Wedding Dress Redesign Project

Last weekend I put my very first piece into the school fashion show. It was a vintage wedding dress that I redesigned to be something that a modern bride could wear.

The project was a lot of fun, and I loved the concept of taking something old and making it new again verses buying new materials. I am already planning more redesigns for the store.

In the meantime, you can find my first dress listed here, complete with before and after picture. http://t.co/1D1dNbP

This particular dress has a funny back story. When my instructors at school told me they had old vintage dresses that we could rifle through, I jumped at the chance. But when I got there, I was in for a surprise. The dresses were from a David's Bridal warehouse, and they were hideous! They were yellow, stiff, stained, and smelled bad from improper storage. The appliques and laces were melted into the fabric glue. I just couldn't find one that I thought was really, truly redeemable.

Without knowing about the project, my mother stopped by my house that week. She handed me a garbage bag with a vintage wedding dress in it. We had bought it in a yard sale when I was 14 for me to wear in a skit for my drama team, and I had completely forgotten it existed. It had some of its own problems, but compared to the ones from school, it was exquisite. As the redesign process went on, we started calling it the 'proof that I used to be a size 6 project'. If I can dig up a picture, I'll have to post it.

I decided to use my dress instead, but I did end up scavenging lace off of another of the school's dresses. (For instance, all of the ruched lace covering the bodice of this dress is from the sleeves of one of the other gowns. )

In the end, I'm glad I went with my dress, even if the only reason is so I can say 'I wore that when'.

:)

Glitches Stitches, now open for business.

I'm happy to announce that in the last year there have been a lot of changes. First and foremost, I went back to school to get my bachelors in fashion design. Because of that, I dropped down to part time at work, which means now I have more time to sew! (What? It's HOMEWORK!)

I have started listing serious pieces in my sewing store on etsy, and I'm going to be making more entries here as I crawl my way through the design program. Look for an update soon!

My First Wedding Dress

This past weekend I attended the wedding of Justin and Linda Brown.

Well, I was IN the wedding of Justin and Linda Brown - seeing as how Justin has been my husband's best friend ever since we adopted him from college - and I also made Linda's wedding dress.

This is the first time I've made a dress this fancy for another person, and something about it being a 'wedding dress' added to the stress of the project - a LOT - but overall we had a great time working together on it.

We didn't use a pattern. Linda described to me what she had in mind and I designed the rest. She only knew at the start that she wanted the red sash, I ended up adding all the little details like the beading on the bodice on my own.

It is 100% satin, and it laces through satin loops on the back and has a red train and red trim around the bottom of the skirt. Another fun thing about this project is that I finally had a legitimate excuse to buy a fabric steamer, which I LOVE.

Overall, the dress turned out great, there were no wardrobe malfunctions, nearly everyone made it that was supposed to be there and Justin is finally married off to a great gal that I'm pleased to call family. :)

For pictures of the photo shoot I did of the dress, see this post at my live journal.

Megacon 2010

I just got back from Megacon in Orlando, and we had a blast.

I cosplayed as Katara's Painted Lady from season 3 of The Last Airbender.

This costume was simple in design and theory but I ran into some real difficulty with the fabric choice. It's a slightly stretchy and very thick fabric, and my machine just didn't want to sew it.

After much wrestling, I prevailed. I learned a lot about the technical aspects of sewing on this project. Overall, I was very pleased with the results, and THRILLED with the way Katara photographed.

I'm suffering from post-convention back to the real world blues, but happy to get back to my other projects! *waves*

(To see the rest of the photo shoot and for links to my con report with more pictures of other cosplayers, check out this post on my lj.)

Dinner at Oma's house.

Hello all! It's been a while since I got a chance to swing by here, huh? My absence has been for a good cause.

I'm deep into several sewing projects of Epic Proportions ™, and I just had to share the adventure I had last night.

Pictured here is my current Epic Project #1, my baby, a replication of Snapdragon, my favorite work by the wonderful Nene Thomas. It is nowhere NEAR complete, as you will see if you click the link above, but she's getting there and I get more proud of her (and by extension, myself) every day. It's a good feeling. :)

Yesterday, one of my co-workers, perhaps sensing my flail or panic over a wedding dress (not pictured) that I'm making, offered me access to someone very special - her Oma. (Read: Her Grandmother)

Oma is from Germany, and she's been a seamstress for over 50 years. She's almost 83, but her sewing room is still full with project upon project, and her European wedding gowns are true works of art.

She was kind enough to cook us dinner and tell us stories, and I was able to get a lot of tips from her about things like bustles, linings, and appliques.

My favorite story she told was that when she made her wedding dress, it was during the war. Everybody had money but there was hardly anything to buy, and materiel was in high demand. She made her wedding dress out of silk from a soldier's parachute. After the wedding she cut it to a mid-length so she could wear it again.

She said after that, she had a new dress every weekend for dancing. One week it was blue, then pink, then green ... we asked her how she did that and she said she dyed it with crepe paper and water. The color stays until you wash the dress again.

How awesome is THAT!?

We both have very similar styles when it comes to our creative process. It was neat to see that I'm not the only crazy person out there who doesn't ever use a pattern. With her advice, I anticipate the current phase of Snapdragon will be done soon. I look forward to bothering coresponding with her more in the future.

Learn something from someone's Oma or Oppa today. You may be glad you did. :)

Cloud 9 and a half

One of the best things about having a store like this and making things for other people to enjoy is when they take a few minutes out of their day to write a note telling me how I made their day. When creativity is being elusive, it's a much needed lift.

Karina,

I absolutely LOVE my necklace!  Words cannot describe how excited I was today to open my package -- something similar to a child at Christmas, I imagine.  I've already received so many compliments on it.

Thank you so so so much!  I absolutely adore everything about it!  Leaving feedback shortly.

-Alyssa

Seven Deadly Sins

I've come across a couple of ways that people are having fun with the traditional concept of the Seven Deadly Sins.

trixiedelicious' vandalized vintage plates are equally fun for a dessert party or as tongue-in-cheek wall art. The hand-painted text is food safe, though hand washing is recommended, and each plate comes with a display hanger. The store has two sets available at the moment. The set pictured is currently listed at $135 plus shipping. And if you feel the need to round out this set with a set of the Seven Heavenly Virtues, she's got you covered there, too.


Charm bracelets are always fun and never go out of style. This one by justbedesigns is a playful take on just what those seven deadlies might get you into. This is substantial and definitely a conversation piece. At an adjustable 8 inches, each one inch cabochon labeled with a sin has a corresponding pewter charm. Seven Deadly Sins Charm Bracelet is listed at $43 plus shipping.

MercuryPotions is in the midst of formulating a line of scents for the Seven Deadly Sins, and there are currently four available. At $6 plus shipping for 5ml, this is a very affordable (and less obvious!) way to have fun with such a taboo subject.

 WRATH LUST   ENVY   VANITY