Making the Dress: Part 1

As promised, here is the first of several posts over the next few months - my adventures in wedding dress making!  Before I begin, I must mention that I am NOT doing this alone...oh my goodness no.  I'm definitely not a professional (or even close).  I've been blessed with an amazingly talented aunt who is guiding me through this whole process (she's the pro!)  Thanks Aunt Donna!  


The first step is really gathering ideas/inspiration and sketching my design, but that would reveal too much at this point.  Maybe I'll do a prequel sometime!  For this post, I'm jumping in at buying the fabric.  I gathered the girls together on a Saturday afternoon, and even though a blizzard threatened us to stay home, we braved the 401 for a day in Toronto's fashion district.  I didn't pick a specific store, but I knew that heading to the corner of Queen and Spadina was where we should start.  We went into the first store we saw, and that's where we found it!       

 Leo's Textiles was wall to wall bolts of bridal fabric with lots of sweet Asian ladies bustling around (their fluffy dog was sleeping on the floor near the front door!)  You won't believe this, but the first bolt of fabric I pulled out was EXACTLY what I was looking for.  Then a lovely lady named Suzy led us directly to the right fabric for the bridesmaids dresses*!  Really!  So in 20 minutes we picked it, paid for it, and packed it up!

We even asked Suzy if she would take a picture with us - she was so cute and excited to help "such beautiful girls"!

That's me in front of the store holding my bag full of fabric!

I really couldn't have planned a better experience - it was lovely.  I was soooo happy!

Mmmmmm, plus we had my favourite fast food - Chipotle Mexican Grill - for dinner. And to top it all off, I got the cutest text from Bryce asking if he could rent us a movie and have some snacks ready when we got back.  Of course we would!  Here's his handiwork - complete with 27 Dresses ready to play in the background!

That's all for part 1!  Next up, making the bodice pattern!

*Did I mention we're also doing the bridesmaids dresses?  The fabric is the same for all, but each girl got to choose their own design - they will look fabulous!  (oh, and did I mention they've only paid $30 so far?  yep.  Might be $10 more for the lining...)

Create your own fabric prints!

Love this idea from How About Orange! Create a pattern using tape, then fabric paint over it. When it dries, peel off the tape and you have a great pattern! Then sew the fabric into a pillow cover, or something fun! I'm so doing this. Check out the full blog and instructions here.

j. crew does it again.

It's just fabulous. Their fall 2010 collection, I mean. Love the way they use certain fabrics in interesting ways (sequined shorts, anyone?). Plus, they do the basics better than anyone. See what I mean?

This cardigan is like "wearing artwork".

Lace vest!

See what I mean about the sequins?

Ugh, the dresses. In case you didn't know, J.Crew also has a wedding line....yep.

And, the basics.

Been dreaming of these boots for soooo long. Too bad they're $298....

mmm, flowers.

Not just any flowers, fabric flowers. Thanks for the idea, Dolci Odille.

for sale.

Check out this grey mix hoodie I made! That's right, it's a Heidi Headon original :) I made it from a pattern I found at Fabricland a while ago. I like it! I also made myself a pair of sweat pants from the same material. It's cozy, it's warm, and it's only $20! First to speak for it, gets priority. Facebook me or leave a comment here. (Can fit size 6, 8, or 10).

as promised.

Here it is! My homemade duvet cover. I absolutely love it - the colours, the design, everything. The pattern is from Mood, the solid blue is from Len's Mill, and the grey underneath is none other than a $4.99 Value Village special. I wanted to use as much of the pattern as I could, but I didn't have enough to cover the entire duvet, so I framed the ends with the solid blue. I also dressed my bed with my new $10 sheets from Target...can't wait to crawl in tonight!

Bonus: new $4 curtains with cute yellow material from the clearance shelf at Len's Mill. Perfect Match.

amy butler designs.

My cousin Rachel told me about Amy Butler (and made me a bag from one her cool patterns!), and I finally stopped by her site. I might have stumbled across a dream career. Can you imagine designing beautiful things everyday? Yes please. Amy Butler designs fabrics for home and fashion, and also sells patterns for fun things like purses to pillows. I love her collection of bedspreads. The prints are just so fun and fresh and pretty! Florals don't have to look like they belong in the '70s. Here are some of my favourites from her site.

PS Stay tuned...I'm working on my own duvet cover - when it's done I'll post about it!

mood.

If you ever get a chance to visit LA, or Manhattan, this is a worthwhile experience. Mood Designer Fabrics. I was like a kid in a candy shop. Where else can you buy a $70 yd of printed silk from Oscar del la Renta? I didn't, by the way, but I could have. I did, however, come out with a couple yards of printed cotton which I couldn't leave behind. A bit pricier than your average Len's Mill Store - but Len doesn't sell prints like this...

(I did visit Len's Mill later for the dark grey cotton, which I want to turn into a duvet cover with the blue print. I also found a set of twin sheets in light grey for $9.99 at Target!)