I went to town with Rebecca today and we got some things accomplished. She got her engagement ring resized… and they got it done so we were able to pick it up on the way home. We got some things for her favor bags and she found some silverware and cups. She found lots of little things she was needing too… I picked up a new curling iron to make some tighter curls in my hair that will hopefully last longer if it’s humid… (like it was today!) It was pretty dreadful to be outside today!
When we got home she wanted to know if I could get started on her wedding dress… I wanted to get it done (just to check it off my list!)
At first I thought it was just hemming the front of the dress where it seemed a bit longer… but it actually needed to be hemmed all the way around about an inch off the floor. That took almost 2 hours to do as the top layer is a sheer chiffon… one row of stitching to make the cut off line…you cut off the extra 1 inch and then you have to turn up that 1/8″ on the line you just stitched and then you have to turn that row of stitching to hide your raw edges… I had to work slow… actually about 1″ at a time and then reposition and fold over the hem… it took a long time.
Then there were the bra cups dilemma… they needed to be replaced with something a little more substantial as the ones in there were a bit on the flimsy side… and kind of wrinkly like. I took them out and they definitely needed to be redone. It took about 5 or 6 tries until we got them right, but now they are good.
Next was the back neck area… it has a cut out with a band at the neck that has 2 buttons… the back was a little loose and when I tucked the back fabric up under the collar area, it fit much better around the arms… so that took more time…
Then she kept talking about how tight it was a the waist… SO… I opened up the sides and let them out as much as I could. She gained another 1 1/2″ and said it was MUCH MORE comfortable and much easier to breathe. I think it took me about 4 hours. I didn’t get anything to eat until almost 9:30… But it’s all done now! Yay!
SOOOO… since today was about wedding dresses… I just so happened to have a few from you all I can work in… Thanks! You are all helping me out SO much!
Kathie sent me this email…
“I just snapped these while the pictures were hanging so a bit crooked
All four look a bit fuzzy but I guess that was the photo style then.
#1.My daughter Michelle.. the lace on her bodice, sleeves and around her train was from my dress and we beaded it. It was so many yards that her Aunt had us send some to her and she beaded several yards too. Wish it showed up better in the pictures.”
#2 My daughter Rosie, She found a picture of what she wanted and we found a pattern that was close. She loved the Mermaid shape that was just the style for her little body.
We beaded the heck out of the lace on her dress too. One of the bead styles we used was a clear bead with a bright silver center. Years later when we looked at the dress that silver center had tarnished to blackš but the pearls were fine and three were a bazillion on her dress.
#3 My Son Kevinās wife Heather. She was actually the last bride but I guess I always put pics in the kids birth orderāŗļø She had her dress before I could offer to make one but I did make all the bridesmaids and the four flower girls dresses.
#4 My son Tomās wife Trista let me make her dress. Enough time had elapsed since my girls weddings that all that beaded lace was not as popular. She chose that pretty square neckline with a heavier fabric and the long straight skirt. It didnāt take much time at all for her dress.
Those were fun years!
I also got some pictures from Susette of her son’s wedding…This is what she emailed me…
I donāt know whether youād want to use any of these pictures but they show how the styles of weddings have changed over the 33 years since this one. This is a Chinese-American Christian wedding. Pat and Suemae were married in the garden of the Santa Barbara County Courthouse. Suemaeās sister made her bouquet, boutonniĆØres and corsages. Again all I had to do was show up! Weddings have become far less formal and relaxed now for most couples.
I loved my hair style because it was so easy as one can either have a perm OR hair color. I much prefer the perm but Iād be gray now without the color.
This picture shows the Indian henna on Rakhiās hands and arms. The happiness of your marriage is predicated by how long it takes to wear off, about three weeks in this case.
Well, that’s it for our wedding dress talk! Hope you enjoyed it! One of these days in the “not too distant future” there will be doll dresses waiting to be made! Hang on a little bit longer!
See you tomorrow,
Blessings, Jeanne
After ‘the wedding’ Jeanne, will you share some pix of Rebecca?
Jeanne, wedding dresses, brides, cakes and such are so much fun to see and read about! It sounds like Rebecca’s dress is finished, and everyone is happy about it, plus it fits! You didn’t get to make her dress, but you made it to fit! Not everyone has a mother that has those talents or time! Lucky Rebecca!
