because of our age vic and i go to a lot of weddings these days. because we meet in college (same freshman dorm) a lot of these weddings have the similar guest lists.

last fall we had three weddings, three weekends in a row, all on the east coast. by the time we got through the second (our fifth of the year) i was so sick of all my dresses and couldn't bear the thought of wearing any of them the next week, especially when half the guest list would be the same.

so i did the logical thing and decided to make a new dress 100 hours before the ceremony.

tuesday, 96 hours to go

i stopped by britex after work to pick up fabric. channeling my inner kate middleton i went straight for the navy cotton solids and found an imported italian sateen that had just a hint of stretch...perfect. i picked up a zipper and thread and was out the door 15 minutes after entering. that night i threw the fabric in the wash, ate a burrito, and went to bed.

seriously an awesome place to go for a large selection of high quality fabrics, pricey, but awesome.

wednessday, 72 hours to go

with my fabric washed and dried i gave it a quick iron and set to work cutting. with so little time i knew a tried and true pattern was the only way to go so I went with a mash up of mccalls m6518 and the by hand london elisalex dress. while drinking a fat tire 1554 i cut my pieces and put together the bodice. given my time constraints and the high quality of the sateen i decided a full lining wasn't necessary and just lined the bodice.

thursday, 48 hours to go

the last night i was home with access to my sewing machine. i made and attached the skirt. knowing time wouldn't permit stitching the bodice lining down i attached some navy ribbon to the bottom. i threw what was done of the dress along with needles, thread, and a matching cardigan in my suitcase and called it a night.

friday, 24 hours to go

after chugging a beer or two in the SFO long term parking lot (like you do) vic and i boarded a redeye. whist on the plane and in my inebriated state i somehow managed to do a flawless invisible zipper. we landed in bwi at the same time our connecting flight was supposed to take off and did a mad dash through the airport. we made the connection but i lost some very nice pins in the process.

saturday morning, 5 hours to go

we met our friends for brunch and piled in the rental car for the 2 hour drive to the ceremony site, during which time i finished attaching the bodice lining to the zipper.

saturday afternoon, 90 minutes to go

we checked in to the hotel and i got to try on the dress for the first time and decide on a hem length. i finished the dress and had time to snap one picture for my mom and lois (vic's mom) before it was time to get ready.