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.