pretty hectic), but I couldn't let my baby skip out on the festivities.  Here she is as Cinderella.
She makes a cute princess.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Heather

Heather was my first bridal gown customer and a dream to work with. She is a fabulous seamstress. You can find her blog here. Heather wanted a unique dress and had chosen some great fabric with stripes. I appreciated that Heather knew what she wanted for her dress. Her chosen design elements were a full skirt, dropped waist, Queen Ann neckline, petal sleeves, and a band to separate the skirt and bodice. We worked together to find exactly the right look (especially the skirt) and were very pleased with the outcome. After the bridal portraits were taken we decided it would be fun to add a matching band at the bottom of the hem. She looked fantastic.

Buttons down the back are a classically beautiful look.
Isn't she fun?

Heather sent me some great photos with pictures of the band. I couldn't decide which was my favorite, so I've included several.
With her lucky groom.
Close up shot of the band

Full length
I just thought this one was cute.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Children's Clothing

Most of the sewing I do for children is for my daughter, Blue Eyes.  She's so cute and so fun to make clothes for.

This first picture is from the Freedom Festival Baby Contest.  Yes, she did win a prize. :)

The second picture is a one year portrait.  I made the pettiskirt she's wearing.  Yards and yards and yards and yards (I could keep going) of fabric go into making this adorable bit of fluffy goodness.

Some Wedding Gowns

This first gown is my own and (obviously) modelled by yours truly. 
This second gown is shown in a few snapshots I grabbed of someone else in a finished dress.  It fits the real bride perfectly, but my model still looks pretty good.  I'm still waiting to get some bridal portraits which will show it off as it is meant to be seen.
Here's some extra detail of the lace on the bodice.