Friends, I’ve let another blog ship float past. I’ve had all this fun with the wedding dress - and let me tell you, I’ve been really very good to document all the steps I think you’ll find interesting - but have I had time to actually write up any posts? That’s a big fat nope, isn’t it? It’s been over two months since I last checked in with you, and oh, how I’ve missed it! I was so busy sewing, and making lists, and crossing things off lists, and undertaking strange errands like going to the home improvement store to buy earplugs in bulk, and driving up gravel roads that hug literal cliff faces to scout photo locations deserving of this dress which I have spent my year working on, and more importantly, deserving of the documentation of my love for the crazy guy who’s let me keep an embroidery frame that’s nearly as tall as I am in the kitchen for the last eight months. I’ve had no time to tell you about any of these things!
Jon and I managed to successfully plan our wedding and then HAVE our wedding two weeks ago - February 2nd, 2019. Even more impressively, nobody’s clothes fell apart and there were no major catastrophes (it rained in the morning but cleared up by 10, and there was a small thing with the boutonnieres not staying pinned, but Mom saved the day on that one). The whole thing was altogether drama-free, beautiful, hilarious, and fun. Everyone cried at the ceremony, everyone laughed at the reception. I smudged cake on Jon’s nose. Our dear friend and photographer Wojciech took 5000 photos (literally) which I’ve just gotten hold of a few days ago, and we’re both having lots of fun going through them. I’ll post more soon!
I’m dropping in today to tell you that I’ve not, in fact, fallen off the face of the earth - that I am alive and well with only minimal bloody pin pricks and wedding dress related panics (minimal - not entirely without either of those things, but I’ll tell you about that later) and to tell you that, I was trying so hard to write posts about things like the dyeing fabric, the beading, and the coutil understructure of the dress when in fact the dress was done and I’d also made not one but five Suki Kimonos for us to wear as dressing gowns while we get ready, plus Jon’s button-up shirt, waistcoat (complete with three double-welt pockets, hand tailored understructure, and pocket square to match my dress, and pants (vintage wool. You’ll die. I die.) Also, the flower crown. The bridesmaid’ hair flowers. The printed stuff like menus and cute little labels that match our invitations, which I made in, what, March? I still haven’t told you about those. We’ve been off traveling and hanging out with my parents and altogether having a blast (as you can tell from the photos!)
I want to tell you all the dirty details. I desperately want to hole up for a week and do nothing but write about seams in bias silk gauze, about the new thing I learned concerning silk gauze’s tendency to ‘crepe up', about holding correct tension with a tambour hook and blocking the wind of your breath from your scales as you measure dye, and adding all your fabric at once to a dye pot without it bunching up. I want to start dropping photos into the blog editor and tell you about all the things you need to know if you undertake a project like this. And I will. I promise I will. I’ve taken such good notes so I don’t forget a single solitary thing. As soon as I get my post-wedding self organized, I’m starting right where I left off.
I do want to tell you one quick thing, though - in addition to proving that I’m still alive. It’s a bit time critical and it doesn’t make sense to keep it from you longer than I need to so here we are. You know how ages ago I mentioned thinking about getting a little label to sew into my finished makes? It was when I finished my vintage barrel coat. I felt like it needed something - you know? Something to say “I am finished!”. )
I’ve had the incredible fortune experience of being able to use Instagram to find a few other makers who were (or are) making their wedding dresses at the same time I was - when you find people in such a similar position, of course you swap stories. Saki Jane was one such seamstress. Her dress is incredible, and I so enjoyed the little glimpses of process I saw on her blog and on Instagram! Saki had an idea to add personalized wedding labels to the garments she made for her day, and I just positively fell head over heels with that concept.
It was truly serendipitous timing when Abby from the Dutch Label Shop contacted me and asked if I’d like to try out their labels in exchange for some feedback - now, this was in October and I was in the throes of wedding dress embroidery and absolutely not considering anything involving additional deadlines, but her email arrived the day after I’d been on their website looking at wedding label options so I could hardly say no, could I? I feel it’s important to say there was no requirement of blog post in exchange for the labels - only some honest feedback - and to be honest, I wouldn’t have said yes if that had been required. But! Abby generously offered up a coupon code for you all, and I thought of the satisfying moment I sewed that first label in, and didn’t think you’d want to miss out on a little discount!
I ordered the minimum quantity (30) of wedding labels - I’ll have some leftover, there’s no way I’m making 30 garments - and I picked a font, my colors, and a cute little heart-airplane logo that felt appropriate for a relationship founded on travel. I fussed a bit with how I wanted the text to appear, but their tool is pretty easy to use and fairly true to the finished product, which is helpful. I also ordered some non-wedding labels with my little ‘KatMakes’ logo on them, but I chose poorly in the color department and the little kitty logo behind the A is very hard to see - I’ll pick a better color next time. To their credit, they are not at all scratchy on the back of the neck, and the weave is incredibly crisp and detailed. I was super impressed with that, actually. I’m definitely planning to order more when I run out - just going to redesign a bit and choose a color that works better for my logo.
I had a really satisfying time of sewing the labels into all my wedding makes - the kimonos, Jon’s clothes, my dress. They’ll be great little reminders of the day when we wear our dressing gowns, and when Jon [hopefully] wears the clothes I made for him again in the future. I’ve definitely felt over the past few projects that adding a label makes them feel particularly ‘done’ - you know? Cross that sucker right off the to-do list because there’s nothing left to do!
If you’d like to snag yourself some labels - wedding or otherwise - use the code katklebenow15 to get 15% off your order - and then tag me in photos (or email them to me!) so that I can see all the fabulously amazing things you’re marking ‘done’ with your labels! The code is valid until April 4, 2019.
Now. I have a broken-down list of at least 10 more wedding dress progress blog posts to work through, and I’m starting them right up next week. It feels a bit odd to have finished up 2018 and moved on to the new year without any kind of round up of everything I DID make (and there were a few things - up until the beginning of the Project Wedding Dress Embargo in August! Plus, I feel a bit like my new year is starting now, post-wedding, rather than at the usual time in January…) so I’m hoping to include one of those as well… A March roundup, perhaps. Plus updates on everything I am making now that I’m free from the dress deadline!
See you soon!