The little Red Brick House that could

This is the story of a really lucky dressmaker who will be flip flopping a house.  This is an impossible dream I have had for years.  It is still a dream that compels me to do some pretty loud commuter singing on the way to the house in the morning.  I really can't describe the complete joy, stress, happiness, anticipation, and sense of doom I feel on an hourly basis.... and I love it!

This is the Living room.  I do love the brick and stove.  The space is cozy.  The room with the accordion doors will be walled up and turned into the master bedroom that it once was.  

A nice shot of the original bath and sink.  Love the fixtures.  

Details... the wallpaper has been partially removed at this moment.  

The front door will be staying.  

The kitchen.  

I am posting these so whoever is interested gets the feel for the house before anything has been done.  It is a very sweet home, which you can't create with shiny surfaces.  I do believe a home becomes sweet from the people who live their lives within.  

Here is the reason I get to live out this dream of mine...  my dad.  He might be the Coolest Dad Ever.  He is also retired and is a sucker for a good project.  He is so single minded, I can't get him to take a day off.  

Genetically we are similar and because of that we make a dangerous pair.  He will say, "Lets take out all of the electricity and replace it starting from the pole outside."  A  normal person would say, "I don't know about that, isn't it a bit overboard?"  But because I am my father's daughter, I say, "Perfect, let's do it!"  

This will be the first installment of the Dressmaker's Red Brick House Flip.  I know it isn't appropriate for a dress blog, but I do find so many similarities between homes and dresses.  Plus, my friends and family seem interested, so thank you for humoring me.  

   

The (Epic) Story of Kristi

Kristi contacted me months ago about the Heidi gown.  She lives in New Jersey so coming out would be a huge effort.  After a while she emailed me and said she was coming.  Her bridesmaid was game and they decided to make it a girl's weekend.  

Then it snowed and snowed and snowed back East.  

Her bridesmaid was stuck and couldn't make it to the airport... but Kristi could.  So she scrambled to switch the bridesmaid's flight to her future mother in law.  It didn't work, despite having the most helpful airport ticket counter woman trying everything she could.  In tears,  Kristi got on the plane and flew to Utah.  It really wasn't what she had envisioned.  That is a lot of effort for a gown, especially now that it became a solo trip.  

Kristi came for the first measure on Saturday morning.  She stayed and played legos with the boys while I made the pattern and sewed the muslin for the first fitting.  It was so pleasant to have this great woman hanging out and engaging with the boys.  It makes me tear up just writing this.  The boys knew it would be a good weekend.  They knew this bride is cool.  

Well, she is.

Here is a bit of background on Kristi....

  Kristi has wanted to teach children with disabilities for most of her life.  She teaches 10 sweet kids with the help of 5 wonderful aids.  The way she talks about her kids is amazing.  As a mother, I would be in heaven if she was my children's teacher.  Not only that, these kids are with her for their whole elementary education!  She will have all of her kids in her wedding including 4 that have moved on to middle school.  From the looks of things, Kristi is a major influence of greatness in the lives of these kids and their families.  I know I sound a bit over the top, but if you were to meet her, you would agree.  

(Note, the dress isn't finished in this pictures)

Because it is such a fast paced dress, the house is catastrophic by the time the dress looks like a dress.  It is okay, though, because the kids were so content.  Every time Kristi came for a fitting, the kids benefited by having good conversation and play time with her.  

Kristi told the boys that she has bears coming up to her house regularly.  It is quite crazy in our heads.  We live in the middle of no where and there has only been one bear sighting in 16 years.  She has bear and she lives close to NYC. On the last day of her stay, the boys went on a hike and brought their stuffed bear and moose.  They wanted to take pictures of them to show Kristi.  Slade is showing her a picture of a "moose" and "bear" they saw in the wild. 

While my brides are visiting, I love to suggest places for them to eat and visit while here.  They will go to my favorite places for dinner while I sew.  This time, I pushed the process along so I would have a few hours to get dinner with Kristi.  On the last night we went up to Sundance and while we had dinner I beaded.  I know that makes me the dorky dressmaker, but it was really nice to escape the house and have extra time to visit.  Oh, and I had the best steak sandwich ever!  

I feel so lucky that Kristi made the effort to come out despite the change in travel plans.  I am always so impressed by the people I get to work with during the dressmaking process.  

Lindsay and David's Groomals

Lindsay and her mom made me laugh so often because of their enthusiasm for the dressmaking process.  I love working with people that are so happy and bright.  It is frosting on the cake to have Kate Benson capture such classic images.  Can you believe this one?  Amazing.

