About some clothes
Jun. 6th, 2011 01:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kate_schaeferI have sewn two brides into their gowns.
One was my own damn fault. I miscalculated, had to stay up all night before the wedding, sewed her into her gown. She looked great. It was a terrific party. I had a wonderful time. They had a good marriage, too.
The other was someone else's mistake, and I fixed it. Does this dress make my butt look funny? asked the bride, and I said, yes, yes, it did. Made her butt look like she had a prehensile tail, only the tail was kinda broken beside being inappropriate. I took the boning out, put flannel padding in, and sewed her in just before the photographer got there. Had to sew her into her longline bra, too, while her maid of honor steamed the wrinkles out of the wedding gown. She looked great.
I swore a mighty and completely unsustainable oath that I wouldn't ever sew another person into her dress at the last minute. So far, I have managed to keep that oath, but it's been a close thing. A week ago yesterday, I sewed the last bead onto Nisi Shawl's jacket about twenty minutes before she put the jacket on.
She looked fabulous when she made her guest of honor speech at Wiscon. The outfit did what I wanted it to do. It looked dignified and formal, with its dancing underside hidden for the moment. It said, This is a special occasion. It fit Nisi properly. The colors looked good on her. The style suited her. At the same time, the clothes weren't the thing one noticed first on looking at Nisi that evening. Somewhat surprisingly, the crown wasn't the thing one noticed first, either. The first impression (I think) was just that Nisi looked well and happy, and her festive clothes supported that impression.
Luke McGuff took a picture of Nisi with her niece and nephew (you have to imagine the other niece, who was across the hall at the time) at the Photobooth party that night. I need to get tgether with Nisi later this summer so I can take some pictures of details I like: the beading at the yokes, the pieced charmeuse in the yokes (Nisi's mom particularly liked that detail and said it looked African to her; that wasn't my model, but since how I piece comes out of American patchwork, which is strongly influenced by African patchwork, that influence is definitely there), and the way the pockets work. I wish I had seen Nisi dancing, because while the jacket was designed for the speechmaking part of the evening, the skirt was designed for the dancing part of the evening, with two hidden layers of brighter orange and pink chiffon under the visible formal gold top layer.
One was my own damn fault. I miscalculated, had to stay up all night before the wedding, sewed her into her gown. She looked great. It was a terrific party. I had a wonderful time. They had a good marriage, too.
The other was someone else's mistake, and I fixed it. Does this dress make my butt look funny? asked the bride, and I said, yes, yes, it did. Made her butt look like she had a prehensile tail, only the tail was kinda broken beside being inappropriate. I took the boning out, put flannel padding in, and sewed her in just before the photographer got there. Had to sew her into her longline bra, too, while her maid of honor steamed the wrinkles out of the wedding gown. She looked great.
I swore a mighty and completely unsustainable oath that I wouldn't ever sew another person into her dress at the last minute. So far, I have managed to keep that oath, but it's been a close thing. A week ago yesterday, I sewed the last bead onto Nisi Shawl's jacket about twenty minutes before she put the jacket on.
She looked fabulous when she made her guest of honor speech at Wiscon. The outfit did what I wanted it to do. It looked dignified and formal, with its dancing underside hidden for the moment. It said, This is a special occasion. It fit Nisi properly. The colors looked good on her. The style suited her. At the same time, the clothes weren't the thing one noticed first on looking at Nisi that evening. Somewhat surprisingly, the crown wasn't the thing one noticed first, either. The first impression (I think) was just that Nisi looked well and happy, and her festive clothes supported that impression.
Luke McGuff took a picture of Nisi with her niece and nephew (you have to imagine the other niece, who was across the hall at the time) at the Photobooth party that night. I need to get tgether with Nisi later this summer so I can take some pictures of details I like: the beading at the yokes, the pieced charmeuse in the yokes (Nisi's mom particularly liked that detail and said it looked African to her; that wasn't my model, but since how I piece comes out of American patchwork, which is strongly influenced by African patchwork, that influence is definitely there), and the way the pockets work. I wish I had seen Nisi dancing, because while the jacket was designed for the speechmaking part of the evening, the skirt was designed for the dancing part of the evening, with two hidden layers of brighter orange and pink chiffon under the visible formal gold top layer.
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no subject
Date: 2011-06-07 09:24 pm (UTC)Stupid bride didn't buy the hoops or crinoline ahead of time either - wedding late due to bride idiocy (and rescued - driven around Long Island by my husband - ON A SUNDAY) We are no longer friends, I can say these things *LAUGH!* At least they are still married...
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Date: 2011-06-07 10:11 pm (UTC)The second sew-in was a consequence of the bride living thousands of miles away from the wedding site. She ordered the dress in the size she wore, which was way too big for her. The alterations person took it in and did a pretty good job, but she needed to have at least one final fitting to catch the weirdness of the back zipper boning.
The idea of having to procure hoops and crinoline at the last minute fills me with dread and awe. I know how to improvise such a thing using packing straps, but I wouldn't want to.