Kathie, you must have a wall with a bevy of beautiful bride photographs! All the brides and dresses are lovely! You did a wonderful job on making each dress their own! And you made bridesmaids dresses too? Wonderful! Thank you for sending these pictures to Jeanne to share!
Susette, your sons weddings were so unique and totally different! It goes to show that weddings are universal and while they are outwardly different, they all convey love and commitment. You looked lovely in the picture!
Jeanne, I do hope that the wedding will have better weather than what we had yesterday and coming today! It might not be raining, but gosh it was hot and humid! I would seriously consider an inside wedding if that occurs! I will be praying for a good day weatherwise, hang in there!
Hm, you have given us a few hints about Rebecca’s wedding gown, Jeanne!! Layers of chiffon, for instance… can’t wait to see the pictures of her in it! It’s great that you were able to get all the alterations done in one day, though–something else ticked off the list!!
Kathie and Susette, thanks for sharing pictures of your children’s weddings. They were all beautiful!!
Youāre the best Mommy, Jeanne! Any seamstress would much rather make something from scratch than touch any alteration. Amazing job youāve done. Canāt wait to see pictures.
Kathie, your daughters and daughter-in-law are so beautiful. I canāt believe you made all those dresses for the bridesmaids and flower girls! The dresses are all so elegant.
Just a suggestion, but Iām hoping to see more pictures sent in to be shared so we can help out Jeanne at this busy time. Iām sure youāre kind of tired of seeing mine. If not wedding pictures, how about gardens or crafts or other hobbies or features of the area where you live or pictures of yourselves like on your Facebook site if you have one. Again, just a suggestion. Thanks for all you do for us, Jeanne ā¤ļø
What a good idea, Susette! I will have to see what I have in my files.
What wonderful photos of real live dolls and their dresses! The variety of styles and customs and flower girls and cake for the sofa sisters is so lovely. Thanks to those who shared, great way to start the day.
Iām wondering if Reuben has a bow tie and vest?
Have a good day all.
Wow, a bevy of brides. Quite amazing, the talent in this group. Glad Jeanne was able to do the alterations on Rebecca’s dress. No way would I be able to work on those filmy fabrics. Great idea Susette for photos from the group. Maybe I can dig up something from the past. š
I love seeing wedding photos, especially when they involve embellishments. Each one of the dresses is so different but I would have been happy to wear any of them. I definitely would rather make something from scratch than alter so I’m in awe of anyone who takes on that job. I’ve done it and the outcome was successful but the stress was far worse when messing with something that is fully made.
Now I really can’t wait to see Rebecca’s wedding dress. It sounds lovely.
Thanks Kathie and Susette for sharing more of you lovely wedding pictures. I can add a few but I’d need to scan them. My daughter took costume making in college so she wanted to try her hand at making her own wedding dress. She did a great job. I’ll have to see if I have a picture of that. I’d better do it quick because Rebecca’s wedding will be over before we know it and Jeanne will return to her sewing machine.
Thanks for the nice comments on the brides pictures. I smile every time I walk by them. I guess I should have had the grooms in the pics but these were all taken weeks ahead of the weddings.
We really had fun after the last wedding when the newest bride said she wished she could have seen the other three in their dresses. Soooo we had a party in the back yard and the guys wore dress shirts and slacks and the girls all wore their wedding dresses. Seeing all four of the couples in their wedding clothes was so much fun!
Susette..those pictures are beautiful. The styles have changed but beautiful is always beautiful!
That cake was amazing. The Indian wedding picture is awesome.
Iām sure Rebeccas dress will fit perfectly. I remember hemming those layers of skirt too. The brides stood on the dining room table so I wouldnāt have to lay on the floor to pin the hemšš¤
I’m sure you are glad to check the wedding dress alteration off your list, Jeanne. I know my mom also always preferred making something I wanted from scratch rather than altering something.
Kathie and Susette, thank you for the lovely photos of your children’s weddings. All the pictures are just beautiful. So nice to see another picture of you again, Susette.
Thank you all for the kind mentions in the comments. Kathie has a beautiful collection of pictures of her āgirls.ā Iām looking forward to seeing pictures of Rebeccaās wedding and others from fellow followers.
Hi everyone.
My long commentary just blew away and I am not going to do it all again.
