The new Sara Goff

Life is funny sometimes.

A couple years ago, my husband’s brother Brian introduced us to his friend Sara, whose daughter’s name was pronounced just like our daughter’s name. We all had a little chuckle about the coincidence. Sara and Ava and Sarah and Eva. After they’d left, my husband leaned over and grinned, “Wouldn’t it be funny if they got married some day?”

Wouldn’t it just.

Well fast forward to June of this year, and Brian and Sara let us know they had some big news: they were engaged, and expecting a baby.

I, of course, was tickled pink. Babies and weddings are two of my favorite things, after all. I congratulated them and asked all sorts of questions (How soon would the baby come? How soon would the wedding come?) before asking the two things I *really* wanted to know:

Would you like me to make your dress? And,

Do you plan to take Brian’s last name?

At first, Sara thought it would be better to find a simple ready-to-wear sundress for the big day, and perhaps enlist my help to alter it or add some special touches to give it a more bridal feel. They planned on a brief engagement and a casual wedding, and going all out on a custom gown seemed unnecessary. But, when she went searching, the sundress of her dreams was nowhere to be found. Sara is a breathtaking woman who has a beautifully proportioned full figure. She has an hourglass shape but, in a plus size and with a baby bump starting to grow, the options are limited. Since at least part of the wedding was to be held outdoors (in August, in Florida), she wanted a lightweight breathable fabric like cotton. For the most flattering fit, she ideally wanted something empire waisted, A-lined, and knee length. She never wears sleeveless garments and her wedding day would be no exception – so this cotton sundress would need to have sleeves. She couldn’t find anything to meet those criteria anywhere, and time was rapidly running out. I told her that if the design was simple enough for it to be possible, I’d be happy to make her dress for her. For clients, I almost never agree to take on rush orders. But Sara’s family now and that’s a whole different story.

Before this, I’d have told you it wasn’t possible – but Sara and I created her wedding dress in just over two weeks’ time (largely in my off hours, as I also  needed to continue work for my existing client)!

One of the things that made it possible was that Sara used to design and sew a lot of her own clothing. Apart from having a clear vision of what she wanted and how it would flatter her figure, she also had an idea of what sort of design would be simple to make. She also had the ability to convey this design clearly and quickly to me. Sara sent me a sketch, I made a couple of suggestions, and we set a time for her to come over to get started.

Before she came, I pulled out every scrap of white fabric in my stock. Due to the time and budget constraints, we needed to use materials that were already on hand as much as possible. As crazy as it felt to suggest it, I offered cotton muslin as my recommendation for the main fabric on her dress. I buy muslin in bulk so I knew I had plenty to use for the main and lining fabrics, and I knew it would breathe well and feel soft against her skin. I also knew that muslin looks like, well… muslin. Unless you do something about it.

I also had a length of white lace I’d purchased long ago for a vague idea that never took shape; I thought it would be great to add a lace overlay to the muslin. The lace was a nice open mesh that would maintain the lightweight, breathable comfort of the muslin but dress it up considerably! Sara agreed to both fabrics. We turned our attention to the sash she wanted to wear around her waist. I suggested we use black fabric for the sash, which would match the flower girl’s dresses. As fortune would have it, I had about a half yard of black satin leftover from some prior garment. We were in business.

I took Sara’s measurements and she took our daughters to another room to distract them while I frantically drafted a pattern, and cut out some muslin for a quick mock up. From the time she stepped foot through my door until we finished her mock-up fitting took only three hours! And, half of the mock-up was useable in her actual dress. We were efficient little worker bees.

From there to completion only took a couple more days’ sewing, and about a week of hand beading in front of the TV in the evenings. This was by far the fastest little wedding dress I’ve ever made. But what delights me further is that at a glance you’d never guess this was thrown together in two weeks using leftover materials. For all our haste and thrift, it actually is the dress she wanted!

The wedding was lovely. They had a casual, intimate ceremony, with close friends and family in attendance. I was so happy to be able to contribute to their special day!

