OT sewing I said no to

My curiosity is really piqued! What company's patterns are so difficult that they deserve to have a $200 premium tacked on? I've never sewn with any patterns other than Burda and the Big Four, and none stick out in my mind as being exceptionally hard. Enquiring minds want to know!

Maria in NE PA

Hearing about all the drama and expenses involved in weddings lately always cracks me up.

Both my parents died when I was a kid and I was an only child. My best friend lived 2000 miles away, so I was on my own for the wedding prep. In one day I bought my dress for $75, it needed no fitting, I used to be a perfect size 5, (yikes, that hurts) My mantilla veil cost $125. I walked to the florist and ordered my flowers, walked to the photographers and gave them the date, and ordered my invitations. It took all of 4 or 5 hours. The weekend before I booked the church and the hall for an all you could eat roast beef dinner for 100 people which cost a whopping $350, called and booked a rock band. When I picked up my dress, they had lost my veil, I said, ok, so just give me what you have in stock, it's fine, I'll made do. They gave me a veil that cost about $300 and looked like it belonged on Princess Di. As I was carrying my dress out, it felt heavier than I expected and I found my original veil on the bottom of the garment bag, it had slipped off its hanger. I gave them the ugly one back and went home happy as a clam.

The night before the wedding, I got a call from the wife of the band leader saying they had just gotten a full time job playing in a local club and were not going to be at my wedding the next night but they had booked me another band. I said fine, thanks for calling.

The next morning I went to the hair salon by myself. At 4pm I put on my wedding dress and drove myself to my wedding. I must have made quite a sight in my wedding veil driving down the highway in my little Mustang. Can you imagine any girl today even contemplating what I did happily??

Then my ex-fiance crashed the wedding as I started to walk down the aisle and had to be physically thrown out of the reception (before I got there).

To this day, my friends and family say that mine was the best and most fun wedding they ever went to. No drama, no ME ME ME, just a relaxed very young bride and groom and all their friends dancing for hours and hours.

We had to pay for 100 people and we only had 85, so we closed the bar, told the band to put on some records, told the photographer to put the camera down, and all the hired people sat down to eat with us. Including an open bar, I don't think we spent $1000 in all for the whole wedding.

My mother-in-law passed away while we were on our honeymoon. Life and marriage is what you make it, things weren't easy but the marriage has lasted 38 years.

Denise

The very first company that springs to mind is Laughing Moon. They do period patterns. I have often joked that if someone brings me a Laughing Moon corset pattern I had ought to charge them $400 extra if I cannot talk them out of it. I have never met one of their patterns that had all the pieces, and their instructions are best cast aside at the outset. It is much easier to work from an old tailor's sheet or a copy of a page from Godey's than it is one of those patterns.

They do have people that swear by them though. Lord knows I don't know why. Maybe the patterns I have had from them were freak occurances, all six or eight of them.

NightMist

Ah, but you see I am not Kenneth Pool. According to the MoH, designer lables are very important to the mother of the bride. It apparently came down to either Mr Pool or Vera Wang in the gown selection, and while the bride prefered the general design of Ms Wang's gown, she prefered the cleaner look of Mr Pool's. I do agree that alot of Ms Wang's gowns have a rather crumpled look to them. Personally I would not have chosen a mermaid style for a six foot barbie doll, but hey if she wants to go for that voluptuous look it is her wedding. At least she did face down her mum over her hair. Mum wanted her to spend a fortune at the salon and have a formal do after an interlude with hair straighteners. The bride put her foot down and is going to a woman we both know (who was my MoH in fact) to have her hair braided with pearls and flower sprays. Really the braider does some amazingly beautiful things with braids. Whether she gets the gown straightened out or has to do some frantic shopping, this girl is going to be stunning.

NightMist

BRAVO!!!! my wedding to my 2nd husband was very similar, except i didnt wear a white gown and we had the wedding and reception at our house. it was really nice. on the other hand, my first wedding was "a medium sized biggie". and i had a blast.

amy in CNY

I've been putting off for the longest time starting a riding corset from Ageless Patterns. (Procrastination is my long suit.) It's printed on a very large sheet and I have to trace off the size I need and go from there. It looked simple enough, with no gussets, but I've been reading some very discouraging comments online. Is that another of the dreaded companies?

