Dresses and things

A while ago (like in February) a friend of mine asked if I would be willing to do the alterations on her wedding dress. Normally I don't do alterations without charging a bundle (there is a reason that the alterations cost so much--all the work that actually goes into it) but knowing that she was on a really tight budget and seeing how stressed she was, I decided to go for it and charge just a little bit and chalk up the rest as my wedding present to her. Needless to say, things have not gone as planned.

Yes, I've had the dress since February and just now I am finishing up the bustle. Lets just say that this dress has been a complete and utter nightmare! First, when she told me where she bought it, I was a little surprised she went with them. The store that she got it from is notorious for having dresses that are considered seconds--meaning there is something wrong with them. And yes, there was something really wrong with this dress. I had to enlist my mom to help me out otherwise I would have just given the dress back and said sorry, no way! But my mom helped me out and I still got frustrated. The dress was longer on one side than the other and instead of the side seam going straight down (like it did on one side) it curved towards the back.  From what my friend said, the sales person said that her dress was "duchess satin and organza" and it is NO WAY those. The underdress is just a plain satin and the overdress is a nylon blend which pills and pulls and shreds like nothing other (which we found out when we were trying to help the overdress).

So after having the dress for much longer than I wanted to, I'm finally at a point of "just get this blasted thing out of here!" but I still have to do the blasted bustle. She changed her mind with how she wanted it. At first she wanted an overbustle and when I put the white hook and eyes on the dress you could really tell that they were there even when I tried to disguise it. Then I tried some decorative clasps that I had, but according to my friend, they didn't match anything else on the dress so it looked out of place. So then she said she wanted an under bustle. The pickups that the under bustle creates has nothing to do with anything on the dress either, but since that is what she wants, that is what I'm doing. I've got to be careful what I say since Jakob is good friends with the groom and I don't want things to get ugly between all of us. But I'm hoping to call her tonight or tomorrow morning and have her come and try the dress one last time and then take it with her. Hopefully nothing has changed (i.e. she hasn't grown any or lost/gained weight) so we'll see what happens.

But other than that, spring has sprung (my allergies tell me so) and the flowers around my yard are blooming. That means I've got to spend some time outside in the back arranging my garden beds and making sure things are going to work this year. Last year was a trial run, so I know what is going on and what I need to change.  And strangely enough, we thought we had found all the unwanted sprinker heads last season, but one popped up against the house recently so I've got to go buy a cap for that. Jakob is in another show, and then another one after that, and another one after that. So yes, he's got three lined up back to back. At times the rehearsals overlap but in this first one (Taming of the Shrew) he has a very small part, then the next one (Beauty and the Prince) I'm not sure what role he's playing but he is doing the fight choreography for it, and the third one, another Shakespeare (Richard III) he's playing Richmond. Which throws things for a loop--fight wise. You see, Jakob has a running track record of not winning the stage fights he's in. And this show, Richmond wins one.