Wedding Madmess Has Set In...

Hello all.

As the big day draws nearer (under two weeks!), I continue to go through a roller-coaster of emotions. Most of them resemble panic, and come from the sheer weight of tasks to be completed. The forms I'll have to fill out! The items that must still be ordered! The pies (did I mention that we're having pies instead of cake?)! THE DRESS!

The dress is coming along really well, and within schedule. I promise I will have many photos very soon! This will likely occur in early November, when I have free time again, and am not considering curling up in the corner with a bottle of Mad Housewife wine and just wearing my robe and pajamas from here on out.

Project deadlines! Can I get a Cathy-style "Ack!" in here?

Update: Wedding Gown Progress

Hello, all. Things are progressing mightily on the dress; I've got the skirt pattern mocked up in a practice fabric, and am working on all the pinning and tucking. I promise I will put up more pictures as soon as I get the darn thing right. Meanwhile, I have some more shots of the crocheted bodice and skirt pieces.

First, a closer look at the front of the bodice. I have to say, figuring out the pattern for the sweetheart neckline took some time. My poor pattern-writing book has so many crossed-out lines and "Ignore This" notes.



Second, a view of the back of the bodice. Kindly forgive the slightly off-kilter hang; my poor mannequin just doesn't quite have the bust or badonkadonk to fill it out, but at least she gives me a fairly good idea of how things are going to hang.








And, last, my current photo of the skirt and train assembly. This is the basic body of the skirt. I will likely put it on a bit lower, and it will feature a decorative ruffle around the edge.

The sleeves will get crocheted after I've assembled the fabric sleeves, so I can gauge whether they're going to affect the puffing too much. The collar will be crocheted directly onto the top edge of the bodice pieces once the fabric bodice is fitted.

Also, now that I've got a bit of off-time, I will probably start taking some place-holder photos of my finished projects to share with you.

Happy stitching!

Update: Concepts for Wedding Gown

Okay, folks, I know it's been a long time since the initial post, but life has been hectic! Here is my update post, focusing on my current project, a gown for my upcoming wedding.

I rarely start projects with sketches, but for something this ambitious, I wanted to have a good idea of where I was headed before I wandered off into pattern-creation-land. This sketch is the overall look I'm going for in both fabric and crochet; the fabric that I have for this project is a peach satin, and the crocheted gown will become an overlay.

The overlay is being worked in a combination of slanted shells and an open chain/single crochet mesh. And I am diligently transcribing the pattern as I go along, so hopefully I should have that available upon completion.


Below left, you can see some of the progress I've made on it so far; this is the front bodice and the two front skirt panels loosely blocked on my mannequin, Gigi. The other two skirt panels and train are completed (excepting the trim, which will be added after I do a fitting with my shoes), but I wanted to wait until I at least get my lining fabric cut before I blocked them, so I can test the drape and all the tucking accurately. More posts as I progress further, of course, and perhaps now that I have a somewhat reliable camera, you will be seeing pictures (and perhaps patterns) for some of my completed projects. Thanks for reading!