The Great Drescapde

I am not Irish but I swear Murphy and his stupid law must like to have a bit to much fun with me.  I now remember Murphy's law is the reason I didn't go into fashion design.

If you saw this post you know that I designed a dress to wear to my son's wedding. What should have taken a few days turned into a month long project with a lot of setbacks. It all started out great with this sketch.

I decided that I would make it a little easier on myself and purchased this pattern that has a similar silhouette.

Then I altered the pattern. Using an old king size white flat sheet I cut out the pattern pieces and hand basted all the seems to begin altering the pattern. Then I drew the alteration lines and cut the new pieces. I used the cut pieces to draw new pattern pieces adding on for seam allowance.

Of course to make sure that the new pattern was correct I decided to first sew a short version of the dress with different material. Assuming I got it right and cutting the intended material has in the past been a major mistake. So I took the safe route and using some left over light weight denim that I just happened to have, I made this dress.

The alterations were perfect and I wasn't too worried about my horrible tan line because the taffeta dress would have a strap on the open shoulder when I made the dress. But the rest was fine. It fit just the way I had planned. So being the smart ass that I can be, I sent the above poor cellphone photo to my son and told him that I was finished with my dress for his wedding, and asked how he liked it. To my surprise he said the dress was fine but I really had to do something about my uneven tan and that 'silly hat'. So much for playing a joke on him. I guess he knows me well enough to know I would not wear something that causal to his formal wedding. Here is a close up of the dress so you can see the wild print.

It was time to get down to work. It was also time for Murphy to make his first appearance. I pulled out the beautiful emerald green taffeta that I purchased 12 years ago and have saved for a special occasion. I had forgotten how hard it is to get wrinkles and creases out of taffeta and of course after being stored for so long the gorgeous material had more than its fair share of stubborn creases. 
 

color is a bit off in this photo

 I pressed it as best I could and laid out the pattern. 

The top of the dress would be fine but the skirt pieces had some really bad creases. So I decide to see how it would look making the top with the emerald green taffeta instead of a long skirt make a short one using a light green silk that contrasted very nicely with the taffeta. 

The color on this photo is right on the money.

I went ahead and finished the dress with the contrasting skirt. I wasn't completely happy and when I tried it on I was even less happy. The contrast looked okay in the front but it looked really tacky on the back of the dress and horrible from the side view. So I figured I could live with a crease or two and took the dress apart, returning to the original plan. 

After two days of sewing all that was left was to hem the dress. It turned out exactly how I wanted. I loved it and it fit like a glove. (a little too much like a glove.) When I showed my daughter how the dress looked on she said it was beautiful then said 'But can you sit down?' 
I gave it a try and let's just say I realized I wouldn't be wearing the dress to the wedding unless I dropped at least two inches from my waist and hips. Or unless the kids didn't mind that I stood the entire time. So it was back to square one.

I still had a good deal of the green taffeta left but it had so many creases I wasn't sure I would be able to use the material. So I went shopping and bought this dress so I would have something to wear just in case my second attempt didn't turn out. I really did have my heart set on wearing a dress made with the emerald green taffeta. 

I still had to make my youngest daughters dress so decided to get that done before I started work on the second green dress. The pattern my youngest had chosen wasn't a very difficult pattern and she had tried on the same style dress at the clothing store so we were confident it would look nice on her.  She is plus size and the pattern did not come in her size so I had to increase the pattern. After a week and a half of pattern fittings and alterations the dress was done. But due to the fact that this genius calculated wrong and didn't get the proper amount of yardage for the over-skirt the dress doesn't look as nice on her as the one in the store looked. So we went out and bought her a different dress.

Fail 2

 
I would say I went back to the drawing board to make my green dress, but I didn't even sketch out a design. Instead I had what is referred to on Project Runway as a Make It Work Moment. I draped the material this way and that way and finally decided on a simple style. Then I drew up the pattern pieces and cut out the material. Here is the second green dress all finished.

It is not fancy. I do like it, even though the style makes me feel old. The blue dress is much more my style but I think the green is probably more appropriate for the mother of the groom at a formal wedding. What do you think?

Wedding Week Wishes

It's Wishing time again! I Can't believe it is already Wednesday. My youngest son's wedding is just three days away. Today's the day to head over to Claudya's at Unknown Mami's and ask the universe to grace us with it's abundance. Just click on the #wednesdaywish button below to join us and let the universe know what you have been wishing for.


I have a few special wishes for myself and family this week. 

1. I would like to ask that my son and his bride be blessed with a long and happy life together. 
2. I ask that Mother Nature and the Universe co-operate and make Saturday a beautiful day with no complications.
3. Please see that my granddaughter gets over this nasty virus before Saturday and doesn't wind up in the hospital.  She has asthma and I was up with her all night last night giving her nebulizer treatments. I am a bit worried that she could have that nasty virus that is going around. She is the flower girl so she has to get better quick!
4. Last but not least please let me squeeze out at least one hour of uninterrupted relaxation time for myself.

On a happy note: I completed my dress for the wedding last night and will be posting photos tomorrow along with the story of the crazy time I had making my dress. 

Happy Wishing Wednesday!

May all your dreams and wishes come true!

Thought For The Week

visit our gift shop for prints and gifts featuring this design

While sharing some photos this morning on my photo blog, I was trying to decide what to say about this photo when this thought came to mind. It occurred to me that this statement is very true.

Life happens, things come up, circumstances alter our path. We can let those obstacles derail us or we can view them from every angle until we find the beauty the obstacle has to offer.

Can you think of a time when you were faced with an obstacle that a first seemed horrible but turned out to add something special to your life?

Feeble Fragin Friday

I now remember why I am not a fashion designer. Next week I will let you all in on the absurdity of my dresscapade. For now I will just say this escaped has waylaid me for the last few weeks, so my already feeble frags are even more feeble. But here goes.

