picture of McCalls 2026

Well done! :) It's a very pretty pattern.

Thanks! We have altered the pattern in terms of length and have eliminated the back piece that has the inverted pleat and are using the back lining pattern piece instead. As you can see in the photo, the dress falls nicely in the larger of the photographs, soft deep folds. My sister prefers this look over the one in dupioni, but still wants it more fluid

lisa

That's a beautiful pattern! Thanks for finding it, Larisa. Lisa, your sister's dress sounds lovely, and I hope she realizes how lucky she is to have you custom make it for her.

Doreen in Alabama

Indeed! And we MUST have pix of the dress when it's done! :)

lisa

Fancy weddings are for masochists. Someone sent me the following joke, which only a woman -- especially one who has "done" a big wedding - can understand.

Jennifer's wedding day was fast approaching. Nothing could dampen her excitement-- not even her parents nasty divorce. Her mother had found the PERFECT dress to wear and would be the best dressed mother-of-the-bride ever!

A week later, Jennifer was horrified to learn that her father's new young wife had bought the exact same dress! Jennifer asked her to exchange it, but she refused. "Absolutely not. I look like a million bucks in this dress, and I'm wearing it," she replied.

Jennifer told her mother who graciously said, "Never mind sweetheart. I'll get another dress. After all, it's your special day."

A few days later, they went shopping and did find another gorgeous dress.

When they stopped for lunch, Jennifer asked her mother, "Aren't you going to return the other dress? You really don't have another occasion where you could wear it." Her mother just smiled and replied, "Of course I do, dear. I'm wearing it to the rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding."

Lisa,

I'd be more nervous about the cake, if I were in your shoes. For some reason, a cake I bake to give someone, or to take to an event, is about a hundred times more likely to fall or come out whompy-jawed, or be otherwise flawed, than a cake I make simply for us. That's just regular cakes, you understand...wedding cakes are NOT in my repertoire!

But your cake is going to be perfect, just like the dress. That's a promise.

Doreen in Alabama

Joanne, this is one of my all-time favorite jokes!!

Brains and experience trump youth and cuteness, every time. :)

Karen Maslowski >

Hah! Good one!

Pogonip wrote: [ ...]

One of my all time favorites! Thanks for reminding me.

Beverly

lisa

Doreen,

You're right. I am more nervous about the cake than the dress because I know how unforgiving the heat can be in SC. I have these nightmares of the icing melting and sliding off the cake. It was 83 degrees here today and it's only April. I can't imagine what June will feel like! I hope she's serviing alcohol at her reception. ;-)

lisa

No, no, noooooo, in my experience, that will only make you feel

Lisa,

I'm probably the last person who should try to give advice on the subject, but if you're worried about the effect of the summer heat on the icing, what about rolled fondant icing?

It was in the 80s here today, too. What happened to spring? I'm just not ready for hot weather yet!

Doreen in Alabama

Great story, Joanne! It is good to begin the day with something that makes you laugh. Emily

Lisa, my youngest grand daughter and parents live in Boiling Springs and I visit them very often, do you live nearby?. I am waiting for them to get in their new home before my next visit, it's been much to long, and even if it's hot, I won't mind. After all, here(Houston), we are having almost record-setting heat and as you said, it is only mid-April. In the meantime, I am making her and I a few matching outfits to wear while I'm there. I found the cutest pattern in a book from House of White Birches on patternless sewing. Emily

I made a grave error on a post earlier. I said "I found the cutest pattern-----". The book doesn't have patterns, simply the directions for making things. Anyway, the dress is a very attractive sundress. Just wanted to correct my error in writing. Emily

Emily,

I'm in Columbia, which is by many accounts one of the hottest cities in this state, as it sits in a geographic depression. I heard on the news yesterday that ya'll had record-breaking heat in Texas. I hope this is just a freak incident and not an indicator of the summer to come.

I'm not familiar with House of White Birches. It's a pattern drafting book?

stay cool!

lisa

Karen Maslowski skrev:

Although I did something similar when I was but a wee lass of 19! I'd bought an evening dress pattern that I figured I could easily adapt as a medieval dress for SCA. I found out that a woman I particularly disliked had the same pattern and had the same plans for it. In order to ensure that *I* was first, I wore my velvet dress to an event in rural SC during July! I made a point of drinking a LOT of cold water to cool off but it was worth it!!! (insert evil cackle here) I looked nice and the jerk who'd been hitting on my boyfriend decided against using that pattern after all.

Good thing I'm middle-aged and (relatively) mellow now! :-)

Erin