Lindsay brought up David one night and the boys were delighted to give him a guitar and ukulele concert.  They also sneaked up with the camera to take a secret photo of her in her dress.  Slade drew a picture, so David could see what the dress looked like.  They loved the unexpected visitor.   He was a great sport!

I love how these black and white photos are so intimate.  

Just perfect.

Olivia's Gown, day 3 and 4

Day 3

This is a continuation of Olivia's 3.5 day dressmaking experience.  

Check here for the first half.

Here is an example of the small adjustments I make to perfect the fit.  You can see the original seam line and the pins are indicating the new one.  Looks like it is an adjustment of about an eighth of an inch.  Silly.  

After all of the adjustments are made, it is time to finalize the bodice. That means sew the seams with a small stitch instead of the basting stitch used initially.  I have used many layers and need to trim some of the seams quite closely.  This helps the seams lay better in the end.  I learned this from Susan Khalje.  Another life changing resource for the dressmaker.  I have taken two classes from her I will forever be grateful for the things I learned.    

 I hand stitched the channels for the spiral boning on the inside.  Also something Susan taught me.  You can see the effect in above photo.  

There would have been another fitting that I don't have pictures of.  Darn it.  

We would have placed the sleeves in the appropriate place at that time.  We also marked the hem, which I am always excited about.  It just cleans the look up so nicely.  I like to use horse hair for this.  It gives the hem a nice bit of personality in my opinion.  

 This is the last fitting of the day.  Olivia and her mom are here in the evening.  If all is well, this fitting is used to address the small details, check the fit, the hem, and finalize the jewels. 

The dress is due tomorrow.  I have a huge amount to do before they leave.  I expect to stay up extremely late on the last night of an out of town bride's dress.  The finish work always takes ten times as long as I think it should. 

I always hit a wall about midnight.  That is when the BBC news comes on.  It is depressing for a bit and then I get my second wind, thankfully.  

*

Day 3 for Olivia and her mom included a morning fitting, lunch in Park City, and a lift ride at Sundance Resort.  It is an enviable day in my opinion.  They then had the evening fitting pictured above then dinner at The Tortilla Bar in Orem.  That place is the ultimate when it comes to interesting and refreshing combinations of flavors.  I love the hanger steak tacos and the avocado tacos.  The melon salad is insane, in a good way.  

This photo features the lift ride at Sundance.  So relaxing.  

*

Day 4

This is the final moment.  Whew.  We place the jewels on the finished dress.  Olivia and her mom found a necklace with blue stones.  I took it apart and nestled one of the jewels on the neckline for that "something blue".  

They will go on an errand for an hour or so while I sew on the jeweled neckline and add the button detail.  I am pretty relaxed at this point.  Looks like the dress came together and we can send the dress off with the bride on her afternoon flight.  

Thanks for the great experience Olivia!  It was fun to work on your dress and get to know you and your mom.  I shouldn't say this, but I think Olivia's mom teared up a bit when they left.  

Now isn't that just the perfect ending?  

The Olivia Gown, Day 1 and 2

Day 1

 I always love to work with my out of town brides.  Olivia is no exception!  I thought you might enjoy seeing a day by day report of Olivia and her mother's time out here.  She lives in Chicago and her mom lives in Lewisville.  Since they don't live around each other, the trip turned out to be a "mother-daughter" bonding time.  It is great that I get to be part of something like that. The above picture is what it looks like to arrive for your first measure.  It must be so daunting to fly out without knowing what is in store.  Hopefully this post gives you an idea of the process.

The first meeting involves sketching up the dress and making sure fabric choices are perfect.  I send out fabric samples ahead of time, but seeing a smaller piece is so different than seeing yards and yards.  

I measured Olivia using the most amazing technique I learned from Mr. Kenneth King.  Kenneth learned how to do "The Moulage" from quite the teacher back in the day.  He has written up instructions in a very easy to follow book.  It has changed my life!  If you are a dressmaker, you need this book!

Off subject, I know.  

Day 2

Back to Olivia.  We met later in the day, so I didn't see Olivia for our second meeting until the next morning.  This is what the first fit looks like.  It is made of a muslin and if I am lucky, it is close to the intended dress shape.  Olivia is living well, so there were only minor adjustments.  

I have to take steps to get the neckline to lay correctly.  Especially when you consider the weight that will be attached here later.  The pleats, darts, and tucks are adjusted now so the dress will behave later.  I also draw the shape of the neckline at this point.   

Olivia and her mom are off the hook for half the day after this fitting.  This is when I take the muslin apart and make all of the adjustments.   

