Wedding Tutus

Like I said yesterday I made the flower girls Tutus

You may think this is silly.

 I know my daughter, and all though I would like to think I am raising a princess, 

I'm not she is a little girl.

She is a little girl who thinks her clothes are napkins.

and that there is nothing special about the dresses I make.

I am sure she thinks that all moms do what I do.

That all girls get dresses like she does.

At least that is what I tell myself, when I see them in a pile on her floor.

Just as a reminder the girls got these beautiful,

floor length,

raw silk from India,

dresses.

So for the reception I had them change into this. 

How cute are they.

OK they aren't really tutus, more of a modern take on a tutu.

I used this pattern, it has fishing line in the hem. 

Makes them all cute, curly, and fluffy.

My friend has a silhouette machine,

 and she very kindly made the "P"

"P" is for the brides new last name.

Here is proof about what a wise woman I am.

There she is covered in shaving cream.

Now imagine for a second that she is in silk.

Are you having a heart attack yet?

The skirts are full circle skirts and were so fun to dance in.

Something to think about before your next wedding.

It was such a good day.

They are the best couple ever.

There Was a Wedding

I realize I haven't been her much but...

There was a Wedding.

Good Looking's niece Ashley was married to her perfect match Chase one Saturday.

Believe it or not, I did some sewing for the event.

I am thinking that this story might have to be broken up into a few posts.

Let's see what should we start with?

How about the dresses I sewed.

It was only six dresses, three tutus, and one skirt, 

nothing close to the twenty two I did before.

Dress number one was a Jr. Bridesmaid dress.

Ashley's step sister needed  a dress.

I volunteered my services.

I remembered as she was walking down the aisle, 

that I never took a picture of her, or the dress.

Then I forgot to get another picture of it.

Front and Back. 

The bridesmaids had floor length gowns, so I did the same for her.

It was fabulous, I should have taken better pics.

The flower girls were spoiled rotten in raw silk.

Front and Back 

Again with the floor length.

The pattern is by Susan Stewart, it is my new favorite.

The original pattern had pleats in the bodice,

 but the bride did not like them, or the sleeves.

They are beautiful beyond compare.

Now my other girls were not officially part of the wedding.

I couldn't just let them show up in anything.

I mean emerald green was the wedding color, 

and if you know the wedding color,

 and you are going to be in the pictures you should match right. 

(in the following pictures the dresses look teal, but they are really emerald green)

Baubi got this "retro" dress.

it is a simplicity pattern that looks like it has been discontinued

 because I couldn't find it.

Gowyn wanted this dress because it has pockets in the front.

See how you can't see her thumb, that is where the pocket is.

Lala got this dress. 

It is so cute and fluffy.

I love that Susan Stewart.

I made myself a pleated satin skirt.

I was looking for a picture, 

but the only ones I could find were of me sitting down.

You can't get a good idea from me sitting down.

The girls are in the tub and I need to get them ready for bed,

so I will tell you about the tutus later.

They are fabulous.

Lala's Confirmation Dress

Well that took longer then I thought. 

In our faith after you are baptized,

 you are given the gift of the Holy Ghost.

This is called a confirmation.

I made a dress just for that.

I figured after the first dress got wet 

she might need something dry to wear.

Since she is out #1 twirler 

I knew that it had to be a circle skirt.

I thought about making a panel skirt,

and then remembered that I did not want to, or have the time to be that crazy.

If I had I think I would have needed to start about a year ago.

I have my Grandmother's embroidery patterns.

There is one that has been my favorite forever.

I used it to embroider the sleeves and the front yoke.

It is made of raw silk and silk chiffon.

I made a fancy lace band on the hem out of English netting lace,

it turned out adorable.

OK are you ready to see,

or did you want me to change the subject to something else?

Just kidding here it is.

I think she might like it, 

what so you think?

I can't make a little girl dress with out sashes,

I tried once and just not as cute.

That is one cute profile.

Here is a close up of the sleeve

I like that face :)

and those missing teeth.

Here is a close  up of the embroidery.

I did bullion petals with pearl centers for the flowers.

The lace hem I was telling you about.

See what a great twirler a circle skirt is.

On Sunday she was called up to the podium to get 

her certificate of baptism, she looked so cute up there.

Shaking hands and being presented as the newest member of the church.

I loved it and her for making this big step in her life.

Now I can get sewing other things, and I just don't know what to do next.

That is not true, I promise Nanette you are next.

Have a great week, and I will chat at you soon.

Lala's Baptism Dress

Lala was baptized on Saturday.

It was a very special day for all of us.

She was so happy, and excited, and nervous, and scared....

all at the same time.

I was making her dresses until 3:30 in the am day of the baptism.

I started sewing on Thursday.

Grandma Kath was here to watch the girls.

She had the girls deep cleaning all day,

 so that everything was sparkling clean on Saturday.

I finished her confirmation dress on Thursday.

(the one she wore after the baptism)

The lace for Lala's baptism dress did not come until Thursday afternoon.

Thursday night I started on a blessing outfit for grandma Kath's grandson in Arizona.

He was being blessed on Sunday morning at 8:00 in the morning.

It was kind of important that I not forget that one.

