Thursday, June 22, 2006

you sew crazy!

I've been involved in a somewhat fruitless search for bridesmaid dresses recently. Not that picking out clothes for other people is ever easy, but this search is compounded by various factors, such as distance, budget, and big knockers (theirs, not mine - and therein lies the problem, since I seem to be unable to judge which dresses would suit someone who doesn't look exactly like me). Also every single dress in the world seems to cost $300. When did all the dressmakers get together and decide to make all their dresses $300? Of course I'm exaggerating. Some of them cost $3000.
Anyway last night I had the crazy idea that maybe I could make the bridesmaid dresses myself! Whoa! There are only 2 bridesmaids, plus maybe J's sister who will technically be a groomsmaid but will potentially be forced into matching the bridesmaids anyway by her evil future sister-in-law. So I went trolling on Craftster to look for dress ideas. And inspired by this and this, I went out today and bought this pattern:



Now, some of the dissenters among you (OK, that would be myself) might be thinking that I haven't sewn anything more complicated than a pants hem since high school, and that there is a layer of dust on my sewing machine so thick that little animals could shelter there. To you (me) dissenters I say, hey! Things get dusty really quickly when you live in a city! And I've got to be at least as smart as I was in high school!
I'm actually not even sure if that pattern would make a reasonable bridesmaid dress, or if it would be suitable for the large knockered among us, but I bought some cheap cotton prints to make a mock-up (that will conveniently serve as a summer dress for myself). Some of you skeptics out there (again, that's probably me) might be thinking that this whole thing is a giant ruse to make myself a cute dress. Well, you might not be wrong.
Anyhoo I bought these guys at Discount Fabrics:


The blue one is going to be the main color (I'm making the one pictured in the middle on the pattern, with the super short sleeves). I really liked that fan print but I'm a little worried that it's going to be too Asiany looking, given that the dress is sort of kimono-esque, for a non-Asiany person like myself. But I liked that fabric way better than any of the other ones. Then I bought 2 different ones for the contrast. I think I will end up using the yellow one on the left. But I was so drawn to those crazy giant flowers on the off-white one that I found myself bringing both up to the counter. Or I could even use both. Anyone have any opinions? Please save me from making my own decisions.

3 comments:

Marie said...

That's where you went this afternoon! :)
I like the fan and flower prints better than the yellow but they are all very pretty! I may have to go be the store this weekend...hmm.
I like the flower print as the main fabric and the fan as the accent color...that way you don't have to worry about it looking too Asian. Also, having the large flower print as the main fabric will let you show off the entirety of pretty flowers too.

Anonymous said...

As the large knockered one (I use the phrase ginormous ta-tas myself) I think they would be great and I know you are both lovely and talented you could make anything you set your mind to. And I can send you my measurments and you can just make mine with more room on the top. I like the flower print, Yay Rachel!

ofpinsandneedles said...

I think the blue and flowered would look nice. Obviously, that's based on your camera and my monitor, which may not be reliable evidence.

I'm not sure I'd be counted as amazingly endowed up top, but I do always have to take into account a deep bra and thick bra straps when getting dressed - which to some extent comes to the same thing. Anyway, I think those dresses would be perfect. They emphasise the waist nicely, which is always a good thing if you're aiming for the curved rather than potato sack look.