Bridesmaid

A couple weeks ago, I was a bridesmaid in a friend's wedding.  I have known my friend Rachel since I was a freshman in high school.  She was in junior high, and I was assigned to lead a discipleship group that included her.  We have been great friends ever since.

I previously mentioned, as I ranted about my overwhelming to-do list, that I had to alter my own dress.  It was one of the most challenging projects I have taken on (definitely up there with the Easter play costumes from this spring), and it built my confidence as a seamstress.

I had to:

1. Shorten the straps
2. Take in the waist
3. Move the belt loops
4. Take up the hem
5. Add fabric to the neckline

Here I am in the finished product on the big day--with the beautiful bride!

Once I got home that night, I had Jared take a few shots of me in the dress before I took it off.  I wanted to have something to show for all my hard work!  (Plus I don't imagine I'll be wearing this dress again...No offense Rachel!)



Here, I added lines to show where the original neckline was:

And now without the lines:

I used the material I cut off the hem to fill in the bust.  Before this fix, you could actually see a couple inches of my bra.  Not pretty.  So I overlapped the fabric strips to mimic the existing style of the top.

I loved the pockets on the dress.

I borrowed earrings from my sister, wore my favorite necklace that has my kids' names on silver discs, and found the shoes at Payless for $20. 

My sister did my hair at 8:40 that morning, and these pictures were taken about 8:30 that night.  My hair was a little funky in a few places (the bridal party pictures were taken outside on a very cold, windy day), but I was pretty impressed with how well the curl held up.

This was one of those projects that stressed me out every day for quite some time, and it all ended up working out just fine.  My dress didn't burst open at the seams as I walked down the aisle (yes, that was an actual fear of mine). 

I also have to share the super fun gift that the bride gave me.  She created individual gift baskets for me and the other two bridesmaids, each tailored to our hobbies.  Here's mine:

She gave me a basket of sewing goodies!  It included fabric bundles, pretty pins, and ribbons.

One of the other bridesmaids received a baking basket (cake pan, frosting bags and tips, and cupcake liners) and the other received a knitting basket (fancy yarns, a new pattern, etc.).  I just thought it was so clever of Rachel to give us personalized gifts like that.  Perhaps her ideas will inspire you to put together little personalized baskets for people on your Christmas list.

Jessica