Let me just say that all the pictures of your children and grandchildren were fun. Loved the back to school scenes and clothes, Linda, and the fashion show with your charming granddaughters. Thank you everyone for the wedding pictures. Beautiful brides and gowns, and those that were made by the mamas, well, hats off to you amazing women.
Jeanne, cute little sign, sparkling votive holders, and congratulations on getting Rebeccaās gown to fit. I guess I was lucky. I grabbed a dress off the half price rack in my size and didnāt either need or consider any alterations. So, in essence, Jeanne, you have actually made your daughterās gown. She is one very fortunate gal.
Linda and Susette, you are mighty fine looking women. Susette, I apologize for misspelling your name all this time. I had the same idea as you. To help Jeanne keep the ball rolling here for the blog, letās send her pics of our dolls in clothes, of an outfit sewing project you have going, of things you have made, etc. Share a recipe? Thereās an awful lot of talent in this group, and Dorothy and I are mighty good at dressing our dollies up on other peopleās handmade outfits, right, Dorothy?
Have a good rest of your day. Hope your humidity blows out, Jeanne. Ugh!
Sally
Iād love to see dolls dressed in outfits made by Jeanne that members of our group have won over the years. Great idea, Kathie. Thanks again for sharing your beautiful pictures.
Susette is the Swiss spelling, not the French. Great-great-great grandmother was from Switzerland. No occasion for anyone to know that!
It was lovely seeing the photos of the weddings. Thank you Kathie and Susette. Susette I took your advice and sent some photos to Jeanne. Not wedding photos but recent ones taken on my phone (much easier to send than those that have to be scanned.
I’m really looking forward to seeing Rebecca’s wedding pictures.
On the home front from one Covid case last Tuesday week, as of yesterday 8 days later, we now have 210 all connected to the first case from Sydney. Unfortunately someone who was infected (but of course didn’t know it) went to Church last Sunday. It was an Auckland Samoan AOG which tend to be a very close knit community and very ‘Huggy’ (I’m not using that in any derogatory sense). There is also lots of singing, a known problem in passing on Covid. So far there are 85 cases connected to the Church. Unfortunately this has resulted in some racial abuse which is completely unfounded. The Church was under level 1 as we all were and they did nothing wrong. The Director General of Health made it clear yesterday that the virus was the problem not the people but of course those who want an excuse for their racism won’t take any notice. Fortunately they are in the minority.
The worrying thing is that the vast majority of the total cases are under 40, the youngest not even a year old.so have not had even one jab as the vaccination program started with the oldest. In theory the case numbers should decrease in the next few days because of being in lockdown. There are still no cases in the South Island so I am still hopeful that down here we will be able to go back to at least level 3 and maybe even level two after Friday.
So sad to hear what your country is going through. Itās scary when you have children or grandchildren who could possibly face problems because of their heritage, although fortunately none yet that I know of. Hopefully really none.
Hi Jeanne,
You must be very happy the dress alterations are out of the way. I cringed when you explained what needed doing. I’m sure you have Rebecca’s dress looking picture perfect and she’s happy her mother is an expert seamstress!
Linda, I left you a message yesterday but it was late, I just wanted to comment on your sweet photo’s of the fashion show. Your granddaughters are so cute and you are such a beautiful lady. Itās so nice to put a face with the name. Thank you for sharing your photoās. What fun the girls must have had and those cute tee shirts probably were worn with pride!
Kathie, Wow what a lovely job you did on your daughters wedding dresses. What a sweet idea to incorporate lace from your wedding gown. I can’t even imagine the time it took to bead all that lace. You must have the patience of a saint!
Susette, thank you for sharing your sons with us. Both of your boys had lovely and unique venue’s. What beautiful photo’s… I love the gray tuxedo tails so elegant! The flowers were beautifully made … just lovely!
Your lace gown is gorgeous and you are a beautiful mother of the groom!
Charlotte how are you feeling? Continued prayers!
I bought another Connie Lowe doll… 10″ Glee sprocket, she is pre-loved and very different but I love the quirky little smile. I couldn’t resist her.
Happy Friday eve! Hugs to all
Ingrid
Congrats on your new Glee sprocket. I’m a very new with Connie’s dolls. I saw the cutest one in a convention photo who I think is Lulu. Would love to have her join the two already here. š