The Princess Dress

My daughter doesn't like princess dresses. She doesn't really like ANY dresses! So I like to make things for my nieces. Recently, it was Gwen's birthday. Her Mom said she would like an over-the-top fancy gown. I thought about it for a while and figured this would be the perfect time to use the ultra shiny, sparkly oh so impractical fabric that I have so much of. I dug in my boxes and managed to make the whole dress (zipper and all) from things I had on hand. The pink is left from a dress I made for Rhiannon that she refuses to wear. The shiny overlay is leftover from the curtains in my bedroom. The pouffy underskirt was recycled from a friend's wedding dress. When Gwen opened her gift, she didn't get quite as excited as I would have liked.



Her Mom tried to convince her that she should put on the dress. She said, "I have a dress!" and held up her pretty dress that she had on.



After a while she let Aunt Jenny put the dress on her.





She admired herself in Grandma's mirror and was satisfied. Cousin Eli thought she looked like a princess too and so he volunteered to be the essential Prince. He escorted her back to the party and danced with her.







...and we all lived happily ever after!

I AM the Last Minute Seamstress!

So I have really lived up to my blog's name today! I got a call yesterday at lunchtime that there was a bride with a sewing emergency. Her bridesmaids' dresses had not arrived from Brazil. So she had purchased 3 new dresses locally. A lady from the dress shop said she could do the alterations for them. When they asked her yesterday how things were coming along, she said she hadn't started! So somehow they got my name. I got the 3 dresses at 5pm. They needed fairly extensive alterations. I stayed up late and then got up early this morning and they are done! I even impressed myself. Here's a couple of pictures:





This is where the first seamstress butchered the dress. Instead of picking out the boning so she could take it in, she hacked it out with pinking shears, along with a large chunk of underlining. Pinking shears should be wielded by professionals only!



It turned out ok, though. And they all fit really nicely.



I'm working on a tutorial for a really cute little girl skirt for my next blog post. We'll see how that goes!