Wedding Planning, Designing a Dress, and KITTENS!

Well I knew this would happen but I thought I’d be better at managing it: I’ve become a bad blogger due to being immersed in the throes of wedding planning. I have nothing very meaningful to blog about, since my future husband reads my blog and while nothing else at all about our wedding is traditional, I am trying to keep anything bride-related secret from him, or as much as I can do, living in an apartment together ^_^

We are just having a small wedding; less than 20 people, but the planning is still a lot more stressful than I anticipated! There is still just as much work to do, only it’s on a smaller scale. Fortunately, we are doing pretty good ticking off our to-do lists.

For me the biggest hurdle to cross, of course, has been making my dress. I initially thought it would be exciting, an amazing challenge, and such a fun project. But I quickly became overcome with all the different choices, and in trying to decide what style of dress to make I found myself overwhelmed: what if I picked the wrong style and regretted it? You only get one shot… what if I picked something too boring and it wasn’t “special” enough? What if I picked something too difficult and I didn’t have the skills to execute it? What if? What if? What if?

Finally I settled on a design, and then I had to try and find a pattern. Again, the stress… should I just draft it? Am I really that crazy? But every pattern I looked at had some feature that wasn’t quite right so I would end up having to change it anyway. Then, miraculously, I found a vintage Dior pattern that was pretty much exactly what I was looking for.

The next hurdle was fabric. Readers, you’d think this would be the MOST fun part, and I honestly thought it would be (and I still think it SHOULD be!). I spent a lot of time and money selecting and ordering swatches, paying a small fortune in shipping just to make sure I got it right. I picked my perfect fabric and ordered it, and breathed a sigh of relief. Then, two months later, my fabric still hadn’t arrived. Long story short and a bit of a nightmare later, I had to source a new fabric from a new supplier, and start over.

So fast forward to about a month ago, and I FINALLY got my fabric, my pattern, now it was time to start doing the fitting. And boy, do I hate that part LOL. This is a designer dress, which means it’s constructed in as few pieces as possible – which sounds easy but when you have to do a massive FBA it’s not. Not only did I have to figure out the fit on a very odd bodice, but then I had to decide – woe of all woes – how in blazes I was going to construct the thing. Because the instructions – vintage, bless them, call for overlocked seams, and we all know that’s just not acceptable on a WEDDING DRESS (at this point I do realize it’s ridiculous how much angst I’m causing myself). So for the last few weeks, I’ve been simultaneously making a test garment, as well as agonizing over all the possible ways I could finish the insides.

Now, I’m almost ready to cut into my beloved fabric. Readers, I’m kind of terrified. Because there is something about making your wedding dress that lays bare all your shortcomings which you are very adept at hiding from yourself in regular garment making. I am not fastidious. I have a tendency towards impatience, which leads me to rush and cut corners. I am also running out of time. I am terrified my dress is going to end up some nightmarish creation of bollocks that looks like a cheap, badly fitting polyester taffeta Halloween costume purchased hastily at the 25th hour from the dollar store. Which considering how much time and money I’ve invested in it, would be a terrible travesty.

So, I’m trying to force myself to take it slow, thinking and planning, and not rushing. Which means the blog gets neglected.

Which is good, because I have nothing to blog about anyway LOL.

So in the meantime, here are some pictures of our kittens – they are growing SO FAST!!!