New here

We're glad your here. As Melinda said, stay around after the wedding. We love new people. Juno

Hi,

I, too, made my own wedding dress 6 years ago and have 2 kids now :). I'm getting ready to make flower girl dresses for my daughter.

Just joined this forum and looking for tips on picking out a sewing machine (questioning whether mine's going to do the job...)

Virginia

I made mine back in 1982*... I bought a new sewing machine rather than a wedding dress, then made the bridesmaids dresses and my wedding dress, and the whole bill - including the sewing machine! - came to less than I could have *bought* the dress for! These days O make wedding dresses for other people. lots of fun! Do pop in to my web site for tips. I don't sell anything; the web site is purely show & tell and teaching stuff, mostly aimed at complete beginners.

*Nice typo there before I corrected it! Hit the zero rather than the 9... Must be because we went down to Pevensy Castle for a day out. William the Conqueror's first castle in England, built inside an old Roman fort. I certainly FEEL old enough to have married in 1082, but I'm not quite that old yet!

My wedding gown was a real success, and I was proud of how it came out. I also have done some simple garments for my babies. I'd love to get back into sewing again and make some of the types of lovely things that you have on your website!

lisa

OOOOOOoo, a wedding dress! What pattern? What fabrics? What bridesmaids? Show! Show! (Though I sewed my own in 1992, my experiences consist more of what

*not* to do. Can't help you much there.)

BTW, pretty nice sister you are to do this for her.

Pora

Well, this is my sister's 2nd wedding (or *last wedding* as I refer to it) so she doesn't want anything too "bridey" as she puts it. She has a 21 year old and her fiance has 3 daughters who are college-age, so she doesn't feel it's appropriate to do wedding gown. She really wants a tea-length gown in a "blush" pink, as she keeps calling the color.

the barest pink tone. I'm not sure where we'll find this fabric that she's envisioned herself wearing, and we may have to do some compromising. She also does not want the fabric to be too stiff and so I am charged with finding a pale pink drapey fabric that still has a nice weight to it that is of natural fibers (getting married in the South in June) and doesn't cost too much. Easy, right? :-)

I have a great many patterns in my sewing room and found one that I think will suit her. I used to work part-time at a fabric store (to feed my sewing habit) and the manager was supposed to destroy all of the patterns that were discontinued. She would turn a blind eye and let us have 48 hours of plundering before destroying them. So this pattern is a discontinued McCalls formal gown. My experience with McCalls is that they tend to run big, and my sister is basically a stick with a head, even after 2 kids (I hate her for that). It's nothing fancy, but we couldn't find another pattern similar to it in the stores right now. Every thing is strapless, it seems. It has a v-neckline, as well as a "v" in the back. It's sleeveless. It zips up the back and has a row of covered buttons that are just for show. It's princess-seamed and floor-length, but we're cutting it to tea length. I went ahead and mocked it up to floor length so we could get a good idea of where we want to cut it off. The pattern also has an inverted pleat in the back, but we're discarding that pattern piece and substituting the back lining piece, which is not pleated. She wants to add a ribbon tied around the waist. I really wish I could talk her into dupioni or Thai silk, but it has too much body for her taste. She doesn't want the fabric to flare out. She doesn't want satin either.

We are driving up to NC tomorrow to shop for the fabric so I'm doing a dress fitting on the mock-up tonight. I hope we can find something that she'll be happy with. Any fabric suggestions are most welcome!!!

oh, and I'm making the wedding cake, too. :-)

lisa

Oooooh! Take pictures. I'd love to see your flower girl dresses!

lisa

Thanks, Melinda. I'm sure I'll stick around. Everyone has been so welcoming and seems so knowledgeable! :-)

lisa

Sounds like silk crepe de chine might fit the bill. Line with silk habotai.

Yummy!

Lisa, if you have trouble finding that shade of pink, I have a bold suggestion for you. I would buy some silk, possibly spun silk taffeta, which would do what you want, and then wash it with a load of red clothing. (Yes, I know; told you it was bold!) The red clothing will release just enough dye that it will tint the fabric. Of course, you want to wash it on "gentle", and you would do a test first, to make sure it becomes the shade your sister wants. But I have done this with great results. Silk picks up dyes very easily, and I've "dyed" silk organza this way to make underlining match better.

You can find good prices on all kinds of silks, by the way, at

(and dyes, as well), and at I used Silk Connection for my daughter's wedding gown a few years ago, and was very happy with both their prices and their service.

Best of luck to you, and to your sister!

Karen Maslowski >

I think I know which dress pattern you mean. Does it have an empire seam as well as the princess?

Another idea if you don't find the right pink is to buy a lightweight white and do the lining in red or dark pink. A blush dress I saw by Priscilla of Boston was done that way. It might be less of a "bold" move than dyeing ;-)

BTW, I live down the road from Thai Silks. What an incredible store.

Pora

Oh, Pora, can I come and visit you?

Karen Maslowski > I think I know which dress pattern you mean. Does it have an empire

Second the motion on thaisilks.com, *and* they will send swatches.

's a link to a pale pink silk charmeuse: this is a pale pink *sueded* silk charmeuse:

NAYY, just a very satisfied customer.

Beverly

Only if you bring some chili :-) And what's the name of that famous ice cream store?....

Pora

Graeter's! The very best ice cream, as good as any I've had, including that very expensive ice cream in Paris (begins with a B, can't think of their name). How do you know about them?

Our youngest daughter goes to the Citadel, and some old friends of ours have been serving as her "escape hatch" this whole school year, so we have sent them Graeter's as a thank you gift, and to another friend there who owns a restaurant. You can actually buy it online, and they will ship it (for a price!) to your door:

It's worth it! (Shameless plug, but NAYY)

Karen Maslowski > Only if you bring some chili :-) And what's the name of that famous

Lisa, got room in your life for another sister????

Blush pink is probably easy to find right now, as it's Prom Season at THWLTH (that would be Jo-Ann's) and elsewhere.

If I were doing a "last wedding" I would look at the "home dec" printed sheers at the aforementioned. They keep putting out wonderful new rems at the ones near me (in Michigan). The idea of making your own pale pink shade by washing with red garments is really a good one (I have some quickie white drapery panels in blush pink).

You can always throw the pattern number out at us. Or scan part of the diagrams to share. Like this:

HTH

--Karen D.

One of my dearest friends is from Cincinnati. She brought back both the chili and the ice cream after a visit one year, enough for a party. It didn't take much to convince me!

As an aside, I helped that same girlfriend shop for a wedding gown years ago. She bought a gorgeous blush pink tulle dress off a clearance rack but was too hesitant to wear it. The store called her back later and said it was not supposed to have been on that rack and was worth 10 times what she paid for it! Her mom-in-law-to-be convinced her to wear something much more boring in white, and my friend still has the blush gown in her closet. Sometimes I'd like to just put it on my dress form and have it in my house. It would be like a boutique :-)

Never heard of Berthillion.

Pora