Alterations, Plans, and needle & thREAD

Oh how I have been needing to come here and talk sewing!

First off, I attempted to take pictures of your's truly in the skirt I posted about a couple of weeks ago.

A lot can happen in that ten second photo delay.

I want to make more of these skirts.  They rock.

In other news, a good portion of last week was spent fitting and hemming and altering various aspects of the wedding gown of my husband's little sister.  The dress is something of a seamstress's nightmare.  I have never seen such an intense hem situation in my life! To give you a taste, the skirt needs to be taken *up* four inches at the (asymmetrical) waistline because of the labor intensity of shortening it at the hem.  There is chiffon involved and tulle and vertical ruffles, if you can imagine all that! It is really beautiful though and she's going to look absolutely gorgeous!!!  Still more to do by September 14th.  I'm confident that not only will it all turn out fine, but the work will also be worth the $400 she saved by bringing it my way :o).

Next on the agenda will be the lovely bridesmaid dress my own sister chose for me for her October 5th wedding.

Well, actually, here is it is:

(by Alfred Angelo)

It's anybody's guess what my baby bump will look like in three months and only time will tell if the maternity size I picked out will fit.  If nothing else, a hem will be in order.  I'm not one of those gals willing to put on six inch heals to save herself a little extra work at the sewing machine!

My mom, bless her heart, is in the process of tackling the two flower girl dresses we'll need.  This works out particularly well for me since I seem to have gotten it into my head that I can make a dress for myself for the September wedding with this crazy gray chiffon fabric...

There were only two yards left in the store and I've never sewn a dress for the pregnant version of myself, so let's just assume this is going to be interesting!  You know me.  I like a challenge.  Perhaps you dear readers can give me a tip or two on this project?  What's the trick to fitting a bodice to yourself without a dress form or assistant? And is there an easy way to do your own hem?

Reading-wise, this week I'm barreling through Teaching In Your Tiara: A Homeschooling Book for the Rest of Us by Rebecca Frech.  I was looking for a quick nuts and bolts overview on getting started and it seems to be just that.  Due to about a million factors (like my husband accepting an offer today for a job in a neighboring city -- yay!!!), we're finally committing to homeschooling my soon-to-be kindergartner this year and I need to catch up on the planning process pronto.  I hope to delve into the deeper stuff soon, but this seemed like a good place to start.  If anyone has a suggestion about what book to read next, I'd love to hear it!

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For more needle and thREAD (and a link to a super cute headband pattern), head on over to In the Heart of My Home. Thank you for hosting Elizabeth!