OT sewing I said no to

And I really really mean it.

A lass is getting married this coming Sunday.
She is a tall curvy woman.
Her maid of honor had me make her dress, since she didn't have to
match the bridesmaids, and encouraged the bride to have me do the
wedding gown. The MoH feared that the bridal shop would blow it on
the alterations.
Well they did.
They went to get the dress on Saturday. The length seems correct and
for a wonder they appear to have gotten the bustline correct.
Unfortunately the dress appears to be about 11 inches too small at the
hips. Yep, ELEVEN inches, close to a foot. How they blew it that
badly is a boggler.
Remembering what the MoH said in the first place, the bride came a
running to me.
But I cannot fix it in time for the wedding.
Not only would it put me another week behind on stuff I am already
behind on (1), but it is just not possible. I cannot match the fabric
out of what I have on hand, and it is one of those tight fitting quasi
flamenco styles that have been popular with brides the last few years.

If it were floofier it would be easier. However she wanted a simple
gown, so there are not a lot of places to hide an alteration of that
magnitude. Lycra panels under a layer of lace was the quickest fix I
could think of. She doesn't want lace. I told her to show up at the
shop on Monday and to be _angry_. Lord knows she's got a right! You
pay more than $7k for a gown including alterations and it should darn
well fit in time for the wedding!
I do feel sorry for her, but when you shop at a place that has given
brides elizabethean style corsets (at half price) in order to squash
their bust so they fit the gown, you have to expect a bit of bungling.

NightMist

(1) DD1 had a baby. Damian Christopher 8 pounds 12 ounces, 14 inch
head circumfrence, and 21 inches long. Kiripet broke her wrist, and
that has put a severe damper on household transportation. I have
been fighting off another ear infection for the last two weeks. Of
course this means everybody I have ever so much as hemmed a pair of
jeans for wants work done.

--

Nothing has been the same since that house fell on my sister.

That is unbelievable Nightmist.I hope she seeks compensation. In the mean
time you take care of the ear. As much rest as possible.!
"NightMist" wrote in message
...

And I really really mean it.

A lass is getting married this coming Sunday.
She is a tall curvy woman.
Her maid of honor had me make her dress, since she didn't have to
match the bridesmaids, and encouraged the bride to have me do the
wedding gown. The MoH feared that the bridal shop would blow it on
the alterations.
Well they did.
They went to get the dress on Saturday. The length seems correct and
for a wonder they appear to have gotten the bustline correct.
Unfortunately the dress appears to be about 11 inches too small at the
hips. Yep, ELEVEN inches, close to a foot. How they blew it that
badly is a boggler.
Remembering what the MoH said in the first place, the bride came a
running to me.
But I cannot fix it in time for the wedding.
Not only would it put me another week behind on stuff I am already
behind on (1), but it is just not possible. I cannot match the fabric
out of what I have on hand, and it is one of those tight fitting quasi
flamenco styles that have been popular with brides the last few years.

If it were floofier it would be easier. However she wanted a simple
gown, so there are not a lot of places to hide an alteration of that
magnitude. Lycra panels under a layer of lace was the quickest fix I
could think of. She doesn't want lace. I told her to show up at the
shop on Monday and to be _angry_. Lord knows she's got a right! You
pay more than $7k for a gown including alterations and it should darn
well fit in time for the wedding!
I do feel sorry for her, but when you shop at a place that has given
brides elizabethean style corsets (at half price) in order to squash
their bust so they fit the gown, you have to expect a bit of bungling.

NightMist

(1) DD1 had a baby. Damian Christopher 8 pounds 12 ounces, 14 inch
head circumfrence, and 21 inches long. Kiripet broke her wrist, and
that has put a severe damper on household transportation. I have
been fighting off another ear infection for the last two weeks. Of
course this means everybody I have ever so much as hemmed a pair of
jeans for wants work done.

--

Nothing has been the same since that house fell on my sister.

NightMist wrote:
And I really really mean it.

I can see why... I do sympathise with both your stand and with the bride.

But I really DO have to ask: did the bride not try the gown on when she
picked it up? If that had been done at the time, they would have seen
the problem, and should have pulled all the stops out to fix it there
and then, even unto working all night to make her a new dress, at their
expense.