Since my husband and daughter were both in the wedding (and, since I am apparently a crazy person) I decided to make my dress for the wedding as well. Something simple and casual, that would be comfortable in the summer heat but that was decidedly newer than most of my wardrobe. Here we are together with the rest of the groom’s family.

Oh! And in case you wondered about that other question I asked her back in June: Sara’s hyphenating.

Congratulations to Brian Goff and Sara Eatherton-Goff!

Rachel’s Wedding

Like so many people, when real life beckons, my blog goes on hold. But I’ve been prompted today to return, and so I am at last, nearly a year later, blogging about Rachel’s wedding day.

It was perfect.

Rachel and Danny were married on October 30 of last year, in a beautiful outdoor venue called Cross Creek Ranch. They took their vows in the late afternoon, standing under the spreading branches of a huge grandfather oak tree. As the sun set, we moved to an open air barn set with beautiful tables and strung all over with Christmas lights. Their wedding had a strong autumnal theme, with just a pinch of Halloween spirit added to the mix: a candy bar in lieu of traditional party favors, a Corpse Bride cake topper, and Rachel’s purple Iron Fist zombie shoes.

I was privileged to get to come early to dress Rachel, and to stay to attend the wedding. What a splendid treat for me! All through the creation of her dress, we discussed her wedding plans, and we fine tuned some of our vision for the gown to fit that day. It showed. Looking back, I can’t imagine a different gown for Rachel. And at the same time, I can’t picture her exact gown on anyone else or at any other wedding. It just fit.

Even before I helped Rachel into her gown, she was beaming. Even in her zip-up sweatshirt, there was no mistaking that she was the bride. She simply radiated joy and anticipation. But in her gown… the room full of bridesmaids and family members fell silent for a moment as I laced her up. She was really breathtaking. And just as importantly, she felt beautiful. Every bride deserves that experience on her wedding day.

And, watching her walk hand in hand with her new husband, I was as excited for Rachel as for any of my dear friends. Now, almost a year later, there’s even more to be excited about: she and her husband are expecting their first baby!

Don’t you just love weddings?

All of the photos in this post are courtesy of Rachel’s professional wedding photographer, Joel Cocker of Custom Art Cafe.

A long overdue, much anticipated post

Well after the many months of work on Rachel’s gown, the day after we moved to our new house we met for her final fitting and a photoshoot in her gorgeous gown. In the weeks that followed her wedding, I began blogging about the whole process of creating her gown, and just before I got to a post with the photos from our shoot, my laptop died.

I had not backed the photos up.

I hadn’t backed anything up in several months, and there were other things more urgent to recreate than those photos, so my blogging got pushed to the back burner for several months.

Then a little miracle happened. Searching through my sent emails for a particular message, I found photos from that shoot that I had emailed. These, at least, were saved!

So, many months later, I am proud to introduce you to my bride Rachel:

More photos to come soon… I found a few shots I took at her wedding that were salvaged, and I’ve contacted her professional photographer who is allowing me to use some of his photos as well.

How Much Does it Cost?

This is probably the question I’m asked most frequently. It’s probably the question most dressmakers are asked most frequently. And the short answer, as unsatisfactory as it may be, is “it depends.”

Generally speaking, a custom made garment will cost more than an off-the-rack garment. And generally speaking, it will be considerably better made, will fit you better, and will last longer. There are sometimes exceptions to the rule that custom costs more; some high end designers charge an incredible premium for  their name on the label, and I don’t, so there’s a savings in that. Some things tend to be marked up far more than they need to be when they’re sold in stores – like overpriced veils at bridal salons. But generally speaking, off-the-rack clothes are mass produced, and there’s an economy of scale there that is lost in the world of one-of-a-kind. When I sew a custom garment, I draft a unique pattern specific to the design my client has requested, sized to her precise measurements rather than a “dress size.” I personally help to select the fabrics for her garment, cut them by hand, and sew a garment for her that has never existed before. I devote several hours to the design process, the pattern drafting, the materials shopping, and the muslin fitting, even before beginning work on her actual garment, that off-the-rack clothing manufacturers don’t have to do (or perhaps only have to do once in every thousand or hundred thousand or million garments they churn out). The quality of the garment and of the experience a dressmaker provides are incomparable to buying a garment on a hanger. The price reflects this. Still, how much it costs, depends.

