sweet wedding, sweetheart dress

Over Labor Day weekend, Dan and I were excited to attend the wedding of my cousin Keith and his beautiful bride Liz! Dan's parents came to our house to watch Mae and Colin, while Dan and I traveled to Cleveland for the weekend of festivities. We arrived Saturday afternoon and checked into the Hyatt Regency at the Arcade (also the wedding and reception venue.) We dropped off our bags in the room and decided to explore the area a bit. The Cleveland Air Show was just finishing and we were able to watch the entire Thunderbirds performance from the pier near the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame! Afterwards, we had dinner on 4th street and then caught a shuttle to the post-rehearsal-dinner party where we were able to catch up with family that I haven't seen since Christopher's wedding 7 years ago! My Gramma and Grampa even made the trip for the wedding, so I was able to visit with them briefly!

On Sunday, we went to church, had lunch, walked around the city a bit more, and then got dressed for the wedding. I got to meet my cousin Todd's kids for the first time - aren't they the sweetest little flower girl and ring bearer?

The whole weekend was perfect down to the tiny details. The venue was beautiful, and we had so much fun during the reception! Todd's wife Jacqueline even helped arrange dairy-free cupcakes! I especially loved how the glass ceiling over the arcade gave beautiful sunny lighting to the ceremony and then faded to sunset during dinner to show off the globe lights strung over the tables and dance floor.

Since I haven't had an excuse to make (or wear) anything fancy for a while, I decided to sew a dress for the occasion. This dress is a mash-up of the Patterns for Pirates Sweetheart Dress bodice and Pencil Skirt. The main fabric is Telio 320 Ponte, the bodice lining is a 40 denier nylon tricot, and the overlay is a nylon stretch lace with scalloped edge. I used the scallops as the edges of the sleeves and skirt. The neckline is finished with fold-over elastic. I sewed a small bodice graded to a medium at the waist. Based on my measurements, I sewed half way between a medium and a large in the skirt, but it turned out too big. I tried it on, pinched some out from each side, and re-sewed the sides.

I used French seams on the lace, but standard seams for the rest of the assembly. To do this, I French-seamed the lace shoulders and sleeve caps. Then I sewed the bodice sleeve and side seams and the skirt side seams with the fabric wrong sides together. I turned the top and skirt inside out (right sides together), sandwiched them each between the ponte pieces, and sewed the seams again. Lastly, I sewed the bodice to the skirt. I did not sew the bodice to the lace along the top edge of the main bodice piece. The bodice stayed up pretty well on its own.

Honestly, this project was a bit of a slog. I'm glad it turned out cute, because I didn't enjoy working on it much! I blame the fabric; it was so slippery that keeping everything lined up was impossible. Fortunately, my machine handled the lace and layers pretty well. The top thread broke a few times while transitioning from lace to thicker areas; I'm guessing the auto-tensioning is to blame. I definitely want to sew up the pencil skirt pattern again. I think it would make a cute wardrobe staple.

During the reception, someone asked, "What are you doing for your anniversary?" and I responded, "This!" A fancy wedding (and a weekend getaway) was a great way to celebrate 9 years together. Happy Anniversary, Dan!