I'd have left the dress with them and demanded the return of all my
money as the dress was not fit for the purpose and they had rendered it
unfit for me to wear.
--
Kate XXXXXX R.C.T.Q Madame Chef des Trolls
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.katedicey.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

Hope you get to feeling better so you can spend time with the new grand
baby. I agree that the bride should have tried on her wedding dress when
she picked it up to make sure it fit. I would think that it should have be
altered at least 3 weeks before the wedding and all this is bad planning on
the bride's part to do it this close to the wedding.
Barbara in SC

I have no experience with the dress-doesn't-fit-at-the-last-minute
wedding scenario so take that into account as I ask what is probably a
stupid question. Fancy weddings are usually planned a
year in advance. Instead of telling the bridal shop that the dress must
be ready a week in advance, why don't they insist that it be done 2
months in advance? If there's a problem, there would be adequate time
to fix it.


Of course, you're talking to someone who has no wedding experience at
all. I think the whole fancy wedding thing is stupid. Do people who
spend the cost of their real estate on a single party really have better
memories of the event than people who throw a nice but reasonable
reception?
I can understand expanding the guest list so as not to have to
disinclude anyone. Hurt feelings last a long time. But do deluxe
flower bouquets for 14 people plus on every table and every pew really
make for a better time than a few well placed vases and something for
the bride to carry?


I can understand that the bride wants to be pretty, but a $7000 dress?
Does it really make her prettier? A friend in her 40s is marrying for
the 2nd time. Her fiance has 2 teenagers from his first marriage.
Originally they wanted to keep it small and reasonable, just the boys,
no theatrics. Then the don't-hurt-people's-feelings rules was evoked,
and her whole extended family got invited. Now she's shopping for a
dress at David's and trying to keep the cost under a $1000. While
calling around to other shops, she learned that many don't carry dresses
for under $10,000. I'm flabbergasted. I'd tell her to buy a pastel
business suit that she can wear to a corporate meeting.


And now for NightMist. After going on about how people spend too much
on weddings, I'm going to give you advice that you never asked for. If
you're so much in demand that you have more work than you can handle,
RAISE YOUR PRICES. As long as you're disappointing some people because
you have too much to do, you might as well get paid well from the few
people you are able to accommodate. Look at the idiot bridal shop.
They do work so shoddy that it doesn't even fit, and they're making big
bucks.


--Lia


NightMist wrote:
And I really really mean it.

A lass is getting married this coming Sunday.
She is a tall curvy woman.
Her maid of honor had me make her dress, since she didn't have to
match the bridesmaids, and encouraged the bride to have me do the
wedding gown. The MoH feared that the bridal shop would blow it on
the alterations.
Well they did.
They went to get the dress on Saturday. The length seems correct and
for a wonder they appear to have gotten the bustline correct.
Unfortunately the dress appears to be about 11 inches too small at the
hips. Yep, ELEVEN inches, close to a foot. How they blew it that
badly is a boggler.
Remembering what the MoH said in the first place, the bride came a
running to me.
But I cannot fix it in time for the wedding.
Not only would it put me another week behind on stuff I am already
behind on (1), but it is just not possible. I cannot match the fabric
out of what I have on hand, and it is one of those tight fitting quasi
flamenco styles that have been popular with brides the last few years.

If it were floofier it would be easier. However she wanted a simple
gown, so there are not a lot of places to hide an alteration of that
magnitude. Lycra panels under a layer of lace was the quickest fix I
could think of. She doesn't want lace. I told her to show up at the
shop on Monday and to be _angry_. Lord knows she's got a right! You
pay more than $7k for a gown including alterations and it should darn
well fit in time for the wedding!
I do feel sorry for her, but when you shop at a place that has given
brides elizabethean style corsets (at half price) in order to squash
their bust so they fit the gown, you have to expect a bit of bungling.

NightMist

(1) DD1 had a baby. Damian Christopher 8 pounds 12 ounces, 14 inch
head circumfrence, and 21 inches long. Kiripet broke her wrist, and
that has put a severe damper on household transportation. I have
been fighting off another ear infection for the last two weeks. Of
course this means everybody I have ever so much as hemmed a pair of
jeans for wants work done.

Congrats on the new GB!!!! hope you are well enough very soon to play
with him.

Lia is right...raise your prices and demand that your customers abide
by your schedule. if they are truly good customers, they'll tow the
line.