It depends on how complex the design for your garment is. I will draft your pattern, sew a mock-up, fit you, and cut and sew your final garment.  If your garment is, for example, an unlined shift dress made from 3 pieces of fabric cut from 2 pattern pieces, each and every one of these steps is going to take considerably less time than if your garment is an elaborate bridal gown with a fitted bodice, corset style back, full ballgown skirt with over lays and pickups and the like. The last bridal gown I made had 27 unique pattern pieces when all was said and done and took a little over 100 hours to cut and sew (which is in addition to time spent discussing the design with my client, shopping for materials, and thinking about the best approach to constructing her gown). The level of complexity has a big impact on the total price.

It depends on what fabrics you choose. Some fabrics cost considerably more than others and some fabrics require special care to work with. To the best of my ability, I’ll let you know when it’s worth the extra expense – when it will make your garment really fabulous, and when it will make your garment more durable and able to last longer. Sometimes there are a variety of fabrics that are suitable. If you fall in love with the most expensive fabric, the price of your garment will reflect that.

It depends on how much fabric you need. A full length dress requires more yardage than a knee length dress. A ballgown silohuette takes more fabric than a narrow A-line. A gown with multiple layers in the skirt takes more fabric than a dress with a single layer. More fabric costs more because there’s a greater material cost, and also because it takes more time to cut, sew, and hem the extra length.

It depends on how fast you need it. Rush orders cost more, if I’m able to take them on at all. It’s not just because I prefer not to be rushed; they cost me more too, since there are rush fees for any materials I have to order extra quickly, and since my working overtime costs me money in other places (like a babysitter while I hem your dress or pizza for dinner three nights in a week when I’m too busy sewing to cook). Orders placed early on are more cost effective, and usually more fun as well.

So you can see, there are a lot of factors that go into determining the price for a custom garment (it’s not nearly as simple as how much “a bridal gown” costs). When you send me a quote request on my website, I’ll always respond with follow up questions to try to get a clearer understanding of your goals, both for the design of your garment and the budget you’d like me to respect. Please believe, I’m not trying to gain some sort of negotiating upper hand. I’m trying to be sure that as we discuss the design options, I make recommendations that are appropriate for your goals. I don’t want to tempt you with fabrics or design options that are outside your budget any more than I’d want to make suggestions that are contrary to the vision you want to achieve. My passion in this job is to help other women – to help your design become reality, help you create a garment you couldn’t find out there already.

So I’m thrilled to work with you to make your vision fit your budget when it’s possible; I can do all of the following things to help achieve this: I can recommend design elements that fit your budget. I can help you find good values in fabrics and other materials. I can construct your garment well, so that it lasts longer than off-the-rack clothes and is more affordable in the long run. I can make your garment to fit you properly, so that alterations are not needed as an extra expense. And I can take the time to listen to your needs and ensure that the value you have in your custom garment are worth every penny that it costs.

But, there are also compromises I won’t make to reduce the cost of your garment. I won’t use fabrics that are poor quality or ill suited to the design you want. I won’t promise more than I can deliver for the budget and time frame at our disposal. I won’t cut corners on the construction. And, so that I don’t have to, I won’t undercharge for my labor. You are investing in a one-of-a-kind garment that is supposed to be beautiful and unique to you; I’m committed to the quality of my work and won’t compromise where that’s involved.

In the end I know this means that not every prospective client will choose to work with me, and that’s okay. Realistically, it would not be possible for me to accept every garment I’m approached with. Furthermore, I sincerely respect your needs and your budget. So, I will provide you with good honest information to enable you to make an informed decision on whether or not I’m the right dressmaker for you. If you decide that I am, I can assure you it will be worth the cost.

