No Photos of the Tulle Dress I've Been Working On!

I love posting on Twitter my projects in progress. For the last two weeks. my Twitter feed has been filled with posts about a tulle wedding dress restoration and alteration project that has been dominating my house. And by dominating, I mean that there is tulle EVERYWHERE. Many have followed along, and have been asking, begging for photos. Unfortunately, there are no photos. I took on this project as a favour for a friend (I have exited the wedding dress world for the time being for the most part), and because occasionally, I like a crazy challenge. The thing is, this is someone else's wedding dress. Now, I am sure my bride friend would send me some wedding photos to post somewhere some day in the future after the wedding is over, but for now I just can't post photos.

I have had some real fun in posting in progress corset photos, and sharing my creative process by posting about works in progress. The response has been amazing, and I seem to have an audience who is actually interested in the mind of a crazy person, um, i mean creative person. It is great to be able to post photos of these works in progress, because they don't belong to anyone yet; only to me, and the only consequence is that you as the viewer/reader have an idea of the mysterious process of making things. Weddings are different. There is that whole thing where the groom cannot see the dress until the day of at the ceremony when the bride is revealed walking down the aisle. Then there is the ownership part. Every single wedding dress has been a collaboration project between myself and the bride. Yes, I design the dress, and make it to fit with perfect details, but the concept begins with the bride and her dreams of her big day. The process has run the gamut of everything wonderful and awful about concept to production to finished product. But this process as it pertains to weddings is somewhat mysterious and secretive. A ton of work done in secret for the big reveal. And it's more than that. It is also being advisor and confidant; which involves quite a bit of trust. And a tacit agreement to be the holder of the secret fabulous dress. That it will be perfect and gorgeous, to make her perfect and gorgeous for not only her groom, but also for her family and friends.

So therein lies the problem of photos. If you look at my blog and my website, there is a sore lack of wedding photos in comparison to the amount of weddings I have done. So many in fact that even though I may easily spend six months with someone, I would be loathe to tell you each dress and their person behind it. Many times I have been promised more photos, but have had few follow up with me, and I am just as bad. And as you may have witnessed with this particular project, is the sense of accomplishment, but also relief when the dress has left my hands and my studio. At which point I am onto the next thing, and not too interested in chasing after the past for a photo.

Tell Me Your Favourite Colour Garter Giveaway

Garter #1630 is the number that I am on today as I write this post. Don't ask me how many flowers or dresses I've made; I couldn't tell you. For some reason I started writing down each garter I made, and being a bit obsessive compulsive, I couldn't stop. If you have followed my progress, you will know these garters; I made my first one in February 1999 for a Valentine's Day show, and they have never stopped selling.

I recently opened my ribbon box to create a custom set for one of my long-term shops in San Francisco, and noticed that a ribbon order is long overdue. As I cut the last bit of powder blue silk ribbon off of the spool, I knew it was time for an order. I dread these orders. The silk has to be imported, I have to choose carefully, or I will find myself stuck with a colour I never use (hello, too cold silver that has been languishing unusable in the box since 2002). But I am always looking for the next new colours so I don't get bored making the same things over and over.

This time I am going to try something a little different; I am going to ask other peoples' opinions. Shocking, I know! As we creep into fall (and thinking ahead to spring 2012), I thought it is time to add a few colours. I am not one to follow trend, but everyone has their colour preferences. I have to serve the lingerie community that varies from traditional brides to burlesque performers. For your opinions, you will get a chance to WIN a matching pair of garters! Here is my collection on Etsy. What are your thoughts on the following additions?

1. Sesame (paired here with silver and a dark red rose)

2. Olive (shown with both rich gold and peach)

3. Sage (shown with cream and peach and matching pink flowers)

$. Navy (on the bottom band with silver)


So there you have it. Leave me a comment, and let me know what you think of any or all these as possible additions to my garter collection, and your favourite existing colours. I will choose at random one lucky person who commented here to receive a matching pair of garters to be made from stock on hand, and shipped to you via first class us post within 4 weeks of comments closing 8/31/2011. UPDATE: Thank you for your comments! I will be notifying the winner 9/2/2011. Comments are closed now.

dress, dress, dress a rambling state of my wedding season

dress, dress, dress; it is all i can think about. mentally working out the design that my brain is not so graciously giving up in tiny pieces as the deadline approaches. she has worked her way into all of my thoughts, my dreams, my whole being until she is finished sometime in the next couple of days. i have given up trying to think about anything else; it is an exercise in futility. such is how things are when i am nearing a deadline. my mind is hard-wired to solve design problems. i have a particular outcome that i am fixated on, a particular vision that requires all the tricks up my sleeve, and my entire mental capacity as the deadline approaches.

