Exhale

It is done.

Today I officially turned in my dress to St. VdP. That f***er took me so much longer than I thought it would. I am such an idiot for taking on that project with only 3 weeks to start and complete it. But it is done. And I am very pleased with myself. Now I get to tell everyone about it so that they can go see it, or at least shower me with congratulatory e-mails. :) I can guarantee my aunt -- who is constantly trying to nag me into going for Project Runway -- is going to be super happy to see this. Too bad she lives in Wisconsin.

Its fairly similar to the sketch, although you can see there are plenty of changes. The sleeves got dropped, the skirt is all one color, the underskirt just turned into an inset and yes, we have pockets (which I think look GREAT!) I'm particulary fond of a detail I added to the back (I'll see if I can figure out how to post a second photo,) there are two darts down the lower back, and I topped each one with an epaulette from the sleeves. There are a few things that got a little funky, like the top of the lining (yes, I even lined it,) but obviously its not visible, so I'm hoping it'll sneak by any judges that might get employed.

I still struggle with the ... simpleness? Plainness? Cleanliness of the design? I'm afraid it'll be laughed right out of the auction by stunning ballgowns made of shower curtains or tuxedos made out of doilies or something. Granted, I did float home from school on Tuesday because so many students came up and gushed over the in-progress work (I even got some very positive feedback form teachers as well.) My personal favorite compliment was "I would totally wear that." Glow, glee....you get the picture. I was reminded while chatting with someone who stopped to admire it that I really did do all of this in a mere 3 weeks, so for 3 weeks worth of work, I think it looks fantastic. If I were to do this again, hopefully having a lot more time to prepare, I think my work would reflect that too.

I learned a ton of stuff making this dress: what to do, what order to do things in, what to avoid, how much time to allot for the project AND how much oh-shit-I-fucked-up time. I learned I really relly need a ress form at home, or at least one not sized to my Amazon proportions. If I were to do it all again, there are a few changes I'd make to this design. Most notably, I'd get rid of the front waist triangle, I think. The seams seem kind of odd to me with it being the same color as the rest of the skirt; that was an eleventh hour change to the original design. I'd make the skirt just go all the way to the waistline and have the darts go all the way up as well. The darts loook so clean and crisp, especially on the back! I do still have the pattern; just a few changes here and there....

And yes, I am glad it's done. I really struggled with channeling time away from my family to do this, not to mention it overlapped quite painfully with a huge sewing project I had to do for an actual class. And there is a dollop of empty nest syndrome that's here as well. Like, that's it. I've handed it over and it is no longer my property. I dunno that I've ever made something -- at school at least -- without the specific goal of making it for myself or for my portfolio. Strange. Husband misunderstood when I told him and actually offered to go to the auction so we could bid on it to get it back, which stuck me as awfully sweet. Then I imagined the auction scene from 'The Addams Family' and pictured Husband and I as Gomez and Morticia Addams and I started to laugh. Well, at least we've got the heights right. :)

I feel like I'm suddenly at the Oscars here, but I really do owe so much to Husband for helping me through this project (pulls out list of names: "...and my hairdresser, and my florist, and the guy in the parking garage...") Oh sure, there was that whole divorce scare when he laughed in my face, but he more than made up for it by helping keep the dishes out of control, watching Mags when I'd stay late at school, patting my hand and making soothing noises when I would stress about my design, and for working at home for the entire day on Thursday to watch Mags when my 'I just need to finish a few quick things' turned into an unexpected 8 hours at school all the way in the city. Truly, this would not be done without him.

I just read some of the fine print on the paperwork, and it read, "The pieces you create and donate will be displayed at various public venues throughout San Francisco (blah blah) then featured at a special preview at the de Young on April 20." Wow! My piece might be displayed at some other port of call too! Exciting!