The dress the dog ate

Just in case you've read my sad tale in the latest issue of Threads Magazine (Issue 192/August/September 2017) about my doggie eating the wedding dress, I thought you might like to see some pictures of the actual dress.  OK - so I don't have pictures of the destruction done.  I wasn't "into" taking pictures back then, and I probably wouldn't have wanted to remind myself of the disaster.  But I did borrow the dress to take some pictures of the "fixes".  At the time, I was so sure that my patches were oh, so obvious to the whole world.  So many years later, I had to really, really look to find my patches.  Guess I didn't do so bad a job.

 

The edge of this shoulder was totally shredded.

 

This sleeve was also a chewed up mess.  It required extra embroidery to cover up the edges of the patches, and that in turn required extra embroidery on the other sleeve so that they would match.

What really did allow me to make the "patches", was the fact that the skirt had to be shortened.  The tulle layer of the skirt being somewhat A-line, I was able to salvage some of the skirt trim to use as patches elsewhere.

The dress did sustain some damage during the wedding.  (All that delicate tulle was not meant for dancing with wild abandon.)  And since I did borrow it for my pictures, I suppose I'll be nice and fix it as best as possible, in case they decide to have the dress cleaned and boxed.

So there you have it.  And now for the culprit in this tale of woe ...

Surprisingly innocent-looking.  He's been gone to the big dog park in the sky for well over a year, but I still miss him terribly.  I was amazed that the artist who drew the cartoon picture for the magazine got the essence of my "puppy" so right.

More Class Samples

At the rate I'm going here, summer will be over before I finish posting my summer class samples.  So without further ado ...

Instead of the usual pyjama pants class, this summer we're calling them shorts.  We're using different patterns for the class, but these were made from Kwik Sew 3793.  Yup, I managed to use some of that Canada Day fabric.  And yes, these will be sent off to my son once they've done their duty showing off at the store.

Yet another class for beginners - summer tops.  Kwik Sew has this same style in all sizes from Misses (K3610) to Girls (K3768) to Toddlers (K3934).  I used a quilting cotton.  Sewing up the tie as the pattern instructs would just make for a thick mess, so I substituted a length of ribbon.  Much less work, and it does the job just as well.  (Slides through that casing much more easily.)  I had thought to make this for myself, but luckily had second thoughts.  I'd look ridiculous trying to pull off this look.  I know two sisters who will look adorable in these tops ... and they're due for presents.

Last but not least ... a tunic class.  We sell Kwik Sew patterns at the shop, so the pattern choices had to come from there.  Mine is (as the previous one you saw) Kwik Sew 3161.  This is my final version.  (Stay tuned - there's another version that came in between.)  And since the linen/cotton mix was too plain - I had to add some embellishment.

I've bee feeling guilty about not yet answering a question in Comments from a while back.  Here goes.  The question posed by Audrey was, essentially, whether I am reimbursed for my samples.  The answer is no, at least in my experience.  Samples are the responsibility of the teacher. Because I imagine that seeing new and (hopefully) appealing samples will entice people to sign up for classes, I put a lot of effort into these items.  I also try to plan things so that these samples will eventually end up in my wardrobe or be used as gifts.  I also don't feel comfortable hanging up items for show that have been worn, so every time I churn out new stuff.  I do wonder how others handle this situation.  If anyone has any brilliant ideas to make my life easier - please do let me know.  I'm already dreading the sewing marathon in August, getting ready for classes starting in September.

Happy Canada Day!

I am no quilter ... have I mentioned this before?  But with Canada's Sesquicentennial, all sorts of Canada-themed fabrics started showing up at the sewing shop.  For some unknown reason I had to join in the "fun".

One of the collections had a fabric with Canadian trivia questions (and answers) printed all over.  I thought this would make an interesting wall hanging for my son.  Unfortunately, whoever designed this fabric most probably had no intention of all 47 (I think it was 47) questions staying in one block to actually be read.  Hence the rather odd shape of the middle piece.  I nearly went crazy making sure that I didn't chop off anything important.

Among the questions of historical and geographic importance there is also such important information as: "Q.7.  What type of shop does Canada have per capita, more than anywhere else?  A. 7.  Doughnut."  We certainly have our priorities straight.

The questions fabric was hand stitched to the red fabric.  Things started going a bit wonky at some point.  Never mind - we're going for the "rustic look".  By some miracle I did manage to finish by the beginning of the week and Canada Post actually managed to deliver yesterday.  This will be hanging at Smugglers Smokehouse in Penticton, B.C.

There will be no more attempts at quilt-making for a very long time.