Oct 5 - Outfit

Write about an outfit that you associate with an important event.

Nicole's Wedding Dress

Two years ago when Jodi asked if I would sew Nicole's wedding dress I glibly answered sure. I mean, I have sewed a number of wedding dressing in my day. I love sewing loops and fine work. Right?

Well.

The dress got sewed. And many stories can be told about the process. I didn't want to talk about it for the longest time. I didn't tell Jodi all the history for quite a while. And even now, I can laugh a little bit about it.

It started out with no pattern. And definite opinions about the pattern. It should have three scallops on each side, a sweetheart neckline, curving down into tight loops and miniature buttons. It should have flat sleeves with a curving sleeveline down over the hand and buttons and loops meeting on the inseam. It should have a wide belt with loops and buttons. And a straight skirt with no darts but fitted exactly over the behind.

So I hunted down a similar shaped friend who had just got married, borrowed her pattern and started from there. It worked.

The cream fabric was almost iffy with with seeing bra lines and panty-lines so I ended up lining the bodice and the skirt. And so eventually the dress was almost together, the loops all finished and only the finishing touches left. And then the first complication came up. I was on my way to Jodi's to get Nicole to try it on. Colby was sitting in the front seat beside me and the wedding dress was in a bag on his lap. We don't know how it happened but the bag tipped over and the dress fell out at his feet and the dear boy stood on the almost white wedding dress with his shop welding boots.

I took it home. I bombarded my mother, the queen of everything-laundry. I bought baby soap and fabric softener and spot cleaned that dress. It came out pure.

And then the second worry came.

The bodice did not fit the brides changing bosom line. Just a very small problem. The neckline did not sit flat. So I ended up moving the top five or six loops and adjusting the center two scallops and if you've sewed scallops, with lining, with loops. Well... it got done, many prayers later and looked good.

And then.

Girls, I was getting afraid already. Then, the unthinkable happened. As I was painstakingly sewing the buttons on a large snag appeared down the center front. Bold. Audacious. Defiant. I stared unbelieving. Do I start with a new dress? Could I make this work? Carefully, feverishly, I opened the side seam and between the lining and front I inserted a sharp needle and carefully, ever so carefully, hooked the offending snag from the back and worked it out. It was impeccable. It was a miracle.

And then.

Oh, yes, it goes on. The wedding day arrived. I had arranged with Jodi that I would run over there in the morning just to make sure the dress looked okay on the bride. This has never occurred before in my wedding dress escapades but this was right. Nicole got dressed. The bridesmaids fussed with their clothes and we all helped arrange and get ready.

All of a sudden Nicole came running down to Jodi and I, panic in her eyes. There on her bodice just above the bosom was a large red mark. Bright red. Juicy. Suspicious. We stared. What was it? I honestly don't remember in the panic and flurry of things exactly the order of events but it came out that Sasha (their foster girl) had just put nail polish on when she went to give Nicole a hug. I have no idea where the thoughts came from, except God. All I could think of was rubbing alcohol. We worked there together, Jodi and I, one hour before the wedding was supposed to start.

And the spot came out. Miraculously, it disappeared. There was NO TRACE of red nail polish on the cream colored wedding dress. It could only be a miracle.

My hands get clammy writing this. I haven't sewed a wedding dress since. I'm not exactly keen on doing another one, but God is faithful. He is gracious. He is bigger than all our needs. That I know.

(Please do not pass on.)