Whatever happens to strike my fancy, but surely some sort of fiber content.
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| Like The Queen Whatever happens to strike my fancy, but surely some sort of fiber content. |
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1 Comments:
Honey bun,
By Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom] Saturday, December 18, 2004 Thank you so much, my dear, dear friends. I knew when I whined on yesterday’s post that it was a huge indulgence. There was a moment when I almost deleted it, but then, after all, the blog is mine, for my use, and I really needed a Bunch-0-Hugs and just couldn’t bring myself to ask outright for them. I could only whine and wheedle. Thank you, one and all, for hearing the need and responding. And yesterday was a better day. For one, the custody hearing was receding into the background. For two - I made a crucial decision. There will be no Christmas tree on Sunday. I will need every bit of both weekend days to work on this dress. We can go find a tree and decorate it on Thursday. I’ve got that day off, as well as Friday, and since this year I’m picking up my Christmas dinner food on Wednesday, I don’t have to do a single other thing those days, except, maybe wrap presents. Just releasing myself from that “goal” made a huge difference in my attitude. I think I knew all along I was going to have to snip something off the ToDoList, and I really knew it would have to be the tree. There was only a little pang of regret and then the relief flooded in. But most important of all - the part of TheWeddingDress that was starting to look so amateurish suddenly decided to act professional. All I actually completed yesterday was the attaching of the skirt to the bodice, but that is no small feat. Picture to yourself, a line that forms a long, pointed "V". That's what I had to sew both a gored skirt (meaning curved and slanted line) and a gathered skirt (a straight line) into. I had to sew the fabric into that V and it make it come to a sharp point, not a U and there is a side seam in both skirt and bodice right at the tip. That means lots of seam allowance (excess fabric) meets at this intersection. It means doing a lot of cutting away of that excess fabric, but without snipping so close that a hole forms in one of those seams. Who would believe it would take 2 hours to sew a skirt to a bodice? Well, now, that’s not actually true. I spent a good hour or so picking out gathering stitches and damp pressing the holes out of the fabric. But then I painstakingly stitched that skirt down. What a relief that was. BD was home in the morning and when I finished with the skirt I took a stroll out to the kitchen and laughingly told him I had to put my head under the faucet. He reached out and turned it on - and I really did - Just like Beethoven, I stuck my head under the cold running water - and you know what? I did feel better. Till I got a headache from the cold. By then we were laughing and falling into each other and I was crying a little. After a little rest I pinned the zipper into the dress and then realized I just couldn’t do any more. I had some important banking chores to do. I wanted to see Todd, my best computer wizard friend. We needed some groceries. I needed some ribbon for the petticoat, which I must make before we can mark the hem on TheWeddingDress. I needed a shower. So I rolled that puppy up in it’s pretty white sheet and went to town. That was just the refreshing break I needed. After lifting my head from the white silk clouds and gazing at a different landscape, I was ready to look once again at that zipper. I’ll admit, sewing that into the dress has been weighing heavily on my mind. A zipper is another one of those crucial places that displays skill or lack thereof. I’m using one of those invisible zippers and there’s nary an invisible zipper foot to be found. But who is the woman who taught a Put In Your Zipper by Hand class at the KRRetreat? Yes. I threaded the needle and began to stitch - and what do you know - it looks fantastic! I didn’t try to finish inserting the zipper, but I sewed in enough to know that it won’t be difficult and will look splendid - neat, crisp, all those ruched up gathers will snug up against each other like the Mona Lisa’s smile. Whew! That is one enormous relief. So - what is left to do is: * finish the zipper * Sew the center back seams in both skirts, below the zipper * Make ribbon loops for hanging the dress and sew them into bodice lining seams * Insert the bodice lining * Tack all the edges of the lining to the seam allowances * Make petticoat (she says that like it’s only one thing, but it’s a bunch of steps) * Mark hems and hand stitch the taffeta, machine stitch the organza * Press entire dress or find a good dry cleaners to do it * Let out enormous sigh, then kick off my mental shoes, pour a huge eggnog and relax!! Oh - and Mr.Horoscope promises an enormous gift of power and strength heading my way just before New Year. Isn’t that nice? posted by Bess | 6:57 AM |
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