2011 brought a lot of challenges for me and I am sure that 2012 will be the same
During 2011 I was asked to make my nephews future wifes wedding dress as I had made his Mums (my sister) dress 30 years ago.I had a photo of what she wanted however there definately was no pattern so the fun began !!!!
See photos in blog
I started with some pieces of fabric that I worked with to get the pattern and shape which was interesting and I think poor Amy at times thought that she might be walking down the aisle in a half finished dress or at worst her underwear.
To just add to the pressure, I said that I would have Christmas day at our beach place, my Daughter and niece (one of my other sisters children) decided that it should be a big family affair and so it was. We had a wonderful day and being able to take the children to the beach was a bonus and kept them occupied for a while.
When all left I launched into the final construction of the dress. I located some fabulous silk taffeta from Brian Gaskin in Palmerston North which was the most marvelous fabric to work with and set up in one of the bedrooms at the beach house and between a few walks, bike rides, wines and dinners got the dress completed well in time for the 7th January.
I have always been a good dressmaker and love it, however over a few years had lost my confidence and would procrastinate in making clothes for myself and others. Having to develop this dress from scratch has given me a renewed enthusiasm plus it has shown me that if you just keep moving forward with a project that you can complete it no matter how hard and I can tell you there were some challenging times in the construction of the dress. I took the approach of planning and doing what I could confidently, when I struck a hard bit taking myself away from it to think about that next step and also talking to people with experience to discuss my dilemma and then moving forward again knowing that the goal that had been set was being achieved.
As a Virgo I am a bit of a perfectionist so considerable time was spent getting things just right - the result was worth it and the comments have been great.
I go forward into 2012 with renewed confidence in knowing whatever I do will be successful as long as I follow my steps as I did with the dress. I have had a number of requests to do wedding dresses already however I am not sure if this fits into my plans !!!!
