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.