Then I lay the real fabrics out.  The linings, silk, and any other supportive fabrics that are needed.  They are cut out.  I then sew the boning casings on to the inner layer.  Once completed, I hand sew the layers together before sewing the dress together.  Probably not making sense at this point.  It isn't you, it is me.  I shouldn't be trying to explain myself this late at night.  

Because this is an "out of town bride" I need to be working on all aspects of the dress at once.  So if I have a break, I work on the jewels for the neckline.  It is important that I have things coming along in case I am wandering in the wrong direction creatively.  

Quite a few hours later, Olivia and her mom are back for a fitting with the real fabric.  This is when you can see the essence of the dress.  We also look at the neckline jewels and make sure I am on track.  

I am the one trying to bring in the sides of the dress while successfully avoiding being in the picture.  It just looks weird, I know.  

***

Between the two fittings,  Olivia and her mom went up to S.L.C. to do a bit of shopping and see the sights.  This is Olivia in the Tabernacle at Temple Square. 

Olivia did her homework before arriving.  She had a list of the best places to eat around here.  I do enjoy steering my brides towards places to eat.  Olivia's list of restaurants matched mine.  So I think they did Pizzeria 712 for dinner that night.  Dang, now I am craving their housemade sausage, caramelized onion, roasted fennel, tomato sauce, mozzarella pizza right now.  

I am getting pretty tuckered.  I don't know if it is because I am thinking of the intense 3.5 day wedding dress or because it is just getting late.  We will continue the story another day.  There are only 1.5 days left to complete the dress.  Will it get done?  Will there be a canine at the wedding party with a bow tie?  These questions will be answered at a later time.

***

Lace and Grace update

Day One of the Lace and Grace RIverwoods bridal event.  I didn't sleep at all last night.  I think I was suffering from some food possening.  Did you know that up here the birds start chirping at 4:30 in the morning.  Crazy huh?  

Well, I crawled out of bed in the morning, took some awesome medicine, and then I could at least stand up.  I called my friend Michele and asked for HELP.  She came through like a rockstar!   I had the needed help to put things together and be ready for the event.  Thanks Michele. 

The rest of the day was full of good friends and family coming out to check out the event and  chat.  I finally got to introduce so many of my favorite people to one another! 

Then, to end the day, Val Rasmussen, the Editor of Utah Bride and Groom,  posted the kindest thing....

MELISSA BLACKBURN AT LACE & GRACE BRIDAL FAIR

---

May 17th 2013

She's hot and Utah is lucky to have her. Gown designer, Melissa Blackburn, has become one of our favorite local wedding crushes and you can meet her in her pop-up showroom at this weekend's Lace & Grace Bridal Fair at The Shops at Riverwoods. 

If you can't make it to the Fair, follow Melissa's design process from sketch to stitch to saying "I do" on her new facebook page.

Photography by Amelia Lyon

Wishing you all a good night!  M

Photography by Green Apple Photography

Lace and Grace Event + Give Away

Mark Williams, who is an extraordinary wedding planner based out of the The Manor at the Riverwoods, is throwing a party.  It isn't a Bridal Fair in the normal sense of the word.  No, in Riverwoods style, it will feel more like a community event, The Lace and Grace Event.  

Next Friday and Saturday, May 17th and 18th from 11-8, there will be an outdoor market featuring wedding vendors.  There will be classes for the bride to be, a fashion show, The Beehive Bazaar will be taking place, and I am going to set up shop for the weekend as well.  

This event fits well with what I have been hankering to do lately.  I have wanted to gather some of my favorite dresses and my favorite people and throw a party.  Mark has taken care of the event part of the deal.  This weekend I get to sit back, take a deep breath, and show some of you details on these gowns in which I spent way to much of my time.  I think it is a way to justify the work I have been doing for so many years.  

Mark invited me to be inside The Manor.  It is a beautiful space with huge windows for decorating and plenty of area to display gowns.  I have spent the last week working on a window display which will include a copper tree that I have been soldering obsessively in my dad's garage.  I like a good excuse to work with my dad on random projects.       

The dresses will be a collection of dresses from the last 4 or so years.  Here are some that I picked up yesterday.  My house is filling up with frothy craziness.  

To get the word out, I am offering a bit of a give away.  Five hand made silk roses to five (hopefully) lucky people.  

 



TO ENTER

Like, comment, and share my newly started facebook page.  

OR

Blog about this post.  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

I am looking forward to some great conversation and fun times at The Riverwoods.  Come join us this weekend!