Poor bride.... i cant imagine not trying on a gown of any sort before
leaving the shop. she must be clueless.

amy in CNY

NightMist wrote:
And I really really mean it.

A lass is getting married this coming Sunday.
She is a tall curvy woman.
Her maid of honor had me make her dress, since she didn't have to
match the bridesmaids, and encouraged the bride to have me do the
wedding gown. The MoH feared that the bridal shop would blow it on
the alterations.
Well they did.
They went to get the dress on Saturday. The length seems correct and
for a wonder they appear to have gotten the bustline correct.
Unfortunately the dress appears to be about 11 inches too small at the
hips. Yep, ELEVEN inches, close to a foot. How they blew it that
badly is a boggler.
Remembering what the MoH said in the first place, the bride came a
running to me.
But I cannot fix it in time for the wedding.
.....snipped.......
NightMist

I had a similar thing happen to me years ago. A dear friend who
lived down the street from me in Lizard Land is a Flight Attendant. A
friend of hers that she flew with frequently had ordered her gown from
one of the VERY $$$$ Wedding Boutiques in Scottsdale. The shop had a
sort of Open House with several gown designers in attendance to
recommend a gown style for the bride. The designer herself took the
measurements, etc.
Fortunately, the Bride (being a flight attendant) wasn't worried
about losing weight before the wedding AND she ordered the gown well in
advance of the wedding date. Well, you guessed it -- the gown came in
and it was acres too big -- always better than too small! She had the
gown altered paying hugely exorbitant amounts of $$. When she went back
for what she assumed would be the final fitting, it was STILL to big AND
didn't hang correctly. Unfortunately for the poor woman, the gown was
of bias cut lovely satin and the idiots who did the aterations had
obviously not taken this into account. They had pulled the skirt of the
gown all wrong and it was terribly wonky.
VBS -- it was a good thing that the gown had been way to large to
start with because I had to almost recut the whole thing to make it hang
correctly. IIRC, I finished the final alterations about a month before
the wedding. This was near 15 years ago and at that time, the woman had
paid on the order of $6,000 for the gown. What's really scary is that
the DESIGNER couldn't even get the measurements right so that the gown
fit properly!!! I told the bride that the designer had likely made the
gown to large to begin with just so that the shop could charge her all
that $$$ for alterations! CiaoMeow ^;;^

PAX, Tia Mary ^;;^ (RCTQ Queen of Kitties)
Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about
their whiskers!
Visit my Photo albums at http://community.webshots.com/user/tiamary

I'm with Lia. Choosing to pay $7,000 for a wedding dress is beyond me.
That aside, I'm so glad you just said no. I've done some imaginative
alterations for hysterical brides before but 11" in the hips ? No
sirreeee, nope, not me. Not even possible. That crisis makes me want to
run for the nearest hiding place. Polly


"Julia Altshuler" wrote in message
. ..
I have no experience with the dress-doesn't-fit-at-the-last-minute
wedding scenario so take that into account as I ask what is probably a
stupid question. Fancy weddings are usually planned a
year in advance. Instead of telling the bridal shop that the dress must
be ready a week in advance, why don't they insist that it be done 2
months in advance? If there's a problem, there would be adequate time
to fix it.


Of course, you're talking to someone who has no wedding experience at
all. I think the whole fancy wedding thing is stupid. Do people who
spend the cost of their real estate on a single party really have better
memories of the event than people who throw a nice but reasonable
reception?
I can understand expanding the guest list so as not to have to
disinclude anyone. Hurt feelings last a long time. But do deluxe
flower bouquets for 14 people plus on every table and every pew really
make for a better time than a few well placed vases and something for
the bride to carry?


I can understand that the bride wants to be pretty, but a $7000 dress?
Does it really make her prettier? A friend in her 40s is marrying for the
2nd time. Her fiance has 2 teenagers from his first marriage. Originally
they wanted to keep it small and reasonable, just the boys, no theatrics.
Then the don't-hurt-people's-feelings rules was evoked, and her whole
extended family got invited. Now she's shopping for a dress at David's
and trying to keep the cost under a $1000. While calling around to other
shops, she learned that many don't carry dresses for under $10,000. I'm
flabbergasted. I'd tell her to buy a pastel business suit that she can
wear to a corporate meeting.


