The dress - beta version

I got a crazy bee in my bonnet when I started looking for a wedding dress. My "prefect" dress just doesn't seem to be out there. And gosh, have you seen some of the crazy stuff they call wedding dresses? Puffiness, gaudiness, and major tackiness. So I sent off an email to my cousin Em asking if I was crazy to think about sewing my own dress. Her email back was encouraging, so I'm diving in.

I thought I'd draft a pattern from a dress I have as a starting point. But I was getting worried about how I was going to figure out the darts. As a break from drafting the pattern I did a little ebay search just to see what was out there in the way of patterns.

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this pattern. {tiny picture, I know} It was exactly the dress I was trying to draft my pattern off of. Really? I couldn't believe it. My dress I had bought years ago in a little boutique in Arcata from a local seamstress. I was so surprised to see the pattern looking back at me from ebay. And the kicker... the auction was ending in 15min. I put in my bid and sat nervously watching the screen for the next 13 minutes. I'd never bid on anything on ebay before. Let me tell ya', it's nerve racking! The price jumped and I had to scramble to put in a higher max bid. I sat biting my lip hoping that my bid would be high enough to win. And it was! Heart attack adverted.

Yesterday I got a couple old sheets from Goodwill and today I set to work sewing version beta. First off, I had a brain fart and sewed 3/8" seams instead of 5/8" - a big difference that makes this dress much more sack-like. Next version I'll try to give it a bit more of a scoop neck and narrow the straps as well. And the back needs fixing too. {p.s. the picture is horrible} My sharpie is my friend on this one. Lots of marking and labeling. I am foreseeing many more beta versions to come.

In other sewing news, I finished up this little present this weekend. Mom, don't follow the link there!

Now, off I go to scrub my "new" cast iron skillets. A steal at the flea market, just got to get the rust off and season them up!