the wedding dress is nearly done!
marnie and tom, so cute
It’s getting close, Marnie’s and Tom’s wedding – July 17. A number of weeks. They’re really adorable, peas in a pod, and their wedding is going to be fun. They asked me to make the wedding dress, which really delighted me…..even if it also terrified me. I haven’t done any sewing to speak of in years. Little quilt blocks here or there, straight seams and who cares if they’re ready for others to see them. But I haven’t made clothing since my kids were young.
When they were here over the Christmas break, we went down to the garment district to search for just the right fabric. Marnie had already picked out a pattern, and given the setting of their wedding, we thought a nice green linen would be great. Here’s the pattern she selected – a vintage Vogue 1954 cocktail dress:
this, minus the gloves
It’s a simple dress, but since it’s Vogue and vintage, it’s not as simple as you’d think. There are bound buttonholes, a strange way of doing the straps, and darts and pleats deluxe….which means it’s got a lot of room for fitting it to her perfectly, and a lot of room for error. Since she lives in Chicago, the fitting part was tricky. She came here for a weekend so we could do a rough fitting, and it’s a good thing she did.
So I got it largely done, then hit a spot that totally intimidated me. I couldn’t figure it out for the life of me, and I so want this to look beautiful, not home-made. So many weekends, I’d say and write “and today I’m going to work on the wedding dress” but the fear and intimidation made me think “well…..I’ll do it tomorrow/next weekend, today I’ll knit.”
She needs it quickly, though, so my mission this weekend was to get it done. And except for some handwork, and making the self-covered buttons, it is done.
just a view of the back
I’m going to get it professionally pressed; we chose a relatively heavy Italian linen, and my little old iron, my no-ironing-board set-up, and my lack of proper pressing tools means it needs to have a professional press. Then I’ll put it in a large box and send it off to Marnie, with my fingers crossed for a good fit.
It looks great! Good work.
On her own blog, Andrea just wrote a post titled..Spring Garden Tee Progress
Oh my God! That is gorgeous!
On her own blog, Tammy just wrote a post titled..Another Yarn Excursion
Oh, that is gorgeous! I love that she chose something vintage…
On her own blog, Sara just wrote a post titled..If I Were:
wow, beautiful. be sure to take pix at the wedding and show us!
On her own blog, gibknitty just wrote a post titled..Creativity Boot Camp: Weekend Update
What a beautiful colour! And I love the pattern — the full-skirted cocktail dresses from the ’50s are my favourite style of dress.
I’m sure the bride will look gorgeous. Best wishes to the happy couple!
On her own blog, yarnpiggy just wrote a post titled..Friday Fill-ins
I’ll keep my fingers crossed with you, because that is absolutely gorgeous!
OH! Thank you, everyone! That’s so nice, your appreciation of the color and the dress, and your wishes. I’ll definitely have pictures, and the wedding is really going to be fun. Unusual. Meaningful. So perfectly them!
Yipes. I think I remember my mom had that pattern! (I was born in 1952).
On her own blog, Noreen just wrote a post titled..A Bug By Any Other Name
everything old is new again! i’ve actually seen a lot of different people making this pattern – it does tickle me, though. at least the white gloves haven’t made a reappearance…….yet.