Timmy!

Timothy will be starting his first day of training for Special Olympics tomorrow.  We are going to watch him and see him enjoy himself!

I hope to get some pictures to post.

Jen will be down and I am going to pass on her dress and accessories to her.

And in the meantime, I decided to add a few beads to the lace on my bodice.

Till tomorrow!

Done!

I finished attaching all the beading to Jen's dress.

And I added the tassels to the sleeves on my dress.

And, the door bell rang this morning....and My Dear's cane arrived!  A little surprise for him and a bit of peace of mind for me.   He still has balance problems every so often.

Fittings for everyone!

We went with our dear friends to have the guys fitted for their tuxes we will be renting for the Downton Abbey Ball.  They were just too cute!

My Dear

And Spencer, really looking the part!

Jen came down for her final fitting yesterday.

I decided to put beading on the lace on Jen's dress.  It just needed that extra touch.

And, she showed off her beautiful necklace her sister gave her.















Isis came with her.  Now that Otie is no longer with us, Isis gets all the attention and treats.  She did love rolling on the back lawn!  Missy figured out Isis is afraid of cats.  She was doing a little bit of intimidating.

And life goes on....

Today I had an Ardenwood Docent meeting to go to.  And what a glorious day and beautiful place this time of the year.  I have to admit I didn't get past all the new little lambs without stopping to watch them.  Yeh, I was late for the meeting  because of the lambs.  But it was worth it!

 But it was worth it!

On the way out I had to say hello to Billy Goat.  He has been moved from the field where he used to jump up to eat the walnut tree leaves to the fenced area next to the barn.  Now he gets to be admired by every one.  Darn guy, he wouldn't put his head up when I was trying to take his picture.

He is really very impressive when you can actually see him.

It was feeding time for the moms by then.

And, of course, the peacocks always have to show off this time of year.  Their feathers that were so bedraggled last December have all fallen out and new ones have taken their place.  He didn't do a dance for me like he usually does though.

Meanwhile, I did work on attaching the skirt to the dress when I got home.  Of course, wouldn't you know, I put the skirt side I wanted on top on the bottom and vis versa.  Oh, well.  I will tackle that Wednesday.  Tomorrow my Dear and I are going with our friends to have the guys fitted for their tuxes...if he doesn't chicken out before then.

Forward and Onward

I finished fixing the bodice.

Then I did a pinned mock up.

And the skirt was cut out.

And today I bought the dye for the lace trim, dyed it, and spent the rest of the day tacking it down.  I just finished it.

Next, will be a final fitting with Jen.  Attach the skirt to the bodice and that's it!

Woops and Tears

I forgot to take pictures, but I found a big booboo last night.  After all that hand sewing all day I found out some how when sewing on the black midriff area my line moved up in the back and it was all off kilter.  So when I got to it this afternoon I picked out stitches and re-sewed it back into the correct position.

Yesterday, I really spent time on this project.  I thought I was done with the bodice (before I found the glitch where the midriff was all off) so I started on the skirt.  I figured out how I was going to  tackle it and actually put the scissors to the fabric.  I added an organza interlining and a lining of the same skirt fabric but in cream.  It is all ready to sew onto the bodice now that I fixed it,  But before I do that I need to add the lace to the skirt edge.

The lace that I plan on using is currently white and I plan on dyeing it black to match the midriff.  I have only dyed one other time.  That was when I dyed the lace burgundy.  The dying went fine that time so I am not nervous about it.  But, I do have to make a trip to JoAnn's to get some black dye.

I could have gotten the dye today but I was in a real funk.  One of my favorite grand-dogs has been ill and today he was leaving us.  Otis is his name and he was the sweetest, giant lovebug.  I am going to miss him so much.  I suspect that his sister Isis will get used to his absence pretty soon.  Otis would alway push his way in front of her.....she is pretty shy.  She will probably appreciate not having him wack her in the face with his tail all the time too.  Yeh, I don't think it will take her long to get used to getting all the attention.

ccc

Hand sewing on bodice is done!!

My fingers need a break.  A lot of yesterday afternoon and this morning was spent in hand sewing on the bodice.  That is because I made up this dress and didn't use a pattern.  Patterns allow for more machine sewing, whereas making it up as you go gets you in more tight spaces.

So now, I am done as far as I can go with the bodice without another fitting......Hopefully it will fit perfectly!  It will be sad if I have to undo and go with more alterations!  But anyhow, I am going to start working on the outer layer of the skirt.

In the meantime, something I have never seen before till this week.....

Just outside our front porch we keep having leaves and dirt dumped.  Not a ton, but every day.

It is obvious the wind didn't blow them there.  

Then yesterday I spotted the culprits.  2 crows!  They stand in our roof gutters and kick and dump out leaves.  They must be finding bugs up there.  They are a rather shy couple when it comes to photos.  When I tried to take a picture of them they flew above me squawking.  After they settled on the neighbors antenna I clicked their picture.

I don't suppose they want to clean up after themselves.

vvv

Sleeves!

I finished the hemming of layer 2/Chiffon and then tackled the bodice.

The sleeves are a raglan type sleeve.  I had originally lined them with organza but as I worked with the bodice lining and the sleeve I figured the sleeves were going to be too heavy and possibly pull down the shoulders of the bodice.  So, I took out the organza lining and I think that problem is solved.  

The green fabric doesn't have a soft enough hand for me to actually get the look I wanted.  Instead it kind of gives a kimono look, which is ok too.

 Anyhow, I have the first draft pinned on Betsy:

The front

The back

And then I just had to pin a bit more on before calling it a day.

Progress....

Yesterday I worked on layer one of the Mucha dress, after changing my mind about the Turkish pants look into a skirt.  I attached layer two (the chiffon) to layer one and added the waistband.  I had it all completed except for the hems and buttonhole by the end of the day.

Jen came down this morning and we did a fitting.....a darn good thing too!  The bodice did need adjusting and now I have the hem length.

Layer one getting ready to be hemmed

And the chiffon/layer two is next to be hemmed

So, at this point today, layer one is hemmed, layer two is 3/4 hemmed.

Back to the drawing board

The "Turkish Pants" idea did not work on this dress because the pants did not show through the opening of the chiffon, just the space between the legs.....duh, so the kids say!

So, I'm making that layer a skirt.

And I am going to fit the new "bodice" material (in place of the velvet).

Jen is coming down Monday so we can do another fitting.... we were having so much fun planning our upcoming adventure with Cathy that we really didn't get down to brass tacks, so to speak, on the fitting.

One thing I am learning on this project is that it is quite different sewing for someone else than for yourself.....especially not from a pattern!  I don't think I do enough fittings when sewing for myself, but now I am thinking I do more than I remember.

My daughter is taller than me so I need to change the height setting on my "Betsy".  for now she is on a box.