the last weeks i have spent sketching, calculating, cutting, pinning, stitching, picking apart, fitting, measuring recalculating, clipping, pressing, gathering, stitching. obsessing over curves, avoiding unsightly lines, accentuating in some places, drawing the eye away from others..

bits of silk and threads cling to my skirt, which i notice later long after i have left my studio. i am still thinking, working it out long after i left work for the day. i never leave work behind. it is always there, addling my brain.

last night i met friends for drinks after work (9p). eyes glazed over, and incoherent, i try and try to hold a conversation about other things. in my mind the dress is working her details out. i am sure my friends probably think i am insane. my sentences are halting and distracted. i am sure i make little sense. although i have had only half a drink, i can blame it on the alcohol. but i cannot stop thinking about it. i am obsessed. i ride my bike home, and go to bed. as i drift in and out of consciousness before finally falling asleep, little bits of details float by weaving themselves into my dreams.

no matter far in advance i get started, no matter how i try to manage time between myself and my clients, i am always working up to the last minute. circumstances always seem to work out that way, not matter how hard i try to do otherwise. i have never missed a deadline, and things always work themselves out, but i can't stop worrying about it. even though i know everything will work out, i can't stop fretting over it. this dress is all i can think about today, and when i hand her off this weekend, there is another one waiting in the wings to take her place.

the process of a custom wedding from start to finish

at the dawn of my eleventh wedding season i have been puzzling over the internal conflict i have been having about doing weddings. my dilemma i had best spelled out to my painter friend after someone asked me how i made my wedding work sustainable. in fact weddings feel like the least sustainable thing i do. i asked him, "what if you were commissioned to make a large several thousand dollar painting that took you six months or more to complete, and the couple put it behind them at their wedding ceremony, hung it over their table at their reception, took all of their wedding party photos in front of it, and then crated it and stored it in the attic. not hung this work in their home, but crated it and stored it in the attic?"

the bride usually comes to me at the beginning. she has an engagement ring on her finger, a date, and maybe a venue booked out. this might be a year before the wedding date itself. she will have in hand a stack of magazines, and her best friend or mother in tow. they will look in wonder at my messy studio. i will have some fabric sample books and paper to take notes. i will ask the date, the time of day the wedding will occur, and what she is looking for. i will ask me how she found me (to determine whether she was familiar with my work). i will ask as many questions as i can to determine what sort of dress she will wear, and whether i am the one to make it for her. i will do my best to focus on her if her friend tries to do all of the talking. i will make sketches, and make suggestions of types of fabrics to use for that particular style. i will ask her what parts of her body she likes and wants to accentuate, and what she doesn't like, and wants the eye drawn away from. i will ask her what she wants to wear under her dress. i remind her that i can do any sort of line she wants that will look flattering to her figure, because i am cutting the dress from scratch. i will pull out my calculator and come up with an estimated cost with different options for different fabrics, and amounts of embellishment. this takes about two hours, more or less. i tell her to mull it over, and give me a call. sometimes i will never hear from her again.

in a day or a week, there will be a phone call or an email. another appointment is made. this time she usually comes alone. there are final decisions made about design, fabric and embellishments. we agree on a price and a payment plan. a contract is signed, and money changes hands. fabric is ordered, or a shopping trip is planned. i take her measurements. we come up with a loose timeline for when particular things will be done; muslin, first fitting, embellishment, hemming and closing, accessories, hand off. maybe i am given a list of bridesmaids who will be contacting me. i hand her swatches and encourage her to start looking for her shoes. we part, i will call her when the fabric arrives or when i am ready to fit her muslin.

i will write myself several reminders in my calendar to begin the muslin. a muslin is a plain cotton mock up of the dress that can be modified until it fits that the dress is then cut from. this involves me drafting a pattern from scratch, or lately modifying something that i already had designed to fit. i will sit in the kitchen at my studio and eat lunch with a piece of paper, a pencil, her measurements and a calculator. i will check and double check. i will draw and cut out the muslin after lunch. i will put the muslin together, and wonder why i thought it would take so long; it usually goes pretty quickly, but i have to fret over it for a few days first.

another appointment is made to fit the muslin. i remind her to bring her underpinnings to the fitting. this is important for the neckline to make sure that her bra or corset doesn't show. if the muslin fits, we discuss the neckline. if it doesn't i mark with a pen and pin the parts that need to be modified. if it is minor, she will sit and wait while i make the alterations, if it is complicated, we reschedule for a few days later.

once the muslin is fit to satisfaction, i will carefully pick the good half of it apart to cut out the dress itself. hopefully, i have all the fabric, lining, thread, zipper and everything i will need by now. i will cut out the dress, and put it together. if i am running behind, i will schedule the fitting before i do this to make sure i finish it to make sure i meet our timeline. if i am on schedule, i will call after i finish this part.

