My Wedding Dress

Alec and I got married last month! Luckily I had enough time to make my own wedding dress. I used a variation of the the dia de los muertos dress pattern that I made a couple years ago because I knew it fit me well. Since I was married in the winter I added long sleeves. I also really wanted a collar, so I added a peter pan style flat collar.

I'm a non-traditional lady who loves color, so making a white wedding dress wasn't really considered. I had been thinking about making it in a rich purple velvet, but I ended up finding this great printed fabric at the East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse.

I picked out a cranberry velveteen for the trim details. Finding a good color match for the trim to fit with the print was a challenge (the materials photo doesn't show it well, but it does match) and I ended up with a pretty thick velveteen. To make sure the collar and cuffs weren't too bulky I found a cranberry polyester shantung to create a lighter facing. I also made Alec a matching tie using the same shantung fabric, the velveteen was just too thick.  The pink petticoat I made was created to give this dress a little more lift in the skirt, and to coordinate withe the pink flowers in the dress.

There are two pockets hidden in the side seams, because I like to be able to carry my own things even without a purse. I know that it's very non-traditional and doesn't give off much of a wedding vibe but it's very special to me. Plus since I'm so practical I can wear it again in the future for other special occasions.

Patty & Selma Pet Portrait

For Christmas, Alec commissioned cartoonist Gabby Shulz to paint a pet portrait of our bunnies, Patty and Selma.

 I absolutely love it!  Check out more of the pet portraits Gabby's done here: http://www.gabbysplayhouse.com/illustration/

Making a Petticoat

I love a big full skirt and it really helps to built a foundation layer to create the right look. A couple weeks ago, I made my first petticoat!
 It took longer than I anticipated mostly because of all the gathering that goes into creating a lot of fullness. Plus when sewing tulle layers together it helps to put a bias strip in between the seams so the stitches have something to grab hold of and that takes some extra time.

I made my petticoat with a built in slip underlay that matches the fullness of the tulle overlay. Since it's not transparent I could also wear this as a skirt if I wanted to.

There are a lot of different types of tulle out there, I went with stiff and cheap to get the fullness I was imagining. The dress I made to go over the petticoat has a full skirt, but I was looking for a specific amount of lift. Usually a slip or underlay is made out of polyester that won't cling as you walk, but I wasn't worried about that so I just used a simple lightweight woven cotton.


 
Materials:

1 3/4  yards lightweight Cotton (for the slip/underskirt)
2  yards Tulle
4 - 6  yards bias strips ~1 1/2 inches wide  (I used pre-made but you could match the slip/underskirt material and make your own)
1/2"  wide elastic



 
Creating the skirt is all about gathering ratios. The cotton I bought was 44" wide and I used the full width as my basis for creating the skirt. There are 4 tiers for the underlay, and my fullness rations worked out like this:

First tier is the full width of the fabric: 44"
2nd tier: width plus 1/2    44" + 22" = 66"
3rd tier: 2 widths of fabric   44" + 44" = 88"
4th tier: 2 1/2 widths of fabric  44" + 44" + 22" = 108"





Since plain weave cotton tears so nicely,  I just measured, snipped and tore 7 strips each 7" high. I then tore one of the widths in half to create the extra 22" I would need for tier 2 and 4. I used a french seam to connect the strips so there aren't loose fabric ends. Each tier is gathered into the next. I ran a loose shirring stitch on the top of each tier once it was sewn together in a loop.

The tulle overlay only has 3 tiers, since the 4th tier is where it's combined with the underskirt. The nice thing about the underskirt is that you don't get any of the itchiness of having tulle in direct contact with your skin. The tulle that I got was wider than the cotton, but I used the same ratio as I gathered the layers. Tulle doesn't tear, so I cut 7" strips the full width.






The extra step in combining the tulle layers is that you need to sew a strip of bias between the layers of tulle. Since tulle is a net it doesn't really have enough material for the machine stitches to hold on to, by adding the bias strip you give the stitches somewhere to go and grab on.

On the top tier I just folded it over to create a channel for the elastic to do the gathering for me. The underskirt has a basic folded over hem while the tulle has a extra layer of bias as the hem.

I could easily see adding twice the amount of fabric into the petticoat as I did for a much fuller look, but I'm very happy with how this pink petticoat turned out. I hope I have time in the future to make more in lots of different colors.

Happy New Year!

Goodbye 2012,  I'm glad the apocalypse didn't happen, even though lots of crazy things happened instead.

Hello 2013!  I've already expect the first couple of months will be being pretty intense but I still feel the new year will bring lots of exciting adventures. Along with the new year comes a new site header to freshen things up.

Happy Winter!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful winter holiday season.

Pink Donkey Odie

 I was asked to make a pink version of Donkey Odie for a Christmas gift.  I think it turned out very cute, maybe I should make donkeys in every color of the rainbow.

Sticky Art Lab Drop & Shop

'Tis the season for lots of holiday fairs. This Saturday, December 8th,  I'll be at Sticky Art Lab in Berkeley with several other great artists selling gifts for the holiday season. Come check it out!

 More info: Sticky Art Lab