Update: Wedding Dress Fitting, Grey Dress Cleaning, and Sewing Machine!

Wow, so yesterday was a big day.  I was supposed to pick up my grey dress from the cleaners, but when I got back from coffee at about 3pm, I had a message on my phone saying that the dress wouldn't be ready until Thursday.  I called them back and said that in the future, could they please give me 24-hours notice on extensions, since I use ZipCar and can't cancel or change a reservation with less than 24-hours notice.  1-hour notice is not enough.  They said they would do that.  The sad thing is that when I got to work this morning, I had another message from the cleaners on my phone.  They had said they would call my cell if the dress was ready to be sent out with the rest of the deliveries this morning (making it uneccessary for me to drive all the way up there), so I was a little surprised to find the message on my work phone.  The message said that they had meant to say that the dress would be ready next Thursday and that I should call them if that was not okay. So I called them and said that I would like to pick up the dress today, and, happily, they said they would get it ready for today.  I hope this does not compromise the quality, but seriously, the person on the phone said the dress was currently at the spotters.  What has been happening to it for the last week?  Wouldn't spotting be one of the first things one would do?  I don't feel particularly bad for them.  Anyway, I'm excited to get my dress back, and I will ask them to make sure that there is a note in my file requesting 24-hours notice of any extension requests.  I suspect they will be able to do that.

So, with the car and all the extra time, I had to figure out what to do.  I decided that I would try to go pick up my sewing machine, ready or not.  I get back from holiday traveling on January 1.  I need my sewing machine on January 2, and if I didn't get the machine this week, then I definitely would not have it on the 2nd.  So I called my dealer, whose clerk gave me the owner's home and cell numbers.  I left a message at the home and reached her on her cell (that's what I call customer service!).  They offered to let me pick it up at their home (which is much closer to DC than their shop!), and, even better, they let me know that the part had arrived that day and I could pick up my machine.  YAY!!!  So I drove down in the evening and picked up my machine.  I'm so excited.  The owner was very friendly and helpful and did a lot to allay the worries that had been building about them.  She offered to pick me up from the Metro in their hometown in the future for repair drop-offs and pick-ups or to spend a Saturday at the store for free lessons (2 years are free with any machine purchase).  And her willingness to take business-related phone calls outside of work hours, etc., is pretty great.  So some of the other folks there are a little quirky.  So am I, I can deal.  :-)

The most exciting thing is that Danielle helped me fit my dress!!!  YAY, thanks Danielle!  She had to see me in my bustier bra before we got the foundation pinned on...I know I've subjected you all to a whole lot of photos of my foundation muslin, but I don't like to torture anyone with my foundation garments! We determined that the foundation fits well, and I will add about an inch on to the bottom.  I will tighten the bottom edge up a bit using darts once the seams are sewn so that no bumps are seen from the surface of the dress.  The lining also fits well.  The dress has almost 5 cm extra at the center back (i.e. 2.25 to 2.5 cm (a little less than an inch) per side), but then it fits perfectly at the center back at the waist.  So that will be an easy fix.  I am just going to do some measuring for now to make sure that all the top seam lengths are the same and make sure that the center back is where I need to take out the width on the dress.  Even though I am so anxious to put some seams in, I know I will be much better off making the changes in the basting first and then sewing later.  I am also trying to decide whether I will take just a bit out from the bust.  I have lost a few pounds, and several of them seem to have been in the bust.  But when I put the boning into my foundation, the looseness (not really loose, the fabric is just not snug over the chest) disappeared, and I know the princess seams will look better once they are stitched on the machine and the seam allowances are finished.  Luckily I have a week or so to think before making decisions.  It was pretty incredible to put the dress on for the first time, it really looks like a wedding gown, makes me feel beautiful, and makes me confident in the rest of the dress creation process.