Things I Haven't Posted but Should Have... Part 1

My one year anniversy is coming up in Nov. and *gasp* I STILL have not posted photos of my wedding dress. I used a Simplicity pattern as a template and modified it to fit what I wanted. When I got engaged, I knew the kind of dress that I wanted. I also knew that I could make it for cheaper than what I would pay for it in the store. I didn't take many in progress photos, because I was engaged in what I was doing.

I purchased everything I needed from the zipper to the fabric to the lining using those fantastic 40% coupons that JoAnn Fabrics sends me in the mail. Total cost: About $50.00. I started working on it over my fall break (less than 3 weeks from my wedding date!). I worked on it for about four hours a day for four days... while watching marathons of TLC's Say Yes to the Dress. (Man, I can be such a girl sometimes!)

This was an adventure, to say the least. I had to use horse hair braid and boning in this dress, both of which I have never worked with before. I was horrifed of screwing it up, but I'm really pleased with the results.

Here are some photos, while I was working (and playing around with it):



Below is a photo of the back. This was a pain in the neck because I had to hand stitch the zipper in so that you wouldn't see the seams.


Around the middle is a large chunk of black ribbon, which runs all the way down the back. I love the way that it looked (and it hid the seams that connected the bodice of the dress to the skirt):


A side shot:


Another side shot:


About 5 seconds into the wedding, I was SO thankful that I had made my own dress, rather than purchase it. Why? My darling husband stepped on the train of my dress, thereby jerking me backwards (hard! No, I didn't fall.). The dress stood up to the test, it didn't rip, tear, or even budge! Had I purchased a dress, it probably would've ripped. What a memory that would have been!

Some photos of the big day:


(the ribbon was tied around a heart shaped pin in the back).













I loved my dres so much. Too bad pregnancy killed my body and I won't fit into it anymore...