Giveaway Day!

Here's the promised giveaway (and it corresponds with Sew Mama Sew's giveaway day, so I'm participating in that)! I've never done one before (or won one, for that matter!), so it's about time.

I'm giving away this lovely pattern:

The copyright on it is 1950, and it's a size 14 (32 Bust, 35 Hip). The description on the back says "Straight-front skirt has back fullness. Slight gathers from diagonal front darts, and from panel back. Skirt joins bodice at waist-line. Gathered inset yoke in front. Deep V-neck-line. Kimono cap sleeves."

How beautiful is this dress?

So, I'll be picking my wedding dress up from the cleaners this week, and I have no idea what to do with it. I'm not the kind of girl who wants to hang on to a perfectly gorgeous dress that I'll never wear again just for sentiment's sake. Unless it's a book, I'm just not a knick-knack or keepsake kind of person, and someone else could wear and love my gown. So my giveaway will simultaneously benefit me (with all of your wonderful ideas) and one of you!

Here are the rules for the giveaway:
1. Leave a comment about what you did with your wedding dress after the wedding, or what you think I should do with mine.
2. You have to have a way I can contact you (email, or a link to a blog profile with your email in it).
3. If you win, you cannot sell the pattern. If you decide at some point that you no longer want it, you have to pass on the love to someone else in a giveaway or gift.
4. The giveaway is open until December 16, at 5:00 PM ET and will be announced on December 18.

Edit: updated December 18

The winner of my pattern giveaway was determined by a random number generator. Number 23, JP, wrote, "My dress is hanging in the front closet :) It didn't cost very much and isn't huge, so it's just hanging there, not taking up very much room. But you could recycle it into special dresses for kids or satin pillows or sheets!"

Congratulations, JP! I'll email you you as well.

Thank you all for your thoughtful comments! I hope you all won something from Giveaway Day at Sew Mama Sew.

Paper Snowflakes - The Perfect Winter Wedding Decor

One of my coworkers got married on Friday morning. Since it's her second marriage and she's old enough that they've both acquired all the home goods they'll need, she didn't have a bridal shower, but we all wanted to do something for her anyway. We pooled some cash for a gift card, got her a card, and someone suggested decorating her cubicle. I decided to take that on, and for her winter wedding, I suggested that we all make snowflakes and a bunting.

I taught everyone how to make six-pointed snowflakes, and we made everything out of computer paper and strung it up on floss (the only string we could get at the CVS downtown).

They turned out beautifully, and everyone had so much fun making them.

(top left is one of mine)

(mine is the middle one)

(I made the tiny middle one... I like little snowflakes!)

Paper snowflakes would make great decorations for a winter wedding reception too. They're easy, fast, cheap, and fun to make, and if you iron them out to make them flat (setting your iron on low with no steam, of course), they'll look professional (as they were, my coworker thought we bought them somewhere!). I like six-pointed ones because they're scientifically accurate and I'm a huge, huge nerd. :) But you could make othernumber-pointed ones too. I'm sure there are tutorials around online!

Embroidered Wedding Album, Take #1

Note to self: blogging while traveling (even for work) is not actually possible. Always schedule blog posts ahead of time.

I'm getting a lot from Blogtoberfest, but after all the fun blogs I've found through it, the most valuable thing I think I’m getting from Blogtoberfest is inspiration for blog posts and a better understanding of what I need to do to post regularly.

Today, I’m just sharing the big project I’ve been working on. I’m embroidering the cloth that will be the bookcloth covering the photo album I’m making for our wedding photos. I’m dong it in gray-work—our colors were gray, green, and white, so black-work or red-work doesn’t really make sense. J It will look a lot like the save-the-date that I sent out before the wedding, sort of a page of doodles about our relationship. I obviously still have a lot of work, but I’m loving the way it’s turning out so far.

I’m excited to get home and start sewing and blogging on a regular basis again! Back to our regularly scheduled program this weekend. I hope you all have had a wonderful week!

Our Perfect Wedding with DIY Details

Yay! I'm married! That's what I wrote in chalk on my parents' back deck during the reception. The day could not possibly have been more perfect. The weather was overcast during the ceremony, but the sun came out later, and it was beautiful for the rest of the day.

There were so many little handmade details I want to share, which my mom and sister and I worked on for so long. I made the favors, which were chocolates gathered up in muslin circles and tied with green and gray ribbons. You can see the table number between them as well (printed on cardstock and glued to cut and bent bits of hanger with another piece of paper to cover the back).

My sister and my mom made the centerpieces, which were these lovely coffee filter flowers. All of the other tables had theirs in green wine bottles (took forever to peel the labels off some of those!), but as you can see, ours are super tall and graced a lovely glass vase. You can't see the necklace I'm wearing very well, but my mom made that too. I'll have to get a closer picture of it. It's especially special (hehe) because at the end of the chain that dangles down my back, there's a tiny leaf with a diamond in it that was removed from my engagement-and-now-wedding ring when it was re-sized.

And just for fun, my dad brought out the sidewalk chalk, and one of my friends drew this adorable picture of me and A with our dogs (who sadly are not well-behaved enough to have been at the wedding).

My camera remains at my parents' house until I can get out there on Thursday, at which time we will return to our regular programming. Which isn't actually all that regular. Ah, well. Either way, I'll get you all a photo of the sheet dress and possibly of the navy circle skirt I'm working on. :)

Progress on the UFOs - One Down, Another Begun

I finished with the wedding invites (I still have to address them, but for that, I need the envelopes. Don't worry, I did order them, and I have an envelope-addressing party planned with my sister), and spent most of my free moments this weekend working on my partner's cloak. It's a soft faux-suede in olive green. All the seams are French seams (addicted? Yes!), and I'm adding a full lining in soft gray with as many pockets as I can fit into it, so it's taking longer than it would have if I'd just followed the pattern without modification, but it'll be so worth it in the end! I'm finished with the main cloak, and with the top-stitching and full hood, it's gorgeous. Now I have to cut out and sew the gray, add lots and lots of pockets, and stitch them together. So I guess I'm a little less than halfway done. :)