Post-Wedding Creativity

The lady and I went to Old Man's Cave yesterday, and did about a 15 mile hike.  While I recover, I thought I'd bring you all up to date.

The wedding went off so beautifully! Seriously, I could not have asked for a more perfect day.  Sunny, but not hot, no rain, no humidity.  The food was delicious, the decorations made me super giggly, and I had the best time!  I hardly got to see my new wife that evening, but that's the way it goes, I guess.

We've been flexing our creative muscles, just trying to use up our leftovers!  Quesadillas made from marinated chicken?  Yes please!  Potato chicken soup from the potatoes and chicken.  Steak burger chili.  And lots of leftover sangria mix!  If anybody knows anything to do with refried beans (too sweet for the chili) let me know.

Perhaps what I was happiest with were the dresses.  I felt so good in that dress, and Rachel said she did, too!  Of course, it wasn't until after the wedding that I learned how to properly install an invisible zipper.  Anyway, here are a few pictures. :)

I learned three things that allowed me to go back and fix my zipper.

1. That I was installing it completely incorrectly, and how to do it properly.  This tutorial helped me out a lot.  I watched it several times!
2. Invisible zipper feet are NOT cheap if you have a Husqvarna sewing machine, but soooo worth it!
3. That my machine has a variable position needle, and how to adjust it.  I always knew that dial did something!

Here's the before:

See?  Not invisible.

But I'm proud of the after!

Much better!  And the old seam holes pressed right out!
The beauty of these dresses is that they're not one-trick ponies!  We get to wear them again!

For the Love of It

Evidently, September is National Sewing month.  Boy, have I got the bug!  This year's theme is "Sewing for the love of it."  I think my latest projects fit: two dresses for my lady and me on our wedding. Can't wait to show you!

Anyone have tips for how to prevent your fabric from rippling around a zipper?

Beginnings and Endings

The last couple of nights, I've been working on the wedding dresses.  I finally bought the material for mine on Wednesday.  I've been determined to do everything the right way, so fabric for both has been pre-washed, and pressed.  I cut out all the pieces for both of them, and started construction of mine last night.  This was per Rachel's request.  I think hers will go more easily than mine, and I would have started it first. I did alter the bodice, and didn't alter the pattern for the skirt, so I might have some reworking to do there.  *sigh*

Last night, I managed to cut all of the pieces for my dress, and I have probably 7/8 of the bodice construction complete.  All of the seams are smooth and tidy.  I'm pleased so far.  Can't wait to show you, but it will have to wait until after the wedding! :)

Today is the final day of the Anathema Kickstarter.  Rachel changed the lineup a bit, and John Statema has been brought aboard.  Yes, THE John Statema.  Loves horror comics, knows the same stuff that inspires Rachel, influenced by Berni Wrightson.  Can you say PERFECT? His "rough" drawings for the story made me weak in the knees.  Seriously. So if you've been thinking about backing this project, make your way over there soon!  It all closes at 10:00 tonight!

Silk, Satin, and Glass

Last night, I was able to get my grandmother (Oma) out of the house.  This is something I think she desperately needed.  And she took me shopping to get the wedding flowers.  Yay!  Between having a small wedding and going for clean, simple elegance, this resulted in a rather minimal purchase, all things considered.  It was kind of difficult to get into Oma's head, but she was very much of the opinion that "it's you're wedding," and "you only get married once.  Get what you want!"  So we went to Michael's, and got

some of these...                                                                        

 ...and these...


...some ribbon...


...and these.



(None of these images are from the Michael's website, because they don't have these things listed, or they're impossible to find, or the images were not good.  For a store that's so nice, the website could use some work.)

We put a few things together last night, and all I can say is it's gonna be gorgeous!

As soon as those are complete, I'll be doing the dresses. All the pattern fitting is done, so that's the hard work! Between the quickly approaching wedding, and only having a week left on the Anathema Kickstarter, things are getting really excited.  And Oma? She's pleased as punch to have helped out. :)

Small Celebration

I have learned in the recent past that pattern alteration is a must for the vast majority of us. (If you want to have a well-fitted garment, that is.)  I've researched and tried my hand at altering, and after several versions, I finally have a mock-up that fits Rachel very well!  I'm so stinking excited!  I'm also too burnt out on it to work on my dress.

Also, Joe Hill (Steven King's son) has pledged to the Anathema Kickstarter, and is now following her on twitter.  She's gonna be famous!

Thanks for celebrating with me!

Procrastination Alert

I've been plodding along, diligently working on my artwork - it's not anywhere near ready for today's submission deadline, so I'll have to pull something from the archives.  But there are so many distractions in my life.  I can't stop thinking about the wedding and how ill-prepared we are!  We haven't ordered the lights for our lanterns, haven't chosen the food, and I haven't made my dress!  Plus, I think I might be overdressed in a dress, since we're having a jeans allowed wedding/party.

My in-laws (is it completely weird if I love saying that?) are working to get their house ready.  When they bought it, it was basically a crummy shell of a house, and it is going to go through a drastic transformation here soon.  Susan planted beautiful flowers all over the place.  We're not going to buy any.  We'll have under 30 guests.  I think some candles on the tables, the lanterns, and some expertly placed tulle and ribbon will be enough.  it will look beautiful against the still-very-green of their 17 acre property.

I imagine a lot of people feel this strange mix of excitement and anxiety when it comes to planning these events.  But I'm a bit frazzled.  5 weeks until the big day!!!

Wish us luck!

Must Make This Coat!

I was over on burdastyle, checking on a plea for help (wedding dress pattern suggestions), and I was told to check out Vogue patterns.  I thought I'd take a look.  This was the pattern on the page when I opened it.

All I can say is: WANT!

Wedding Band Shopping

We bought our wedding bands last night!

Classic white gold, no frills, perfect.  I'm glad we got them, too, since the price of gold just spiked.  The store hadn't finished their re-pricing.  In other words, we got a great deal!

Listen to this:
We bought them at a Fred Meyer - inside a Kroger.  That means we got these added bonuses:

• care plan, including free resizing, polishing, and rodium dipping for as long as we have the rings.
• Rodium is what makes the white gold white.
• big discount
• Kroger fuel points.  Really.  I'm totally taking advantage of that!

The girl who helped us out had different colored eyes.  She said people she knows don't even notice. 

Anyway, in light of the fact that we haven't done anything else the traditional way, we've decided to go ahead and wear the rings.  The size 10 I got is actually a teensy bit too big, so I might be taking advantage of that care plan!

Overal Experience: completely satisfying!