Craving Chocolate...yes!

After taking a couple days break from the computer, I checked in this morning to see what the final Project Quilting challenge would be this week.  Craving Chocolate sounds like a great challenge to me, I do love my chocolate!  I had a great idea and decided to break out some pieces of lovely brown Island Batik fabric (received from Island Batik for my role as an Island Batik Ambassador) that I've never used yet.  My intention was to make a simple mug rug this morning and have an early finish for a change...

Well, I had so much fun cutting out the pieces using the Go! fabric cutting system that my quilt is definitely going to be larger than a mug rug!  Oh well, never enough chocolate, am I right?  (Thanks again to Accuquilt for providing this awesome cutting system, I am having way too much fun using it!)

Can't wait to start sewing these lovelies into a quilt!

I've got all the blocks quilted for the Brothers and Sisters quilt!  Now to get through the four borders....

And I'm putting the finishing touches on the wedding gown for my daughter!  I can't believe it's less than a month away already.  We are so looking forward to it!

I also snuck in a little bit of fun sewing some strings up.  Next week is Carla's String Along Blog hop - guess I'd better get ready for that, too.  Lots of sewing to do, I'm a happy girl to have so much fun fabric to play with and projects to work on.  I'll never be bored as long as I keep this up!

Looking forward to a fun week!

Wedding Season...

Two wedding dresses and a bridesmaid's gown were top priority this week - August weddings are almost on us!

This bride hugged me when I told her we could make the gown fit!

I made panels to extend the back and created a new lacing out of deep blue.  She was thrilled!

This was a bridesmaid dress that needed some tweaking at the top of the bodice and taken in at the back zipper.

And last, but not least, among other things, I am adding red and black beading to the bodice and accent medallion of this wedding gown:

With any luck I can finish that up on Monday, and hopefully no more gowns for a bit!  We'll see...

Adding a Corset back to a Wedding gown

My goal yesterday was to get this wedding gown taken care of.  The bride needs more room in the back, so we are adding a corset closure.  I had her try the dress on and we needed about 8 inches at the top.

The first step is to remove all the buttons - we won't be needing them and they don't look right with a back that is laced up.  This dress had a lot of them!

 Then the zipper comes out so we have the back of the dress opened up.  This dress has the perfect back for adding a corset (or loop and lace) finish!  The lining and all the layers are already finished and sewn together, so I just need to create the loop edge and sew it into the dress.

I use wide grosgrain ribbon to attach my loops to the dress.  You'll see why when I add it to the dress!  First I mark how far apart I want the loops to be.  I use 1 inch for my spacing and put the loops right next to each other.  This creates a nice back that is very secure and looks fabulous!

I cut my loop sections at 2 inches and sew them to the ribbon.  The easiest way to keep the rat-tail cord from sliding is to stitch right up to where I want to place the cord, lift the presser foot, then place the cord right against the needle.  Lower the foot and you are ready to stitch across.  I always back stitch over as well because I want this cord to be extra secure - it's holding up the dress, so we don't want it to come loose.  Here is how it looks from each side:

After the loop strips are created I sew them to the dress at the seam where the zipper was.  You need to measure and pin to make sure the loops are aligned nicely!  After sewing I add a second line of machine stitching to really secure that cording - I figure three times of stitching over it ought to do the job and keep those loops as secure as possible!

Then I fold the ribbon to the inside of the dress and hand-stitch it to the lining.

This makes such a pretty finish.  If you like, you can also add a layer of boning to the seam allowance underneath to keep the back from buckling when it is laced up.  Some dresses work better with it, some without.

Making the lacing is my least favorite part.  I used to make a long tube and turn it right side out, but this takes forever, so now I just press it and top stitch.  It's an easier process and still makes a nice looking lace.  This one is about three widths of fabric long.  Better to make them too long than too short.  The excess gets tucked into the dress usually, so it doesn't matter.  I always try to make sure that there is not a seam right in the middle because that's the piece of lacing that ends up at the top of the dress.

If the bride desires a modesty panel, you can make that at this point.   I go for a couple inches wider than the top gap and at least 4 inches at the very bottom.  Sometimes I attache one entire side to the dress, but for this one I am trying just tacking it at the top corner and bottom center.  I used a clear snap at the top corner to secure it.  I have found that once the dress is laced up that I often need to move the snap a bit, but it does help to hold the dress in place while you lace it.

All that's left is to lace up the dress!  I usually lace it so the bride can see what it will look like from the back, but for the dress to be tried on, you will have to take it all out again and re-lace it on her.  I can't wait to see what the dress will look like once it fits!  I'm sure it will be lovely, and I always feel happy to be able to help make a bride's special dress work for her.

Do the Bustle!

Yes, I am a product of the 70's! Couldn't resist this title, because I wanted to share about my newest skill - bustling wedding gowns! In the past I have always avoided the issue of bustling wedding gowns by adding a wrist loop to the train, but this train was so long that this approach really wasn't going to work at all.

So, thanks to my good friend Google I found several great resources for instructions and ideas for bustling wedding gowns. I learned the difference between a french bustle and an american bustle. I learned all about pick-ups, loops, ties, hooks and rings. Definitely an evening well spent because now I am confident enough to take on any gown that needs a bustle!

This gown called out for a french bustle (which is a bustle that is attached insided the gown. After some experimenting with pins I decided the best intervals to attach the ties, and got busy with a needle and thread and some grosgrain ribbon. I then marked all the sets of ties to make it a little easier on the wedding day to get it all tied up nice and neat!
I ended up with a couple of different options for the ties, this one is with the outer ties tied to the center of the gown, which I think showed off the pretty embrodery and beading on the train the best.
This one is with the lower section tied to the sides.

I am excited that the next time I am asked if I can do a bustle I will not hesitate to say "Yes, I can!"

Besides wedding dresses, most of my sewing lately has been hemming and altering prom dresses. The prom is Saturday, so I think I'm about done with that, I am so ready for some quilting! I have finished a few things, but I'll save that for another day, got to have something to write about, you know!