this first fitting usually takes about an hour. i ask how things are going. usually, the caterer has been chosen, the invitations have been sent out, the flowers have been decided on, but she is still looking for shoes and wedding party gifts. we discuss the embellishments. we can both have a better idea now that the dress is on and in front of us. the lines are clear. where the hem falls with the shoes on. if it is floor length, the hem is exactly 1/4" off the floor in shoes so there is no tripping over the hem, and no need to lift up the skirt to walk. the bustle is marked to see how the embellishments will look with the train down and bustled. or if the hem is shorter, pinned so that it will hit in the most flattering spot on the leg. how her necklace looks with the neckline. a double check to make sure that no straps are showing underneath, no weird lines. if there are bridesmaids, we discuss the progress. when will the out of towners be arriving? i remind her to wear her shoes around the house so they are broken in.

then i am left to make the embellishments to pin on the dress. maybe it is a simple obvious placement, or it might be more complicated, and need rearranging. the bride may come in and stand several feet away to judge what they look like from a distance. i pin and unpin until everything is balanced. the dress is carefully tried on. maybe i have to make a little adjustment. i try not to stab her with pins. she will tell me about the inevitable conflict with mother/bridesmaid/aunt who insists that she should do x a certain way. i keep a bottle of whiskey in my desk drawer for these occasions. i continue to work on the last bits and she waits. we talk about hair accessories (i usually make these with the dress embellishment), and who will be bustling her dress after the ceremony. i am very close to being done. just a few more days.

i spend the next while carefully sewing down the embellishments, blind-stitching the lining closed, and sewing on the last finishings: hooks and eyes, snaps etc. i review everything to make sure that each piece is finished: dress, bridesmaids dresses, flower brooches, hairpins, head piece, pocket squares, garters. everything neatly pressed, all threads clipped. usually the night before our last meeting before i go home from the studio.

the final fitting is usually (hopefully) two weeks or so before the wedding. the whole thing is tried on complete with lingerie and shoes. and with promises of later photos, the whole thing is taken away.

i am not sure how many of these i have done; all or a part. more than i can remember, which is difficult to admit sometimes, as i spend so much time with some of these brides. some are friends now, some i haven't seen since the day i handed them their dresses at that final fitting. i have been to many of their weddings. when i started doing this, i never thought i would be making wedding dresses, but there is not much demand for couture gowns in ordinary life outside of weddings. it kind of bums me out to know that i spend this much time on a piece only to be worn once. in victorian times, a bride would wear her wedding dress to every social engagement (to parties and to church on sunday) for a year after her wedding. in my perfect world, one would like to invest that much time and money in something that would be worn and loved over a long time, not just worn once, dry cleaned, shrink wrapped and packed in a box to be stored in the attic. every year i go back and forth about weddings; i don't think that i will ever stop doing them entirely, but i do sometimes fret about spending so much time on something that will be used only once.

(photo by chi essary of my friends dulcinea and jared's wedding june 2001)

wedding randomness part three

this is the wedding of the longstockings who got married on leap day. i went to high school with the bride. we spent years together in french class. her dress is a modified version of my a-line dress (see photo below) with a higher neckline, lower hemline and is decorated with roses.

wedding randomness part two

this is a reconstruction project i did this past spring/summer. i got a call from a lady who had seen one of my skirts on someone at the grocery store. she brought me her mother's wedding dress to restyle:




it was covered in rust stains, and wasn't the most flattering fit on her. we decided to take the sleeves off, change the neckline, lower the hem, add triangle gussets to the sides for a slightly fuller skirt and add surface decorations to cover the rust stains. i used a piece of the sleeve cuff for the headpiece (not pictured). we chose some tulle, vintage net, organza and hanah silk ribbon in whites and creams to make flowers that would give interest, but also blend into the surface as a whole.


the most difficult part of a custom project is trying to relate to my client how the finished product is going to look. at the beginning of a project i can come up with a concept, but the surface decoration doesn't entirely reveal itself until i am actually doing it. balance is important. the placement of the flowers serves to draw the eye up. the challenge is knowing when to stop. i worked with the client to pin the surface up over a couple of days until it achieved the correct balance, and then sewed everything down by hand.

wedding randomness part one

now that it is almost the end of the year, i am going to post all the random custom projects that i have been meaning to put up. there will be a few more in the coming days.

this is a wedding project that i did with my friend nancy davis. she did most of the work, but employed me to make the felt appliques that are studded with swarovski crystals. i did the tux jacket and the birds on the skirt of the dress, she made the bride's dress. this was for a december wedding at a roadside attraction in joshua tree. a little outside of the realm of what i normally do, but once in a while, i like to push myself beyond my comfort zone.