In Which I Am Shown Up

Friends, I have to tell you, I *love* it when this kind of thing happens. I was commissioned to re-create the skirt Rapunzel wears in the recent movie "Tangled." But, we couldn't find the exact fabric that the customer wanted for the floral panel in the center. So she asked me to make the skirt out of a plain satin, and she'd paint all the detail on it that she wanted. To be honest, I thought it sounded like it would be a cute homemade kind of a deal when all was said and done. However. Check out the following.

This is what the girl wanted to wear.

This is what I made, per her instructions and dimensions.

...and this is what she did with it. 

Seriously????? Seriously. I mean. That's artwork. Click on the photo to see it zoomed in a little.

I salute you, E.E. in California. You rock.

Velvet Shrug

This was a fun little commission piece I did this week for a young mother in my neighborhood. The velvet is repurposed, from some vintage curtains that she trimmed to fit her dining room windows, and it's lovely stuff! Soft, not too thick, and holds it shape be-yew-ti-fully. (She agreed to give me a bit of it so I could make my own vest/shrug, as I'd fallen so in love with this one.) I made the pattern in imitation of another little shrug that she owned - that one was also velvet, but unlined and with different details. The fantastic silvertone button was supplied by the customer.

More photos and full description ~>

Retro Wedding Dress

A little 1960s influence in a silk twill, knee-length dress. (The customer tells me she's wearing a little pillbox hat with it. Yippee!)

(Had to take the photos at night, unfortunately, but at least it was a nice, light-catching fabric!)

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You Are Feeling GOOD Today!

I remember a sweet, mentally-handicapped man that used to work in my college cafeteria. He loved seeing girls wearing long, flowing skirts and dresses - it entranced him - and one day I walked in wearing one. He bounded over to me. "Hi! You are?" he asked. "I'm Bekah," I introduced myself (for the 480th time). "HI!" he repeated, adding, "You are feeling GOOD today!"

Which may have been one of the coolest compliments I've ever received.

And that is an almost completely unrelated story to what I came in here to tell you, which is, "Lookee what one of my lovely customers sent me! It's a link to the really fantastic photos from her wedding, and she's actually wearing a dress I made! IN the PICTURES! And she added this fantastic little yellow cardigan/bolero thing that I am STOKE-ED about!"

...ahem. Yes. As I promised, here is the link to the photos. With major thanks to the (beaming, beautifully unique) bride and the (very talented and polished) photographer for their generosity in letting me show off how good we all feel.

The Goose is Getting Fat

That's right, folks, summer has barely breathed its last and my sewing machine is beginning to hum its fa-la-la-la-las. I won't inundate you with too much Christmas-y stuff, but for those of you who will be looking for some seasonal textile goods in the coming months, please keep checking in to my Etsy shop. I also love taking custom requests - for stockings, pillows, appliqued tablecloths/napkins, et cetera - but my sewing schedule will be filling up, so the sooner you get in, the better!

These were made with a specific couple in mind. "My husband likes blue," she said.

Stained Glass on Linen

Another Frank Lloyd Wright embroidery, with even more vibrant floss this time, and on oatmeal-colored linen. I love sewing these little jewels!

This item for sale in my Etsy shop.

Sharing is for People Who Like To Share

And these are for the people who prefer to keep things clear. =)

Other views and zoom available at the listing in my Etsy shop.

Additional details

Shoulder embroidery on the strawberry-picking dress (see the original post here.)

In Which To Play Croquet and Be Wed

"Oh, it came and it's beautiful! It fits perfectly, and I'm so happy with it. My sister, mother, mother-in-law, and best friend all (separately) said "That dress is so YOU!" when I sent them the pictures...I can't think of anything else I'd rather have heard. Thank you so much, Bekah, it's the best dress I could have asked for."


- E.G. in Chicago

More photos and full description ~>

Anemone Dress

This is a prototype pattern that I developed while creating a birthday party dress for a customer recently. She ended up going with a modified design, with a slightly longer waist and a narrower skirt, but I fell in love with this little round-waisted, party-skirt dress!

More photos and full description ~>

Got Buttons?

Thanks to the lovely seller at Buttered Parsnips, who covered 20 buttons with this very cool hemp/cotton blend I'm working with - here's a sneak preview of the wedding dress that is one of several projects I'm finishing this weekend.

Picking Strawberries

My lovely, dear friend Rachel, in a dress her husband commissioned. "I want something she can pick strawberries in," he requested. Of course, this was shortly before we knew there would be a bump along the way...I'm so happy for you three!






















photo courtesy of Rachel and Paul

Her Great-Grandmother's Brooch

"The first decision I made in planning my wedding was that I wanted Bekah to make my wedding dress. After seeing her beautiful work on a friend's wedding gown, I knew that I wanted to work with her to create my own, uniquely me garment..."



(Click on the photos for high-quality images and zoom!)

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Ladies in Red

A talented bridal party of uniquely beautiful women + cherry-red silk dupioni = one happy seamstress.


(Click on the photos for high-quality images and zoom!)

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Navy One-Shoulder Sheath

This was the second time I'd worked with these materials...

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Catie's Wedding Dresses

Plural, because I made six dresses for her wedding.

Here is one.




















(and a half, because I altered the one I'm wearing.)


(That's me on the bed.)


(I got terrible wrinkles in my vintage sky blue acetate-and-lace gown, just for relaxing for a few minutes like that. The nerve.)

























And here are some of the bridesmaids. The strapless dresses are the Eclair pattern, unaltered, that was also the basis for my flower dress in the previous post. The pleated-ruffle-collar dress is a pattern of my own making (I got some basic dimensions from Simplicity #2497.)

I will be posting some good, up close images later on of all the dresses - I have to get them from the incredible photographers who sensibly protect their photos on their websites from nefarious photo-stealing people like myself. They didn't protect a few of their Facebook postings, which is how I stole these, but they are my personal friends and will forgive me.

Photos (so far) by photolodico. More to come from both her and redleafphotography.

A Dress For Me

Every now and then I take time to make something pretty for myself. This was a combination of "I really would enjoy a new dress" and "gaaaaah why can't I go to sleep when I have to be up early for church band practice in the morning."

So I opted for little sleep and a lot of fun.

This photo courtesy of Red Leaf Photography.

More photos and full description ~>

I've been busy...

So. Five months between posts doesn't mean I haven't been doing stuff. Here goes...

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Ruffle party dress

"Thank you so much for all the work you put in, it's gorgeous!"

- R.M. from the UK















Another customized dress-from-a-photo; this is for a customer in Great Britain, and I have to say, it was one of the most fun jobs I've had recently!

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Red Ball Gown - Retro Reproduction

Again, please pardon the poor photography...sometimes I don't have time to wait for the afternoon sun, and the flash wreaks havoc with the fabric reflection, but sans flash I get all kinds of funny colors. At least you can see the shape.

More photos and full description ~>