And now for NightMist. After going on about how people spend too much on
weddings, I'm going to give you advice that you never asked for. If
you're so much in demand that you have more work than you can handle,
RAISE YOUR PRICES. As long as you're disappointing some people because
you have too much to do, you might as well get paid well from the few
people you are able to accommodate. Look at the idiot bridal shop. They
do work so shoddy that it doesn't even fit, and they're making big bucks.


--Lia


NightMist wrote:
And I really really mean it.

A lass is getting married this coming Sunday.
She is a tall curvy woman.
Her maid of honor had me make her dress, since she didn't have to
match the bridesmaids, and encouraged the bride to have me do the
wedding gown. The MoH feared that the bridal shop would blow it on
the alterations. Well they did.
They went to get the dress on Saturday. The length seems correct and
for a wonder they appear to have gotten the bustline correct.
Unfortunately the dress appears to be about 11 inches too small at the
hips. Yep, ELEVEN inches, close to a foot. How they blew it that
badly is a boggler.
Remembering what the MoH said in the first place, the bride came a
running to me.
But I cannot fix it in time for the wedding.
Not only would it put me another week behind on stuff I am already
behind on (1), but it is just not possible. I cannot match the fabric
out of what I have on hand, and it is one of those tight fitting quasi
flamenco styles that have been popular with brides the last few years.

If it were floofier it would be easier. However she wanted a simple
gown, so there are not a lot of places to hide an alteration of that
magnitude. Lycra panels under a layer of lace was the quickest fix I
could think of. She doesn't want lace. I told her to show up at the
shop on Monday and to be _angry_. Lord knows she's got a right! You
pay more than $7k for a gown including alterations and it should darn
well fit in time for the wedding!
I do feel sorry for her, but when you shop at a place that has given
brides elizabethean style corsets (at half price) in order to squash
their bust so they fit the gown, you have to expect a bit of bungling.

NightMist

(1) DD1 had a baby. Damian Christopher 8 pounds 12 ounces, 14 inch
head circumfrence, and 21 inches long. Kiripet broke her wrist, and
that has put a severe damper on household transportation. I have
been fighting off another ear infection for the last two weeks. Of
course this means everybody I have ever so much as hemmed a pair of
jeans for wants work done.

Bobbie Sews More wrote:

Hope you get to feeling better so you can spend time with the new grand
baby. I agree that the bride should have tried on her wedding dress when
she picked it up to make sure it fit. I would think that it should have be
altered at least 3 weeks before the wedding and all this is bad planning on
the bride's part to do it this close to the wedding.
Barbara in SC

Another VBS about this! How many brides have you had to deal with
who have absolutely NO idea of what is involved in alterating a wedding
gown? When I have to do alterations on any sort of fancy gown, I always
explain what is involved to the person so they understand the work
involved AND the cost of the laterations.
I don't know about your shop, but the ones I have dealt with take
the measurements and have a gown made to fit the LARGEST measurement
(bust, waist or hip) and then have the gown made to fit whichever
pattern size best fits that measurement. Then the Bride, MOB,
Bridesmaid, etc. has to pay additional money to have the gown altered to
fit. I don't think most folks realize that the garments offered for
sale are made to a specific *pattern* size NOT to the person's specific
measurements. CiaoMeow ^;;^

PAX, Tia Mary ^;;^ (RCTQ Queen of Kitties)
Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about
their whiskers!
Visit my Photo albums at http://community.webshots.com/user/tiamary

Tia Mary wrote:

I don't know about your shop, but the ones I have dealt with take the
measurements and have a gown made to fit the LARGEST measurement (bust,
waist or hip) and then have the gown made to fit whichever pattern size
best fits that measurement. Then the Bride, MOB, Bridesmaid, etc. has
to pay additional money to have the gown altered to fit. I don't think
most folks realize that the garments offered for sale are made to a
specific *pattern* size NOT to the person's specific measurements.

That's pretty much why I made my own wedding dress - bottom half is a
size bigger than top half, so I bought a copy of the pattern in each
size, made up a toile of each of the two sections and then made sure I
could make them fit together at the waist, which they did. Only then
did I cut into the silk. No way did it cost me anything like as much as
I would have paid at a bridal shop, even after factoring in a sensible
hourly rate for my time.

Lizzy