Fall Is Here.....

So happy Fall has finally come. Seems Summer came in HOT... and stayed that way forever!!!

I've been busy this Summer doing wedding dress alterations for some of the YSA  (young single adults at church) gals... who after I was done with the alterations... no longer fit in that category. Lol
The last dress I did (I have a couple of pictures, but no permission to use them... from the professional photographer) was a beautiful lace dress, very similar to this dress on this site;


http://www.berylcouture.co/modest-mermaid-scalloped-neckline-high-back-lace-wedding-dress-short-sleeves.html

The only difference is we opened the v-neck a little bit and took the back of the neck down about 1 1/2-2 inches. Oh, and it also had short sleeves.  And shortened the dress from like the waist about 2 3/4 inches. Since the dress had lace appliques that were about 14 inches tall at the hem of the dress we took it up at the waist line. Which because of the fact that the lace and the lining were separate made it somewhat easier to do.
I released the appliques all around the waistline area of the lace outer dress. Which was tricky because 1. they were sewn on with clear top thread and matching bottom thread... with very little machine stitches. And 2. There was no actual waistline to begin with. So, we didn't want a line to show where we had made the changes.  Not sure my eyes will ever be the same! LoL....  I got the waist brought up and then since I brought it up... that area was a tad bit bigger and so I also had to take in the extra fullness. I re-positioned the appliques trimming here and there to cover the the now seam I had made to raise the waist. The lining fortunately was easy because I could just take up the hem on the bottom edge. Because I planned to take out some of the fullness at the waist in the back, I was lucky because the light weight bridal tulle they used to put the lace appliques on was a bit stretchy I was able to remove buttons and loops and take it in on each side an inch with out a lot of difficulty. The only real problem being I reattached the loops before I looked to remind myself which side which went on.... yep, you know it!!!! I put the loops on the wrong side and was starting to resew the buttons on (there were like 50 of them) when I remembered I was going to check a pattern first. Oh, and I had to remove all of the buttons because when the dress maker made this dress.... buttons were sewn on with one continuous thread... stitch once thru and then onto the next button. Soooo they all were loose when I removed a couple to lower the back neck line. Yep.... just my luck! LoL...
I got all the buttons back on, adding extra stitching to the button that would hold up the bustle. My arms and shoulders were very tired when I finished at around 2:00 a.m. I placed the lace and the lining on my dress dummy.... and figured out how much of the lining at the neck I needed to alter. Cutting with 1/2 inch seam allowance to fold inside because the lining had a double lined top and bottom that by then.... I was no wanting to take completely apart.  I folded the neck line seam allowance inside and top stitched the entire neckline. I did a 2nd line of stitching to make sure it was completely flat and secure. Did the lining hem, and I was completely done. Yeah! It was beautiful on her and since her wedding was in another state and mom and bride wouldn't see each other until the week before the wedding.... it would have been a real hassle for her mom and friend to get the work done. She had to try it on a couple of times, which she would not have been able to do from outta state (mom was sooo happy we got it done and probably glad she didn't have to do it). Lots of stress on my end... but I'm glad I was able to help out. I told her to count it as her wedding present from my hubby and I. Believe me when I tell you I got an amazing hug when it was all done! :)