The sad thing is that I did forget to a picture, before it flew to Arizona.

Needless to say it was a busy sewing week (or two days) for me.

So did you want to see what I did?

Do ya?

Yeah I thought so...

She did not want a jumper like Lizzy's,

she wanted a dress.

She is pretty sweet. 

I really like the way she is pointing her feet.

Instead of a CTR crest I shadow embroidered eight little lily flowers.

I thought about piecing in lace around the waist,

but it was around midnight at that time and I thought it would be OK with out it.

At 3:00 I changed my mind and made a belt with lace and ribbon.

Here are her very big sleeves,  Anne would be so pleased.

Like I always do there is one pin-tuck for each member of the family.

Because her family will always have their arms open to her.

Get it.

The lace we were waiting for was this lace, it has lily flowers on it.

This is the hem of her dress. 

There on the top are the three tucks that stand for the God Head.

To remember to always have the lord with her through all the step of her life.

Get it down there by her feet.

Here is the back with her sash/belt.

That is suppose to represent the temple clothes.

Baptism is her first covenant with the Lord, and the Temple the second.

Look at that cute foot.

She is our #1 twirler.

When ever I make her a dress or a skirt, she wants to make sure it is going to twirl.

Here she is with her Dad.

It was a great day.

I had to give a little talk a spotlight about her.

I told how she was a difficult baby, who only wanted to sleep in the crook of my arm.

She couldn't just sleep next to me, she had to be in my arm.

I got so used to her sleeping there, that if she ever fell asleep next to me 

It would knock me out, just listening to her breathing.

Then I shared this story that upset my two oldest.

I was once asked who my favorite was.

I said that you can't have favorites,

but...

I really like Lill.

Like I said you can't have favorites.

She is at a birthday party and I need to go get her,

So I will post her other dress in a little bit. 

I'm Here

I am still here I promise.

It has been crazy here since Christmas.

It was my birthday on the fifth.

It was the big 4-0.

Good looking surprised me with a party,

Grandma Kath and Pap Bill came.

After they left my brother came.

He is staying here for a couple of days.

My brother lives in Samoa and we haven't seen him in almost three years.

It has been so much fun, and I have had a hard time getting back into the swing of things 

since Christmas break.

I also forgot to show you the girls Christmas dresses 

and they were fabulous.

I used this Susan Stewart pattern, and I am in love with it.

 

I used some super cute fabric from Riley Blake,

it is from the lost and found line,

and it sparkles.

I first saw the fabric over the summer, and knew it had to be their Christmas dresses.

We stuck with tradition and went to see the Tabernacle Choir sing,

Don't worry I was very aware of my shoes.

Then of course we went to Little america for breakfast,

the girls favorite part of the tradition. 

Keeping with tradition, I was sewing the night before, this time the big girls skirts.

Here they are.

I sometimes wonder what it would be like

 if they could smile a real smile, and not these big faker pants smiles. 

The little girls love to take pictures on the stairs,

here is baby sister...

and Lala.

I will be back, but right now I am suppose to be taking my brother

 to meet my sister for breakfast. 

It is the last day they are going to staying at my house. 

They are moving to my sisters tonight, and then back to Samoa next week.

I have to show you the presents I made for them,

but not now because we are going to be late.

Big Flower Tutorial

 You said yes please, so here you go.

I first made these flowers when I made my wedding dress.

Instead of the big butt bow (that was very popular in the early nineties) I had three of these flowers.

I made them again for the big girl flower girl dresses, for my sisters wedding.

So here you go are you ready.

I used organza from Joann's Casa collection, it is my favorite.

It is 60" wide. I am sure you can use what ever you want,

but the wider the fabric, the fatter your flower is going to be.

You need to make a bias seam

I was not very smart and sewed on the line and now have a gray line on the middle of my flower :(

Don't do what I did, use the line as a guide and sew 1/4" away from the line.

Fold in half and baste it together

Make sure that your seam is not twisted, and laying flat.

I totally cheated,

I have an industrial serger,

 it is my happy place,

it gathers while I sew.

I know you are jealous and you totally should be.

If I were you without this piece of heaven in your sewing room, I would first finish the edge either with your cute little home serger, or with a zig zag stitch on your sewing machine.

Then gather it up with you favorite gathering method,

you want it to be tightly gathered.

You might want to gather it twice,

gather, and then gather the gathers if that makes sense, because it totally makes sense to me.

It helps down the road to have it gathered super tight.

This is the most confusing part and should have taken another picture of me sewing this part.

Put your strip under your sewing foot starting at the folded edge.

Back tack a few stitches sew to the gathering, pull the threads back to the top.

DO NOT CUT THE THREADS

Repeat every two to three inches down the entire length of the strip.

Back tack

sew to the gathering

pull the threads back to the top

repeat.

This is why you don't cut your thread

You need it to gather

Your cute petal

It is possible that you don't have to tie the ends but I don't dare.

I don't want to risk gathering all the petals and then having them come undone.

See there in the upper left hand corner, there is the gray pencil line.

Now it is going to bug you that you know it is there, huh.

There you go let me know how it turns out for you.

I can't wait to see other peoples version.