Accessorizing

Early on in our custom design process, I let Rachel know that if she was interested I could custom make her veil to coordinate with her gown. She was delighted with the possibility but had no ideas about what specifically she would want. I think our mutual friend Ann-Michelle was the first to suggest she consider a fascinator instead of the traditional veil. As soon as we began thinking on that track it was clearly the right call for Rachel and her wedding day.

Again we perused the internet for inspiration. Rachel liked the look of a couple of photos with flower fascinators that had wispy feathers sort of sweeping out around them. On a shopping trip together to find flowers for the gown, we found some feathers dyed a deep purpley magenta that were just perfect! These, together with flowers Rachel selected to match the bouquet she would carry, and some stunning iridescent beads that matched the Dupioni exactly, came together to make a beautiful accessory for her hair, that coordinated wonderfully with her gown.

Change of plans

After Rachel’s fabric fitting, I worked on embellishing the skirt. Our original design plan had been to dot the skirt with small purple fabric flowers, and adding a sprinkling of beads and sequins around them for some extra sparkle. It sounded good, it worked in the sketch, it had been gorgeous in a couple of inspiration photos we drew from. In real life, on her gown, it was all wrong. The contrast between the deep purple and pale ivory was too stark, and the small flowers made the skirt looked almost polka dotted. Adding that to the mixed textures and silk pick ups that we were already using, and the skirt was far too busy. I sent Rachel pictures of the gown with the flowers pinned in place, and she replied first asking me to thin them out, and then asking if we could rethink them altogether. Rachel apologized but I let her know – this is part of the custom process, and it’s precisely the reason why I send progress photos! Sometimes what sounds good in theory turns out a bit different in practice. It was time to rethink things.

Over the course of a couple of days we emailed back and forth. I sent photos of a number of possible alternatives, adding flowers at the hem instead of dotting throughout, beading small sections of the skirt with purple beads, clear beads, small ones and large ones, sections matching the beading on the bodice, random scatterings and little flower shaped bead clusters, long trailing “vines” of ivory thread and clear sequins. I tried to do just enough of each sample to let her see, without devoting too much time to any of them and without overhandling the fabrics.

Ultimately, Rachel decided she didn’t want purple beads or purple thread in the skirt; the contrast was just too much. She liked the look of the ivory “vines” with sequins, and asked if I could do this but also scatter in a few of the beaded flowers (in clear beads) for a bit of texture. I can’t begin to tell you how glad I am that she wanted to change plans; the end result is so much better than what we’d designed at first, such a better fit for Rachel and for her wedding.

First fabric fitting

Fabric fittings are exciting. By this point we’ve been working together to design and create a beautiful garment, but we’ve been working in pictures, sketches, mock ups. At this point, I’m able to show my client the *actual* garment we’re creating. And in the case of a bride, it’s the first time she wears the gown she will wear on her wedding day.

Rachel first fabric fitting was FUN. Only one minor, nitpicky change was needed for a perfect fit (when I pointed it out she told me it was too small to matter; but I told her “No, we’re going to FIX it.”) Rachel brought the shoes she planned to wear on her wedding day (awesome, awesome shoes) and I marked the hemline of the skirt. We discussed the pick ups I would soon be pinning in the over skirt (I cheated in the last post and showed you a photo post-pickups because I’d neglected to take a picture of the earlier step). We both oohed and aaahed excitedly over how well the purple fabric complimented her complexion and hair color, how beautiful her figure looked in the gown, how adorable her shoes were. And we took a picture for her to share with her friends and for me to share with you! After this, we were ready for me to begin working on the finishing touches for her gown.

But coming next… a surprising change in plans.

