Yes!!!
Today we pinned up the hem, cut and shaped the ribbon, and did various other housekeeping things. But we took a passel of photos while we were working on the hem:
Coat, front view
wedding coat, back view
dress, three-quarter view
dress, front view
dress, back view
dress, closeup of back
dress, closeup of sleeve
dress triptych
dress diptych
Just a quick note:
Yesterday and this morning, I finished weaving my double-happiness ribbon, wet-finished it, and basted a marking line where the edges of the ribbon will be turned under. I also applied the piping to the facing, made a few more hem samples for the dress, and applied lace to the sleeves. Now I’m about halfway through putting on the pearls, but it’s almost time to leave for Sharon’s, so I’ve packed things carefully away, and will be heading up there as soon as I finish this entry.
Today we will (hopefully) get the dress and coat to the point where they’re ready to be hemmed, so there will be photos later today! Stay tuned for new developments.
I have now woven 5.5 feet of ribbon, and will weave the final 2.5 feet tonight. It’s relatively slow going, because I’m unfamiliar with the double-bobbin boat shuttle, but the ribbon is looking quite good. I expect to complete and wet-finish it tonight. I have also applied the lace to one sleeve, and expect to finish the other sleeve and sew on the pearls tomorrow morning. After that, I’ll do various small chores like attaching the piping to the facing, marking off the edges of the ribbon with basted lines, and sewing up more hem samples for the dress. And then, if I have time, I’ll sew down the lace on the back.
We’re now at T minus 9 days to the photo shoot – and there is a LOT left to do! The lining needs to be put into the coat, the ribbon applied, and the dress and the coat hemmed. Timing is a critical factor: Sharon and I can only work together this weekend, so any task that requires both of us (like pinning up the hem) MUST be done this weekend. This, in turn, means that everything that comes before pinning up the hem must be completed as soon as possible. So we’re planning another work marathon on Saturday, and bless her, Sharon is keeping Sunday free for me in case we need it!
It’s been an intense couple of weeks for me, I have to admit. I’ve been working on the wedding ensemble six or seven hours a day – 3.5 hours in the morning, 1 hour at lunchtime, and another 2.5 hours or so in the evenings. On top of a full-time job, that’s not leaving time for much else. (Fortunately, Mike has been very tolerant of my obsessions.) But I’m really enjoying it…I work well under pressure and it’s much more exciting to be racing a deadline! especially if you are confident you can make it. I am.
Whew! Turns out the damage was less than I thought; I had it repaired in about 3 hours, yesterday morning and lunchtime. So I lost half a day. Could have been better, could have been a LOT worse – I’m just happy that it’s fixed!
And my dobby box is back from AVL, and is working beautifully. They found a magnet in the dobby box (oops – my bad) that could have caused some of the problems, and replaced one solenoid. And they turned it around in just one day! Now that’s customer service. Kudos to them for fixing it so fast.
So I have now woven the first 10″ of my double-happiness ribbon, using four strands of the fine metallic gold weft that I used for the eternity knots, wound onto my brand-new Bluster Bay double bobbin boat shuttle. It’s coming along nicely – the selvages look awful, because I haven’t figured out how to manage a double-bobbin boat shuttle with even tension yet, but since they’ll be cut off anyway, it doesn’t really matter. I think I can weave it up in a day or so – it goes really fast and I only need two yards.
Here’s a photo of the double-happiness ribbon sample I wove before starting the yardage:
Handwoven double-happiness ribbon
I’m actually weaving two lengths of ribbon at once – that way the spacing between characters will match precisely between the two sides, important since they will be viewed side by side in close proximity. The wide separation is to give plenty of room to turn the edges under.
And I FINISHED appliqueing the lace to the front of the dress! I figure it was something like fifteen or twenty hours of work, but it’s done. Now all I have to do (for the photo shoot, anyway) is applique the lace to the sleeves, and add the pearls all ’round. After that I can turn my attention to the coat lining (needs piping applied), some more hem samples, and, uh, I think I’m supposed to be doing something with the coat facings, too.
Sharon and I are meeting on Saturday, so that gives me about 3 days of working time. So I think I should be able to finish all the stuff on my plate, and might even be able to work on the back lace!
Got the ribbon on!
Six hours of hard work yesterday got the ribbon on, with the characters perfectly matched as they run down the front of the coat:
ribbon on coat, full view
ribbon on dress, closeup
Note the effortless way in which the characters “just happen” to match as they run down the length of the coat, and how (of course!) the ribbon is a single uniform width with the characters centered in the middle. That took six hours to set up! with lots of pinning, re-pinning, basting, re-basting, stitching, pressing, etc.
I have not yet decided what to do about the trim. In the photo, it’s only on one side of the ribbon, and I rather like the way it emphasizes the matched characters and looks like a single ribbon going down the front. On the other hand, it might look odd if the coat is open. I think I’ll try it both ways (basted in place), take a couple of photos, and see what I like best.
Meanwhile, I wanted to share the Magic of Wool: here is the ribbon before shaping, curved around the collar:
wool ribbon, ruffled, before shaping
And here is the same piece after shaping with plenty of steam:
curved wool ribbon after shaping
Look Ma, no ruffles!
Truly, wool is amazing stuff.
I should work with it more often!