Pictures Of Wedding

Yesterday was a day that didn’t allow me to sew. I had a meeting at noon and another one at 5 p.m. The rest of the hours were spent preparing for those meetings.

To recap on the Rodeo Queen sewing, I heard back from the last two clients. They loved their articles of clothing. All items fit perfectly so I am happy.

I got some pictures of the wedding I did the sewing for. We were invited but we didn’t go due to the number of people and the Spousal Unit’s condition (we didn’t know what we know today). Here is a line up of the pictures.

The bridesmaid’s dresses showing the detail.

The Bride’s dress showing the detail.

The Bride’s fascinator.

Everyone in their dresses. They got hauled to the wedding in a stock trailer. What fun.

The Bride and her father. The bride wears a dress made from her mom’s and grandmother’s dress and her dad wears her grandfather’s cowboy boots which grandpa wore on his wedding day.

The garter I made. It is very symbolic – something old – satin from grandma’s dress, something new – the lace, something borrowed – the flowers from her mother’s dress, and something blue – the blue crystals on the flowers.

The wedding party and oh so western.

And the Bride after the wedding ceremony.

All I can say is – what a wonderful ranch wedding and not sticking to but sticking to tradition.

Until tomorrow......................

Learning Bias

When I was Nanaimo doing the Ron Collins sewing extravaganza, I started a western shirt for the Spousal Unit. I wanted to learn the tricks of doing bias; what you can do and can’t do when making a shirt. So Ron got me to do the all out bias shirt.

Here is a synopsis of what I learned:

1. The body of the shirt needs to be on the straight of the grain. That is the support or foundation for the bias.

2. The yokes were cut on the bias matching up the best I could and having the front bias meet in the middle. As these are laid on the body of the shirt, no extra preparation was needed.

3. The pockets were cut on the bias and no extra preparation was needed as they are sewn onto the body of the shirt.

4. The top pocket flaps were cut on the bias and the under flaps cut on the straight of the grain. The interfacing was cut on the straight of the grain. This gives the bias part lots of stability as they are not sewn securely to the shirt; only the top part is.

5. The cuff was cut on the bias and the interfacing on the straight of grain to stabilize it. If you have a 2 piece cuff, the top part is cut on the bias and the under part and interfacing cut on the straight of grain.

6. The sleeve placket was cut on the bias but not interfaced as it was sewn onto the sleeve which is on the straight of the grain.

7. The front button band was cut on the bias and the interfacing was cut on the straight of grain to stabilize it.

The fabric I used was a shirting fabric I bought at Fabricana. It is 60” wide and pricey at 15.98 a meter. I bought 3 meters of it as I was going to do bias. I will buy this brand of shirting fabric again as it is a delight to work with.

I spent a lot of time laying out the pattern so the pieces cut on the bias were going in the right direction and the horizontal lines matched at the side seams. Had a couple of sweats and heart palpations doing it but I succeeded.

When sewing, I took my time making sure everything was placed so it looked pleasant to the eye. Ron helped me get the pocket flaps so the lines matched the pockets.  The bias sewing was basically done before I left Nanaimo and I could tackle the rest at home.

Waiting for the snaps. The Spousal Unit really likes this shirt which makes me happy.

The sleeve placket cut on the bias. I am happy with the results even if the lines go in the wrong direction. My fault and I will correct it on the next shirt.

The Spousal Unit will put white snaps on this shirt as he does not like buttons. His choice as he wears the shirt.

This is a basic western shirt that I bought and tweaked to what I wanted. The yokes, pockets, pocket flaps and sleeve placket are the design elements I wanted and worked on to get them on this shirt.

I have ordered another western shirt pattern for the Spousal Unit – McCalls 6044 View E.

I also have Burda 7767 for a dress shirt for the Spousal Unit.

Until Tuesday as we are off to visit the Spousal Unit’s sister today and to the Cancer Clinic on Monday.

Here Comes the Bride

It was a beautiful sunny morning yesterday and the bride and bridesmaids arrived for their final fittings and I took some pictures of them.

This is the neatest looking wedding I have seen in a long time. Though the bridesmaids’ dresses are of the same style, they are different colours and have different embroidery. Each of the girls are wearing western boots with their dresses.

The bride’s dress has been recycled from her mother’s and grandmother’s dresses. It is so refreshing to see this girl wear something traditional yet non traditional.

She is so excited with the dress and I am so happy that I got to do the dress for her.

The fishtail in the back has a bit of a train, perfect for this bride.

It fits her perfectly. And then we had some fun. Why not, you only get married once.

Yes, she is wearing cowboy boots too. Her mom was unsure of it (though I loved the idea), when she saw the outfit together, she became excited about the total look.

Love the pose she struck in the above picture and the one below.

I must say I have enjoyed working with this young lady. We headed out to their farm with one of the dresses I had to tweak and saw what they did to the hay shed. It is gorgeous. The smaller hay shed is the “church” and guests sit on bales of hay. The large hayshed is where the reception is going to be held. They have tables set up, lights strung, a small dance floor and the head table up on a stage. The small room to one side is the bar. Lovely but too dark to photograph. We had a spaghetti dinner with the early arrivals, visited with old and new friends and then came home. We are not going to the wedding today as there is too much to do. We have to can more fruit.

Until tomorrow.....................................