Bridesmaid dresses

I've had major drama with a Chinese dress making company, which today ended with me basically demanding refund. The past 5 weeks I have been trying to order 2 adult and one child's gold/champagne bridesmaid dresses for my mothers wedding on 11th Febuary. he whole thing is pretty short notice compared to other weddings, they decided to get married in November, went to Australia on holiday for a month and only started planning it 2 weeks ago.

After the pilavour with the Chinese tailors I am left with only 2 weeks to source or make 3 dresses. I am confident I can make a fitted dress with a pattern, but 3 of them with modified sleeves and in less than 2 weeks? I hope that my tailor friend Mr Komadei can lend a hand, he has in the past guided me in challenging projects and has a selection of industrial machines to use. My special lidl machine overheats after an hours solid sewing >_>

A bit nervous about further issues, as the time window is so small. Did I mention I'm 12 weeks pregnant and throwing up every 20 minutes?? I must be crazy to even attempt this but the only other choice is some overpriced cheap nasty dresses from a local bridal shop. That will still be an option if my dressmaking has not been a success by the 5th February.

I have just ordered patterns and plan to buy fabric on Tuesday. There will be plenty of compromises as I can not afford to be fussy with fabric or supplies. I will take photos as I go and post a blog after the wedding, as I sure as hell won't have time before then!

I have had a particularly trying few months representing myself in a difficult court case has been on going since September. I am recently un-employed and suing my old company, they owe me a lot of money and left me in a right state. Unfortunately this takes up all my free time so I haven't had much chance to look for a new job let alone get any sewing done!

I had a break from the paper work over Christmas so was able to concentrate on enjoying myself, I have made some head way on a few costumes and looking forward to the year ahead. I had to make some changes to any planned costumes have chucked 2 out completely and now have another brand new one on the cards. Its necessary as I have some good news and am expecting a baby in the summer, Faye Valentine yellow PVC hotpants are definitely out the window lol

I have finished Kaylees overalls and will post some photos but am disappointed I wont be able to wear them for a good while. I have toyed with the idea of wearing with a belt and hanging the top half behind me like some mechanics do, to free my (what will be by then) large baby bump but I would have to have Dave dressed Simon as my "Baby Daddy" for it to be funny :)

Also I have nearly finished a new costume of Ponyos Mother. She is a stunning sea goddess with long red hair who can change her shape and size, shes mysterious wise and serene. I already made a long blue dress for a summer ball when I was at college and it is stretchy enough for bumb so I can wear that. I have made some jewellery and still need to add some long sleeves. If Dave will let me I can dress him as Ponyos father the human wizard and we can be a prequel pair :)

Halloween 2010

I don't know what to wear! I could have a French maid, Wonder Woman or Kaylee from "Friefly". All 3 need a bit of work and as I am off work I do have time to tweek them, I also have a couple more options (nurse pirate etc) but I prefer the 3 listed above. What do you think?

Kawinnet J Frye

Kaylee! Sqwee ^_^

I adore Firefly, the frontier scifi show from genius Joss Wheadon, the series that certainly is a case of quality over quantity. I love the crew of serenity but Kaylee has something special about her, and it wouldn't be hard to stay in character whilst wearing her costume!

First of all I bought a parasol with the intention of painting it but so far I've been un-able to find a suitable silk shirt to wear with it so for now I'm sticking with normal mechanic Kaylee. I searched a long time to find suitable overalls and finally found this great pair from Uncle Sam. Shipping from the US was as much as the item itself so I decided to buy 2 and try to sell a second complete costume online to help towards costs.

There are three patches on Kaylee's coveralls: the bear, the heart, and the flower.

The size of the flower is 1.25" x 1.5" and it has a yellow centre.

From yet another long search came the 2 smaller patches on the front of her overalls. Although the heart and flower seem to be home-made or crochet on Kaylees overalls I have bought some iron on patches made from shiny material, and the flower also has a little glitter but the size and colours are right. Despite not being spot on they cute and I know kaylee would approve :) I attached a heavy metal zip to the front of the overalls, removed the sleeves and tweaked the shape of the jump suit to make it a more flattering shape for a curvy woman such as myself.

I used sand paper to age the pockets, knees and other hard wearing areas. I found very few resources for the characters on Kaylee's trousers, but this one is amazing. After I had decorated the Chinese doodles, I used spray paint and oil to dirty it up - it was good fun! When I was done I washed the whole thing about 6 times, sometimes with some lightener, to give it a well broken in look. I searched for a long time and did find a good copy but it was too much money so eventually bought a long sleeved tee-shirt on ebay, its not perfect but again I'm sure it would definitely be approved by Kaylee herself :)

Special thanks to Maggie at http://www.costumersguide.com/