HAPPY HALLOWEEN of 2015: we interrupt this wedding dress for a costume request...

Sunday night, my 16 year old, soon-to-be step son came tumbling down the stairs saying, "Ashley, I need you."

He starts out by explaining that his life-long Halloween dream costume is "Aladdin" and he's been invited to a costume party this Friday night.  He said, "Help me figure out what I need to buy to get this look."

He started talking about acquiring white sweat pants and a purple vest, all while searching for Amazon Prime red fez hats.

Having grown up in the 80s, I knew all he needed was for me to sew him some "MC Hammer" pants out of light colored fabric and his costume authenticity would be off the charts.

So, I offered.

He said, "Really?  That's too much trouble."

And I promised it would take no more than an hour.  AND, it would look GREAT.

 Monday morning I did a quick internet search for DIY MC Hammer pants and found this photo, and realized I could use a pair of Eli's pants--on the fold--on top of the fabric to make the "pattern"....followed with a low and long arch connecting the legs:

Monday night the boys delivered me to Joanne Fabrics and out I came, $25 lighter, with these magnificent fabrics:

 Off-white, linen-look fabric for the pants...discounted 40% (gosh, I love a sale!);

Red charmeuse fabric for the belt...also discounted 40%; and

And a bit of bright yellow cotton fabric for the knee patch.


 



On the way to the fabric store we stopped at Goodwill and found this lovely purple men's shirt that I will turn into an Aladdin vest.

WINNING!

Here's a few photos of the MC Hammer pants under construction:

I used a pair of Eli's regular pants as a guide for the general shape and his waist size.  The crotch of his pants is facing the folded edge of the fabric.

 Here, I shaped and cut the low-slung crotch curve.







 

And the pants are cut!  I cut 2 piece exactly the same.


 

I unfolded the cut fabric and serged the pants together in about ten minutes!  I tucked the pant leg "ends" under for this photo while I wait for Eli to come home from school to try them on and tell me how short to hem them.  :)  This is my best guess on the length he might prefer (just below the knee).
 

Don't forget the red sash and the yellow knee patch! 











Here Eli is in all his dreamy Aladdin glory.  Red fez hat and magic lamp compliments of Amazon Prime!

The wedding dress: raw materials

 I've got roughly six months to sew my wedding dress.  I even had a conversation with my groom, because he is the ultimate project manager, about how many weekends I needed to make this dress.

We figured I will need a couple of weekends in what's left of 2015, and another 8 to 10 weekends in early 2016 to make this come together before our wedding on April 2, 2016.

So, here's the pattern of the dress I'll be making.  I found it on Ebay!  It's tea length, and not too stuffy--a critical dress feature for a woman of my years!

I plan to make (no pattern) a lace-overlay, off-the-shoulder shirt with half-sleeves to go with it.

Much like this one I saw on Etsy:

Here's the lace I'll use for that overlay.  The scalloped edge will make up the neckline.  I got this from G Street Fabric's fancy stash of lace.

The dress calls for tulle to be gathered and sewn to the lining to make the bottom of the dress look a little more full.  I thought it would be cute to do this in teal. I haven't yet decided if this feature will be peak-a-boo or not.

Here's the satin ribbon that I'll use to lace up the back of the dress.  I purchased it from a corset shop.

 This is the luxurious off-white hemp-silk blend that I will use for the dress.  It's gorgeous.  Bought online from Dharma Trading Company; they sell all the best silks that are ready for dyeing, though I won't be dyeing this!

 This is the 100% silk lining for the dress.

This is the 100% silk organza; a very stiff fabric used to add body to the bodice of a gown.

Sigh...here's a birdcage veil that I made...that I HATE.  It just sits there like a napkin on my head.  What I once thought would be a really cute little item is now the stuff of my nightmares.  I hope the rest goes better.  I've decided--no veil.  I'll just stick some flowers and butterflies in my up-do.

Here are said (handmade silk) butterflies from a gal in England that I found on Etsy.

Bonus photo of my teal kitten heels.

Struggling to find my sewing mojo.

I just reread my posts here, and I have to say...I'm pretty fucking entertaining--if only to myself.

But, I've dropped out of "sewing sight" for quite some time now.  I looked at the date of my last post and realized it was only a few months before my mom would be diagnosed with end-stage terminal cancer.

Here my mom is (right), sitting in her hospital bed that sat in my living room, with her best friend Sharon (left).  The photo was taken after nine long months of battling the cancer and having just entered hospice.  My mom was tired, in pain, and would only live another couple of weeks.

While I cared for her, I sewed nothing.  Sewing was one of my favorite hobbies, and not only did I not have time for it anymore, I also didn't feel like doing it anymore.

In the year following her death, I didn't sew anything either.  I just grieved.  Wait, I think I fixed a zipper for someone, but that's not technically "sewing" as I like to think of it.

It's been a year and a half since my mom died, and I don't have my sewing mojo back yet.  I'm hoping it's around here somewhere, because I got engaged in September 2015 and have committed to sewing my wedding dress in time for an April 2, 2016 wedding.  This terrifies me a little (see the first sentence of this paragraph).

Here's the lovely man who proposed to me, Craig Sauerwalt.  I've even set up a new sewing room after I moved into his house, hoping that this would help the mojo.

So far, I've sewed curtains and hemmed pants.  Not the most inspired work I've ever done, but my foot WAS on the pedal.

I've ordered wedding dress fabrics and a pattern, and I'm ready to go to town.  So, cross your fingers with me that the mojo will come back soon.  It's been too long, and I've had to purchase too many RTW pants.