Skirting the issue

Rachel’s gown included a skirt with four layers in all – the Dupioni over skirt, ivory tulle over satin for the under skirt, and of course lining. I had to sew the tulle layer twice; my iron has a Teflon shoe and so it does not melt fabrics, which unfortunately allowed me to neglect to turn the temperature down low enough for the delicate tulle fabric. It didn’t melt, but it shrank badly the first time. I didn’t notice my mistake until I’d sewn the entire tulle layer, pinned it to the satin, and realized it was a good six inches shorter than the satin layer! Thankfully I buy tulle by the bolt and had plenty on hand to correct my error quickly, without any delays to Rachel.

Aside from that sewing up the skirt went beautifully and and without much to comment on; we’d pretty well perfected the shape and fit in our muslin fittings. I basted the bodice to the skirts and let Rachel know we were ready for a fitting … in her *actual* gown! Stay tuned for more.

Sparkle

One of Rachel’s early requests was that her gown sparkle. She wasn’t sure whether she wanted beads or sequins or rhinestones or some combination (and wasn’t confident about which would look elegant and which would lean too far towards tacky) but she was sure that she wanted the gown to glitter stylishly somehow.

Once I had delved in to working with the beautiful Dupioni and satin fabrics for her gown, I was able to work on a few sample swatches of beadwork, trying different patterns both with matching and contrasting beads, mixing in some clear iridescent sequins, adding a bit of embroidery. Rachel gave me her input on the smaller sections and armed with her approval, I went to work on the bodice of her gown.

So that the back side of the embroidery was hidden between the lining and the main fabric, I needed to reach between these layers from the bottom of the bodice. And since I wanted to avoid removing the skirt from the bodice once they were sewn together, I needed add the beading before attaching the bodice to the skirt. So the first photos I sent Rachel of her *actual* gown in progress were close ups of the bodice beading to get her input.

After I beaded the bodice, I left it up on a dress form for a couple of days so I could look at it from different angles, in different lighting, out of the corner of my eye while walking past. Often, doing this allows me to notice things that I might miss in the midst of sewing, and lets me identify changes I want to make. This time, the longer I looked at the bodice the happier I was with it. It sparkled as I walked past. It looked great in full light and dim light. And the more times I saw it, the more I was sure it reflected  something of Rachel’s personality as well.

With that step finished, it was time to sew the many layers of skirt!

Practice makes perfect

A custom bridal gown will always begin with at least one mock up, sometimes more. Even when I’ve taken great care with measurements, even when I’ve considered multiple aspects of fit, there are always some details that need to be fine tuned, and it’s much better to work these out before we’re using the fashion fabrics for the gown! Additionally, some things look different in real life than we imagine them on paper. My clients and I both need to see an example ahead of time to work through any desired changes and to gain confidence with the design overall.

For Rachel, I made two mock ups, and we had a total of three muslin fittings as we fine tuned the fit of the bodice, the placement of the off the shoulder sleeves, the length and amount of fullness in the skirt, the shape and amount of fullness in the overskirt. The overall design remained unaltered in her case, but I spent a great deal of time perfecting the fit and shape to make sure her gown would be the most flattering thing she’d ever worn. Rachel was delightful to work with. She stood patiently as I pinned out fabric and insisted each time “there’s no rush; I don’t want to take it off!” Our mutual friend Ann-Michelle was able to come to most of these fittings and it was loads of fun. Rachel shared the evolving wedding plans with us and her excitement was infectious!

At her first mock up fitting, I showed her swatches I’d purchased for a few fabrics I thought would be suitable for her gown. I was thrilled when, at first glance, she announced that she loved the fabric which had been my personal favorite. It was a stunning iridesent purple Dupioni silk that took on bluer or redder tones depending on the light. None of the shades it took on clashed with orange, and it seemed like the fabric would really help pull in some of the various colors that would be present at her wedding. Plus, the texture and weight of it was ideal for the type of pick ups she wanted – some shape, some texture, but not too much volume (not too poofy!). This was one of several times that it felt like Rachel was reading my mind, picking my recommendation even before I’d suggested it!

The series of mock ups took place over a month and a half but I’m condensing them to one blog post because just as I could scarcely wait to start sewing the silk, I can hardly wait to show you photos of the *actual* gown in progress! More to follow soon…