Back Interest

Where was I

·    before the most brilliant week of fall weather in New England history ushered in and then ushered out Emily and Ryan’s wedding day 
·    before those present and those passed became fully invested in their moving ceremony

·     before the sky bore a message of everlasting love

·     before the groom’s mother graced us with a  lullaby

·     before the bride’s brother pulled off a powerful toast –    with a case of Milwaukee Light

·    before we danced and danced and danced and danced?

I was getting out the sewing box, - remember?  Trying to figure out , at eight in the morning, how to secure a loop on the back of Em’s gown, by which to lift its bustle to the lowest satin back button,  so she could dance without tripping over her lace-scalloped train.  

And I was worried. The seamstress’ loop had snapped during the first “dress” rehearsal. The wedding was just a week away. With no time to head back to her– 2 hours away –  to replace it , it was up to me – Ms. MOTB.  How could I mend better than a dress designer with an MFA in Textile Construction?  Really!

Then I remembered, Em’s grandmother Mimi had always been a wiz with a needle and thread (and crochet hook, and macramé yarn, and knitting needles, and quilting stitches and. . . ) 

I thought : What would Mimi have done?

Mimi would have addressed the need for a bit of stretch in the fastener, as well as strength (Em’s gown was beaded – therefore heavy).  Mimi always had elastic thread in her box of sewing doodads, the same box I had open before me. I also remembered how my mother would strengthen  thin crocheting yarn by crocheting it into a chain, using as tiny a hook as she could find.

I took the elastic thread that still remained in her box, dug out a hooked needle from deep within and  crocheted away. Not sturdy enough I decided. So I chain-stitched that chain into a thicker chain. Liked the thickness – but not the give. Wrapped around the satin button, the weight of the skirt  s t r e t c h e d  the loop like an elastic band, which, in fact it was!

I felt defeated. Needed a break. Went to brush my teeth, a  ritual I hadn’t gotten to – due to the long morning mend-fest. A failed mend-fest.  I went on to floss. Floss  as in using  a soft, strong, waxed thread, made of nylon. Sturdy, unbreakable nylon.

 I broke off a piece of floss, threaded it through a  needle, and wove the floss through my morning's handiwork - the elastic loop -  to inhibit its stretch. Sewed the loop onto the lower back seam of the gown. Lifted the skirt up to the lowest back button. Secured  loop .

 IT WORKED.

No matter how big the wedding – it’s the little things!  

Since You Asked

“So when do we get to see this dress? The suspense is killing me,” a FB friend asked after the Dream (Gown) Come True post last week.

Expect a photo post October 9 – the day after the wedding. A bride is entitled to unprecedented entrance in an, as yet, unseen dress. By the groom, at least.

It is in this regard that the Mommy of the Bride almost blew it  three months ago, when she used a few too many details to describe the bridal gown in the Snip and Tuck post. . (Notice the MOTB has to write this in third person because it is still so difficult to admit). But, in her ever-so-slight defense, there was no picture. The MOTB is not that stupid. She just got carried away with details. She should have known the devil is in the details. 

Minutes after that very early morning post, the  MOTB received an e-mail from the ever-judicious Bride-to-be.

I think I'd feel better about the dress being as much as a surprise as possible (especially since in an earlier blog you mention that the dress should be a surprise to the readers.)

The Bride-to-be was correct. The MOTB  did write that,  ten months ago.

The now MMOTB (Mortified Mommy of the Bride) immediately reworked the tell-all paragraph and hoped the mental picture was not one  that would be easily processed – by a male brain. After all, could Prince William really envision how singularly beautiful his Kate would look after these details of the royal gown were published before their wedding?

A design of individual flowers, hand cut from lace and hand-engineered onto ivory silk tulle would be worked onto French Chantilly --  combined with English Cluny lace --  hand-worked in the Irish Carrickmacross needlework tradition, in a gown drawing on the fashions of the Renaissance with a touch of modernity, characteristic of the artistic vision of Alexander McQueen.

I hope not.

Dream (Gown) Come True

The saga of the dress continues. . .

The dress of Em’s dreams was larger than Em – much larger. Say, five sizes.

Seamstress #1 said the alteration could be done – but not by her – she was a costumer (from Em’s theatre group at college, about 100 miles away). But maybe  seamstress #2 – about 50 more miles away - could do it.

I was beginning to get worried. If seamstress #2 reneged, this must-have gown could have been headed for an eBay auction -not that I have anything against eBay! But that wasn’t the marry-tale ending I wanted for the dress of Em’s dreams. It had too much of a settling-for-second-best feel to it. Fine for, let’s say, a rent-a-car, but not the raiment of the bride.

Seamstress number # 2 recognized what was at stake.  Jenn couldn't wait to get her hands on the gown.

“Sometimes I get an idea and am up at three in the morning, pinning and sewing,” she said as cousin Rachel and I oohed and aahed  at her progress at yesterday’s fitting.  The gown will travel back from Lowell with us in a few weeks. From the looks of its perfect fit on Em, there’s just the hem to do.

Jenn's  middle-of-the-night comment led me to imagine her, in the wee hours of the night, restless, until she gets the picture in her head to appear on the headless mannequin form before her. The vision brought me back to a scene in Disney’s Cinderella, mice and birdies singing in a turret as they assemble Cinderella’s dress for the ball the way Jenn has reassembled Em’s dress for the wedding. Since, for the time being, I’m bound to secrecy on the picture-perfect image of Em’s gown, Cinderella's remake will have to do.