dress dying




I bought this lovely vintage dress a few months back but have never had the occasion to wear it. It was so pretty but also kind of a drab white. Finally with a special event to go to, I decided to dye it. Originally I thought green would be best but I got nervous and went with brown. I sort of wish I’d stuck with green since I’m by no means an expert dress dyer, and the brown wasn’t so rich as I’d hoped. It turned out nice though overall and helped me blend in the natural setting.


Wedding dress details

First I just have to get one thing out of the way…

Shawn Bannon, if you are reading this, please stop.

Just scoot on over to another website please and thank you. We made a deal.

baby turtles

The turtles are just a distraction.

Now that that’s done with…for those of you still here…I want to share some details of my wedding dress. Woah!

wedding dress neckline

It’s still not complete, but I’m bad at keeping secrets. So here are a few little hints of what it will be. Feel free to let your imagination run a little wild.

wedding dress ruffle decisions

There’s lots of lace. More than you see here even though it’s strewn about the floor.

I have to say, with all the things that need to be done and projects that need to be worked on, looking at these photos make me feel oh so much better. Pretty pretty pretty.

You want to see what the dress looks like?

this is my wedding dress

Yep, there it is.

It’s pinned on me. The lace is on it’s way. Needless to say, I’m rather excited.

This is probably the last peek you’ll see until after the wedding.

66 days and counting…

Making my wedding dress

With less than four months till our wedding, I’ve been in a state of complete indecision about my dress. It’s kind of a big deal. The dress I mean.

The problem is that I know exactly what I want and it’s not like anything I could buy. I kept searching for something that would maybe distract me from my idea but to no avail.

I just wanted to make it myself so it would look how I imagined, but I had some serious doubts that I could construct a dress without a pattern. While I’m quite adept at sewing, I’ve never learned proper construction. Nor do I have a dress form.

Luckily, I was introduced to a lovely seamstress who is going to take on the task of making my dream dress.

wedding dress fabric

We’ve even picked out the fabric. I love all the combination of all the different laces. The hardest part was choosing the fabric that goes underneath all these laces. We found a gorgeous one, but of course it was silk so I had to pick something else.

It would be cool to say I got these at some fancy fabric store, or special ordered them from France, but they’re just from Joann’s. I probably shouldn’t admit that. It doesn’t matter though, they’re lovely and inexpensive and the dress is going to be awesome.

this is what dress planning looks like

So these are the humble beginnings of my dress. Just some fabric and sketches and measurements and ideas. I’m so excited. I’m going to my first fitting in just a few weeks. It will just be a rough muslin thing but I can’t wait.

Now I just have to pick out some shoes.

Anticipation

There are so many things coming up so quickly I can hardly believe it. Just 12 days till the first screening of Brainwashed Love. I’m terrified and excited. Only a few people have seen the film at this point so it will be crazy to show it to all the people who worked on it and supported us along the way. I hope people like it as much as we do.

That also means that it’s only 12 days till October. The best month ever. I’m looking forward to watching tons of horror movies and indulging in lots of treat making. Halloween movie marathon part 3 anyone? Not to mention the annual creation fest that is making a costume, which is always a production in itself.

night tree 001

Also in five short, busy months, Shawn and I will be getting married. Holy crap. Even though there is a lot to plan and put together, I’m really excited. For one thing it’s giving me a good excuse to be extra crafty (as if I need an excuse). I’m making a lot of things already as gifts and decorations. I can’t wait to share all the details, but for the moment they’ll have to stay under wraps.

My biggest dilemma at the moment is what dress to wear. Let me tell you, trying to figure out what to wear for our wedding and what I’m going to be for Halloween is sort of turning my brain into a pretzel. Or maybe a tree. Hence these crazy late night photos. I got the above dress from my grandmother and still have yet to decide whether I want to use it as the dress. It has a lot of elements that I really like but I don’t know if I can alter it into exactly what I want.

I’ve been looking into finding a vintage dress but it’s difficult to find something that has all the uniqueness of vintage dress but also fits me; stylistically and physically. For example, I love this dress below but there’s no way I could fit into it’s tiny waist.

For the most part I really despise the majority of modern dresses out there. If I never see another strapless dress again, it will be too soon. I can’t believe how alike wedding dresses all are, and how insanely expensive they are on top of it. Although, I have to admit, I am kind of in love with the ruffles on this one from J Crew.

And of course, part of me wants to make my own dress. Perhaps that is the masochistic part of myself. Hopefully I’ll have things figured out sooner than later as a wedding dress is not exactly something you want to leave till the last moment.