Deb: Posted on Tuesday, April 22, 2014 11:17 AM
 I’m a grown
up woman but I still have great attachment to special dolls I’ve dressed for
clients.
This story
is about a doll that is super special because I not only altered the bridal
gown but restored her vintage headpiece.
Instead of
buying a new doll, I started searching for a doll in thrift and vintage
shops. The gown and veil had that
vintage look so why not have an older looking doll as well. Fashion changes, sometimes
doll faces change as well! I found a
gently used doll that had a small waist just like the bride. |
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Deb: Posted on Monday, March 03, 2014 3:00 PM
OMG…the
bridesmaid is pregnant and we already purchased the dresses!
As soon as
you know you are pregnant, consult your local seamstress to arrange the future
alterations. With some bridesmaid dresses, the manufacturer may have used the
same fabric exterior and interior as lining.
If this is the case, you are in luck.
You can use the fabric from the inside skirt and replace it with a closely
matching lining fabric. No one will be
the wiser. If
a purchase is required, locate similar fabric at your local fabric store using
your seamstress' |
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by Deb: Posted on Thursday, February 20, 2014 5:02 PM
YES....I've finally finished the restoration. It took some time because I was also working on three wedding gown alterations and various other projects at the same time. It was good that each project took a rest while I worked on the others.
I gave the headpiece time to flatten outwithoutusing the heat of an iron. Even though this beautiful vintage piece withstood a fire, I was taking no chances of damaging the pearls. I pressed it between two towels and a book on top till I was ready to work on it again. |
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Deb: Posted on Wednesday, July 24, 2013 12:59 PM
 This time the baby is a BOY! We created a custom one of a kind Baby Boy Christening outfit sewn from his Grandmother’s wedding gown. At the beginning of our planning meeting, we had no idea if the baby was to be a boy or a girl. I carefully planned layout for the pattern pieces for both outfits. This task was kind of like working a puzzle. The layout had been checked twice to insure no errors or missing pieces. (Measure twice, cut once) This old saying usually refers to lumber, but it's a wise move when working on a project such as this as well. |
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by Deb: Posted on Friday, February 15, 2013 11:28 AM
Sometimes a
bride finds the perfect off the rack wedding gown only to try it on and find
that it is too small. It won’t zip up
the back. What a shame because she just loves this gown ........…..it’s the one.
Deb’s Sewing
Service to the rescue. It’s a great fix
to add a corset back to this gown. Up to
7 additional inches can be added to the bust area, replacing the center back
zipper.
Often
additional matching fabric can be purchased from the manufacturer. |
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Deb: Posted on Saturday, January 12, 2013 5:18 PM
Something old for your wedding can also be something new again. I am currently restoring a wedding headpiece c.1920. The bride actually wore the headpiece in 1941, but the style and tiny wax flowers indicate it is from much earlier decade. This beautiful headpiece could have belonged to the mother of the 1941 bride. That 1941 bride could have been using this headpiece for something old as well. Although the box with veil and headpiece were rescued from a home that had a fire, the package did not burn. |
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Deb: Posted on Tuesday, December 04, 2012 3:32 PM
So many of us would like to surprise our sports fan with window curtains of their favorite sport team. Often the fabric stores do not have our desired team or the print is not what we like. Sheets come in so many colors and patterns and can be easily made into other items. Recently we added a project close to heart of many Pennsylvanians. From a Queen size flat sheet, we created curtains and pillow covers for a tried and true Pittsburg Steelers Fan. This "man room" also had only a full size bed so from the fitted sheet, we took off several inches from the length and width and now the sheet fits the full bed perfectly. |
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Deb: Posted on Thursday, October 25, 2012 11:47 PM
FASHION SHOW PARTY IS NOW READY.
OR................ read below about how we got started. |
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Deb: Posted on Saturday, October 06, 2012 8:31 AM
Shortening at the waist A gown that has beautiful lace/ beading or embroidery/beading along the hem must be shortened at the waist. Most of the time this alteration is not as difficult as it sounds. Usually the manufacturer will attached the skirt with one row of stitches. In the case of the recent gown I worked, the manufacturer had overlapped and serged several layers of fabric, then added more layers and serged again. It was a bit of a mess and quite time consuming to take apart. |
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Posted on Tuesday, October 02, 2012 12:37 PM
 What great week we've been having. The bridesmaid and wedding gowns are coming along smoothly. Our customers are so pleased with the progress on the corset back additions to the gowns. In addition to wedding party items we had a very interesting request to look at an Internet purchased pair of jeans. The cost to return these too small jeans would be costly. I agreed to see what I could do. The jeans were already decorated at the waist and the pockets, and had the torn look on the front legs with flower patches beneath. |
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