Patchwork for the Party

This and the next few posts are inevitably going to focus on the smaller DIY projects we're preparing for the ceremony and reception. Seriously guys, I had about two days after I finished my dress (did I mention that here? If not, the dress is totally done!), and then I was like, "okay, now what? I need something to do." For reals.

But this is the fun part--details!



So on one of many little trips down to AmVets, we picked up some frames to house a "board" (I'm not really sure what to call it) for seating assignments and one for photos. To tie in our colors, we decided that some patchwork would be cool here. I had tons of scraps from making dresses and flowers, so it made sense.



All in all, I spent about an afternoon and a half working on these. From sewing and spray painting...



...to mounting the patchwork, backed with batting and foam core, into the frames.



These pieces will be part of the gift/whatever table and are a little bit practical but mostly just pretty. I really like them.

Okay, so what's next?

A Small Project

So I ended up having a whole bunch of newsprint scraps from printing fabric for my capstone project (which is now completed and on exhibit, hallelujah). I was already considering making some kind of sewn paper garland, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. It's a pretty simple project, made easier by that awesome fiskars 2" hole punch. The only thing I'm not so sure about it how to store the garland until the wedding without it getting tangled, bent, or ripped. Hmm. Thoughts?

Love,
Gabby

Invites!

Before The Joe was off to studio and work today, we got down and dirty with our invitations. And guess what? They totally got did! Done! Done-zo! It was actually a pretty fun DIY/DIT (Do-It-Together) morning project. We're hoping to get these printed and in the mail pretty soon.

Hey, check out that perfect "Z" that Rommel scratched into my wrist. He must be Zorro or something.

In other news,

You might notice that things are a little different around here. Spiffier, we'd like to think. Be sure to click through all of the new pages on the sidebar. Of course, we'll be filling in more details as we get closer to the date.

Also!
The dress is totally in the works! Spring Break is exactly what I needed to get started on the thing. You can follow my flickr to see in-progress pics as I post them.

Talk you soon!

Love,

Gabby

A Small Update

People, we have progress to report!

At the top of the list: we may have booked our ceremony site! Just waiting on a contract now, so more on that later.

Joe's been calling around to hotels to reserve blocks of rooms, so we should have those details handy in a couple weeks.

I finally had a paper-free weekend, so I got down and dirty with some wedding-related sewing. The bridesmaid dresses are all done except for hems, which will be finished after fitting.

Also, I got the last order of materials for my dress (some organza, silk thread, and veil netting)! So I'll finally be cutting into that charmeuse pretty soon.



Stay tuned!

Love,

Gabby

Silk!

The fabric(s) for my dress came. Luscious.

I'm so scared to cut.

Wedding Dress Adventures

I apologize for the radio silence, but Joe and I have been busy. Not doing fun things, in case you were wondering, just working a whole lot. Anyway, we're both pretty excited for semester to begin in a couple weeks. Joe will be starting grad classes for his masters and I'll be finishing up my last year at Canisius and writing my thesis! Woohoo! Definitely more exciting than sitting in an office for 40 hours a week or slaving away at the airport all night.

Aside from that, I would like to direct your attention to my blog, where I've been posting about sewing my dress and the bridesmaid dresses. If you follow me on flickr, this is probably old news. But I have successfully produced a final mockup for the wedding dress! After about 3 muslins of my self-drafted pattern, I've got the cut and fit absolutely perfect. Now I just have to buy the nice fabric and start sewing the real thing. Look at me, 11 months to go and I am totally on top of this stuff.



Click on over to my blog to read my posts on...
Sewing bridesmaid dresses
Sewing my dress mockup
Finishing my dress mockup

Love,
Gabby

Dress-ing

So most of my pre-wedding work is going to be sewing projects. Admittedly, this is something I've brought upon myself. I'm not only making my own dress.. but have committed to sewing three bridesmaid dresses. If anything, it's just to prove how awesome I am. Also, we (bridesmaids included) are going to be saving SO much by not opting for boutique or big box store dresses. Seriously, I bought eight yards of coral cotton twill (decidedly not silk) for $30! You couldn't buy one bridesmaid dress for that!

To spare the uninterested, I'll be posting most of my wedding-related (and otherwise) sewing on my flickr. If you already follow my photostream, you may have noticed some work up there already.



My goal is to finish pretty much all of the sewing this summer. Yes, lofty aspirations, but I cannot imagine trying to find time to cut, sew, fit, and finish a wedding dress while writing my thesis and applying to grad schools this fall/winter/spring.

Soooo... I should probably get crackin'. Like now.