Getting Started - Wedding Dress

I am so excited to share this post with you! I have started the wedding dress. Well, demo mode anyway.  If you haven't seen it before, this is the dress I started with (in ivory, not champagne). The bodice and outer layer will be remade, the inner layers will remain the same, and the sash...well, I just don't know what I am doing with it. 

Also, since this is a December wedding, I plan to add a shrug. My original plan was to make the shrug out of lace, but it may end up satin instead. It just depends on what I can find to make it out of. 

For those of you who don't know, our wedding is going to be very country with the guys wearing Wrangler 47 MWZ pre-washed jeans and my girls wearing boots with their dresses. In order to be uniquely me, I plan to make my dress out of denim, with some satin and lace to keep a traditional feel.I am so blessed to say that Wrangler has GENEROUSLY provided the exact material that the jeans are made of for my endeavor. The only problem is that they couldn't pre-wash the denim without streaking it so I will have to find a way to was it myself before ever letting it touch the satin as the blue from the denim could bleed onto the satin. The outer skirt is one HUGE piece, instead of sections pieced together, so I have no idea how to wash it without the streaking issues that they had at the factory. If you have any hints, tips or tricks, please feel free to share them. 

The first step was taking the dress apart at the seams.  It was a tedious process but it was so much fun sharing this time and experience with my sweet little girl. 

When you undertake a project like this, it's important to have some extra hands to pull gently as you pull the seams. Just be sure they don't pull too hard so as not to rip any material. Also, when dealing with fabric, remember to wash your hands and working surface so that you don't stain your fabric.

Although very wrinkled from storage, this beautiful piece is the inner layers of the skirting, the part of the original dress that will be part of the new dress.

 This is the original bodice, made for a shorter bodied woman, and of course, not denim.

This is the original outer skirt, beautiful and full, but also, not denim. I will use this piece as the pattern and remake this exact piece out of the 47 MWZ denim. I am thinking of making this part removable, to make dancing easier. 

I know that several of you are following along with the process and I just thank you so much! I can't wait to share the finished product with you! Check back soon!

DIY Jewelry Storage

I have been trying to find a way to store my jewelry for some time now. I tried adhesive hooks stuck to the wall, and that didn't go so well. So I have been thinking and thinking and came up with this:

 

 Sorry for the poor exposure on the picture, but you get the idea anyway. I wanted a way to have my jewelry easily accessible when I am dressing. My husband built me this gorgeous dressing table and I love it for getting ready. He hand bent every piece of iron and we found an old coffee table top for the top (I still haven't decided what color to paint it, that's why it looks so awful. 

I don't want a huge jewelry box sitting on my table. Every one I have ever had, the jewelry gets lost, bunched up and tarnished inside of it. I also couldn't spend a whole lot of money on some of the beautiful Etsy jewelry storage ideas I had found. So I found a $10 curtain rod and a $5 package of window panels and thought, "I could hang this behind my table and use drapery hooks and hang my necklaces and bracelets from the curtain panel."

When I got the curtains hung, they were so pretty, I didn't want to poke the hooks all through them. So I decided to use the rod and it turned out great! Necklaces with the curtain. Any that didn't have a clasp went on the end, so they could be easily accessed.

 

I hung the bracelets and anklets along the middle so that my view of the mirror wouldn't be blocked. I also hung an old scarf that came with my travel bag on the end to clip my big barrette on. That is where I used the drapery hooks, to hang my bangle bracelets and watch from. 

Then for the earrings, I dug in the cupboard and found an old dollar tree glass the I had gotten a few years back for decoration and hung my hook earrings around the edge and put my rings and a few collectibles inside. (The rings won't be here permanently, as soon as I find a certain thrift store piece I'm looking for, I will post a DIY ring holder as well.) I don't have many pair of post earrings, but those that I do, I poked through the curtain itself at the top where it is thickest and won't run. 

 So, for less than $20, I think I got a pretty and practical way to store my jewelry. If you like it, please share it. If you try it, please post a comment with a link to your pictures, everyone would love to see!!