Maria in NE PA

Never heard of 'em... Can't be THAT big a name, then. ;)

I went to look at the Pool site, and they do all look remarkably ordinary... I'm not that ennamoured of Ms Wang's work either. I'm much more of a Vivvienne Westwood fan myself, or Jean Muire (sadly no longer with us), or Kenneth King.

It's certainly a startling thought! Shades of Jessica Rabbit... ;)

Ah! Sense at last!

Sounds like she'd be stunning in a paper bag and flipflops! :) My fingers are crossed. Let us know, if you find out!

Meanwhile, healing vibes still flowing to Kiri, and calming ones to the whole family. Oh, and tell the new cherub Welcome To The World.

I think I'd add Period Impressions to the list... While the pattern pieces are, on the whole, well drafted, they might as well not bother with the instruction sheet. They are more a case of DEstruction sheets...

I have heard that Laughing Moon patterns run big, too...

Oh, and I charge extra for '1 HOUR PATTERNS' - coz they NEVER are, and fit like bin liners!

Oh, that sounds like FUUUUN!!

Mine wasn't quite THAT simple and stress free (what with the bridesmaid living in Africa and the MoH in Colorado, and me making the frocks, my gown, and the headdresses... my dad dying in the middle of the preparations, and the Order of Service cards being delivered on the Wednesday with the wrong hymn on them and having to be re-printed by close of play on Friday!), but even for 26 years ago it wasn't a flash do. And it worked, because we're still firmly married and having fun!

I've never done one of their patterns. I looked them up though. It seams experienced sewists with a sense of adventure kind of like them, but if you have not done a lot of period sewing their patterns are likely to sit on your shelf as a curio.

You will find a review of the riding corset there, fourth review down. If you have never made a corset before, you might want to study up on it a bit before commencing this project. A good idea in any case, but from what I see on that pattern review page you will likely need to.

Places to start:

Also if I may suggest, trace your pattern off, don't cut it. That is just experience with period patterns talking. Also with a corset you may want a size larger or smaller than you think depending on how you plan to lace it.

I think in general that most of the companies that make period patterns have issues. A lot of them just copy off the old instructions and expect a modern sewist to understand them. Not likely! Not only are the language and terms different enough from modern that in some cases it might as well be martian, but in those old instructions frequently a LOT of knowledge is assumed.

The fabric requirements are almost always wrong. Either the company knows the width of yard goods has changed and tries to make adjustments, or they just go by whatever reference they can find as to what a dress length is and figure from there. Either way you always have either to much or too little from their estimate. Too much is OK, but too little can be a disaster. Alter Years is I think one of the best of the lot, and they are just notorius for their short fabric estimates. When doing a period pattern, be it smallclothes or a voluminous gown, lay the pieces out and measure for yardage.

The sizeing of most period patterns runs all over the range from huge to tiny, so running up a muslin is absolutely essential when you are working from one. That will also allow you to work the kinks out of the pattern before cutting into that $25 a yard wool or silk.

NightMist

This review is quite interesting ! Mary

This review is interesting too....Good info before you cut . Mary

OW!

A direct hit to the pocketbook!

I followed the link to the ebay store that sells reproductions from Mode Illustree. I tried once to get copies of the magazine itself, no joy then. Before investing in copies of pieces of issues, maybe I will try to find full copies again. Hey! Maybe I can get in touch with DD's french teacher and they can make it a class project. Sounds like the sort of thing for a fourth year french class. It doesn't seem to have made it to Gallica or Gallica2 yet, but I know the Bibliotheque Nationale must have copies.

NightMist

That was an interesting link to the ebay store...but I hate those Civil War era dresses, etc. even more...UGH ! So many beautiful designs have come from French designers so I'm amazed that the French women were wearing the same ugly stuff as I've seen in those patterns and Godey's Lady's book. Too stuffy...too much fabric..too much embellishment...too much of everything. Mary