A Something that made me laugh:

Things that made me smile:
My daughters and granddaughter let me record them singing a song. Unfortunately my daughters don't want me to share the video. I guess they don't want the world to see how a ten year old asthmatic schools them when it comes to signing. lol 

I finally managed to take a selfie that I actually like:

With all the football talk and references I couldn't help but smile when this thought came to mind, because it perfectly reflects my connection to football. "When I hear the words tight end all that comes to mind is a firm backside."

This story made me both smile and mad at the same time. I say good for them. Finding love is always a good thing.

Have a great weekend everyone! 

I will be locked up with my sewing machine and possibly a little white jacket that lets me hug myself. 

Please remember to stop over at Mrs. 4444's and share the frag life!

Oh Great One Hear My Wish

It's Wishing time again! Can you believe we are already half way through the week? That is right it is Wednesday, the day designated by Claudya over at Unknown Mami's place to ask the universe to grace us with it's abundance. Just click on the #wednesdaywish button below to join us and let the universe know what you have been wishing for.


This week I am wishing I could be at ease with confrontation.  For the most part I am always playing the peacemaker. However, on occasion I find myself taking the less popular stance and becoming a proponent for the rights of children. Unfortunately on occasions such as this one it places me at odds with professionals such as doctors and school administrators. This does not do my anxiety and blood pressure any good at all, but I find that I can't sit by and just watch as harm is being done to children. To make a long story short shall we just say my grand children's school has banned something that may seem trivial to some but actually has major benefits socially, physically and educationally so I have decided that the ban needs to be lifted and the only way that is going to happen is to educate both the parents and possibly the educators. I have a good amount of credible documentation supporting my stance from organizations such as the Center for Disease Control, the US Department of Education and Stanford University so wish me luck. After I have run the proper channels with my proposal I will write a post regarding the issue.


Oh dear Universe please remind me where my on/off switch is! I should really be going to bed but I am not the least bit sleepy. Tired yes, sleepy no.

FF: One Pace

Welcome to my Friday Fragments!

A big thank you to Mrs. 4444's for hosting a hop where we can all clear our minds of the bits and pieces that didn't make it into our blog this week. 

RIP Joan Rivers

I was saddened to hear that Joan Rivers passed away this week. Her way of looking at the good, the bad and the ugly of life with humor may have came across cruel or insensitive to some but I for one am very glad that she never ascribed to political correctness. I did not always see the humor in her jabs but when I did it was genuine. At times life is hard and ugly and if we can't laugh at those aspects of life they will consume us with darkness. So at this time we say goodbye to another great comedian, but the laughter must go on because life goes on and what is life without laughter.

 

Linked to Jame's Weekend Reflection

Do you ever feel that your life needs a pace maker or maybe a pace car? I sure do. Some weeks I feel like I am in the Indy 500, while other weeks I could swear I am stuck on some abandoned merry-go-round. Although I have to say trying to keep up with this pace car would make life a bit faster than I care to go. I actually had to speed up so my daughter could take this shot with my phone. She said go faster mom, there is a reflection of the Beware of Attack Penguin in the photo. I said 'that is quiet alright I like reflections', and slowed down. But my favorite reflection in the shot is the distorted reflection of the driver side mirror. I won't say how fast I was going, suffice it to say when I slowed down to legal speed the pace car was a black speck on the horizon in less than five minutes. I am appreciative that the driver was kind enough to slow down a bit and move to the right lane to allow me to get along side him for the photo.

My future Daughter-in-law's bridal shower was a lot of fun. The shower was held in a beautiful old Victorian bed and breakfast. I was on my best behavior so the camera only came out when someone suggested we take a picture of the table before she cut the cake. I am sure if I had been there for any other reason I would have been snapping photos left and right. 

 

Linked to Skywatch Friday

I had a really nice weekend. It was wonderful to see the kids and two of my oldest son's daughters. The weather was beautiful and I even managed to get in a quick trip to my favorite spot in Sioux Falls. Yep, I got to go to Fall's Park! 

That is it for my week! How was yours?

Wednesday Wishes: A Writer's Wish Come True

It's Wishing time again! That is right we are half way through the week so it is time to let the universe know what we are wishing for. Just click on the Wednesday Wishes button below to join us and let the universe know what you have been wishing for.

Before I make a wish this week I want to share some fantastic wishing news. That is right, the universe has listened and this writer's wish has finally come true! After this post  I took the Universe's hint and got serious about getting started publishing my writings. I decided to start off with the poetry I had sitting in my to be published folder. After a busy week formatting the book I had a minor set back in that the book was too short so in this  post I asked others opinion.  The idea of adding a few short stories was well accepted so that is what I did.  Next came the cover design and let me tell you I really enjoyed creating this cover. I am almost as excited about the cover as I am that I published the book. Here is a look at the cover and link to preview my book 'Strength of Time: Weathering Life's Storms'.

Click Here for Book Preview

I know self publishing is not the same as being published by some well known publisher but I decided to take the easier and less stressful route and self publish. After some research I decided to go with Lulu as the steps to self publishing were easily explained and relatively stress free. I find the least amount of stress the better, if you know what I mean. Another major point for me was that they make it easy to sell not just on Lulu but on Amazon as well as make the book available to major book stores such as Barns and Nobel.

Thank You Universe for the nudge in the right direction and granting my (dream) wish to be a published author.

Now for this weeks wishes:

• I am wishing that people will buy my book and that my writing will inspire, encourage and delight the readers so much so that they will anxiously await my next book, which will be a journey into imagery.
• That my blood pressure settles down so I don't have to go to the doctor.
•  That all your wishes come true!

Have a Wonderful Wednesday!

And Keep on Wishing!