signs of spring

Well, well, well, look what I found in my front flower bed soaking up the sun yesterday...  this makes me very, very happy.  I'm pretty sure the last photo will be tulips soon - am I right?

Making the Dress: Part 3

Well, friends, it's in one piece!  Still not a finished product - but closer than ever.  Just some hemming and fitting, and it will be aisle-ready!  I love it.  Of course, now that it's together, these Making the Dress segments will be on hold for a while (97 days til the big one!)  Until then, here's a few recents.

This first one represents the whole process - one big journey in problem solving.  We laid out the fabric, took the first cut for the skirt, and then my wise Aunt suggested we measure the rest before making any more cuts.  We did, and had JUST enough for what we needed...that is, until I realized, "we only measured for the skirt!  What about the bodice??"  Uh oh.  So this is a picture of the back of the bodice pattern, which needs to fit on that piece of fabric.  I said I felt like Jesus with the 5 loaves and 2 fish - making a miracle happen.  

But of course, we made it work.  Here it is in pieces!  Aunt Donna told me that this is the part she never lets the bride see.  Oh well, I was happy!  Even though we had put in around 18 hours before even turning on the sewing machine...

No, I didn't hand-stitch my dress.  But I feel like I did with all that basting.  Many parts I actually cut and basted twice, because my Aunt had a nightmare about the lining we had been using (literally) and decided it was all wrong, so she decided to get a different kind and start again.  She was totally right - what we have now is much better, so I was willing to baste the night away.  

Finally, the machine is running!  Here I am putting the first 2 pieces together.

Yay!  Now, it's hanging up for a while, so that the bias of the skirt stretches out - I had no idea that was an important step - glad I'm not doing this alone! (thanks Aunt Donna!)

Spring colours.

Well, it snowed again yesterday.  In light of that, I'm extra anxious to see spring come in full force, with pretty flowers and summery clothes.  Speaking of which, here are some J.Crew (of course) looks that I love for summer.  And some adorable clutches from Ila handbags.  Then, I threw in a bathing suit from J.Crew - love the ruched look, deciding on a colour would be hard...Enjoy the spring colours!

 Ila Handbags and J Crew

love this quote.

inspiration board.

Here's my little inspiration board for our wedding!  I used a few paint chips, and some fabric and paper samples that I received.  I can't say I made the board before we started planning and designing - but I really wanted to make one nonetheless.  Makes me feel more designer-ish.  Here it is sitting on top of my 50 lb. roll of burlap - crazy!

Also, they're here!  Remember how I said I wanted these sparkly Toms for my wedding shoes?  I got them!  And I absolutely love them.

white kitchens.

I've always loved the look of white kitchen cabinets.  Right now I have wood (maybe oak?) ones, and I'm looking forward to painting them when I have time to focus on updating my house.  Here's some of my latest inspiration from Style at Home.

Making the Dress: Part 2

Next up, pattern making!  Now that we have the design and the perfect fabric (it seriously thrills me!), it's time to create the pieces to be sewn together.  My Aunt Donna pinned some scrap fabric around me to determine fit and shape.  Then we laid the fabric out onto  a roll of paper.  Because the bodice involves some gathering, we cut the pattern into thin strips and then spaced them out on the paper.  This is so we have the proper proportions, but also enough fabric once it's condensed (gathered) - so smart!  Warning: this step took a few hours - if you plan on making your own dress, be prepared to put in 10+ hours before you even plug in the sewing machine!  And always, always, always measure twice and cut once (if I had a nickel for every time I've heard that!)  

Stay tuned for part 3!

santorini.

Flights are booked!  Honeymooning in Greece in July!


photo: Fira

nutella brownie bites.

You know those delicious two-bite brownies?  These are made with Nutella!  I made a few for a Valentine's Day treat - they were delicious!  To be honest, I didn't feel like buying a whole thing of chocolate syrup just for a few tablespoons, so I left it out.  I also don't yet have a mini muffin tin, so I used the big one and they turned out totally fine.


I got the recipe from onehungrymama.com  She also has a recipe for nutella hot chocolate!

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...)

have a (romantic) weekend.

(martha stewart)



Also, stay tuned for a new blog series to come!  I'm on a journey right now of making my own wedding dress - so excited!  I'm going to post a few of the steps to making my dress over the next few months (without giving it away!  I can't debut it here until it makes its debut on the aisle!)  

Kate Spade

Check out these adorable Kate Spade iPhone4 cases!  I absolutely love the red retro phone - classy but fun.