kazu k. designs

THE Dress

2010-02-22T20:37:00.000-08:00

Alot of people were nervous about my wedding dress. Blake's mom said that Blake was a nervous wreck...my dad admitted he was sweating it. Grown men...nervous about sewing!

I suppose they had the right to be nervous. The wedding IS mid-March and here it was mid-February and I had yet to even cut the fabric.

My plan was to start work last Friday, and so, after a little prayer, I began to work on cutting the pattern, fitting it, and then creating a muslin mock-up.

On Saturday, I tried the muslin mock-up on for my mom and Blake's mom and his grandmother for their opinions and feedback. Then, I created the bodice and sewed in the lining.

On Sunday I went to church and prayed that my Japanese Granny (kazu k.) would somehow inhabit my body and magically bestow her sewing powers upon me. I think my pastor probably would have frowned on my prayer for possession by the ghost of my dead Granny...but still, that is what I prayed for. So as soon as I got home, I began cutting and sewing that crazy intimidating skirt fabric.

Blake's grandmother, Mary Ann or MA for short, let me use her house to sew my wedding dress so that there would be no chance for Blake to see any part of it. I cannot tell you what a blessing she has been. It has almost been like having Granny right here beside me.

Okay, so enough story...here is the dress. I still have to do some hand-work on the back (sewing the buttons over the invisible zipper) and a slight hand-hem at the bottom, but other than that it is done.

Be nervous no more, Blake and Dad!

I absolutely love the almost-final product. It is very "messy" on the inside (at least to me...to anyone else, it's probably quite "clean"...considering) and it was very VERY V.E.R.Y. hard to sew. And I have truly put in all of my blood, sweat, and tears in that dress (I pricked my finger and we had to cut out some blood-stained fabric...I sweated because I was hot...and okay, nervous...and I cried because I missed Granny). But it's (almost) done...and I love it. And I hope you like it too...enjoy!!!

Breaktime!

2010-02-22T20:26:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, I took a little break from wedding sewing to make a few bags for a good cause (brunch to benefit the Carnegie) and to make some gifts for wedding showers for my dear friends Laura R. and Ashley H. I had so much fun making my itty-bitty flower girl dresses, that I decided to make a little girl's dress for Ashley. Then after making some Caly bags for the Carnegie brunch, I decided to change the size, make it bigger, add some pockets, and voila! turn it into a baby bag.

Sarah's Dress

2010-01-24T19:23:00.000-08:00

My bridesmaid, Sarah, is one of my best friends from college at the University of Miami. She was my roommate for several years and we've shared some great memories.

Sarah is from Boca Raton, which is about an hour north of Miami on the east coast, just south of West Palm Beach. Her style is very beachy and surfer girl.

When Blake and I were in Orlando for a karate tournament, Sarah drove up and met us. While we were out shopping, she pointed out a dress style she thought she might like to wear. It's called a keyhole halter.

I mocked this one up for her. Instead of using the traditional muslin cotton, I used a colorful purple cotton broadcloth so that I wouldn't waste any material (hello environmentally friendly) on a "mock-up."

Since Sarah lives in Boca and I live in Alabama, I took her measurements via email and made this mock-up dress. I will mail it to her with a "fit-kit" (an envelope of sewing pins and instructions), and she will try it on, pin it up, and send it back. I will then use the purple dress to create a new pattern for her real bridesmaid dress.

It sounds way more complicated than it actually is. This is actually the best way to sew - with a cotton muslin frame, so you can work all the kinks out before you start cutting and sewing the real deal.

Here are some pics...enjoy!

Favors

2010-01-23T19:31:00.000-08:00

Aside from all the dresses, the other little craft I'm working on are the favors. I've been saving scraps of material that I've used for handbags and other projects to create tiny totes that we'll give to each of our wedding guests.

I had a stamp made on etsy.com (I love that site!) that I used to make the tag by hand-stamping archival ink (purchased at Michaels) onto white cotton canvas. I left the tag's edges unfinished because I wanted to give it a homemade craftsy feel.

All in all, we should have about 200 of these little bags to give out on the big day - all different colors and designs - so each of our guests wil take home a handmade gift as well!

Brooke's Dress

2010-01-18T19:10:00.000-08:00

When my friend Brooke told me she wanted a halter dress for her bridesmaid's dress, I knew I wanted to do something "sassy." Brooke is my friend from high school in Decatur, Alabama, but after she attended college at the Savannah College of Art and Design, she moved to New York City. She currently resides in a trendy area of Brooklyn and works in SoHo at Stephen Lewis Photography.

Brooke has always had incredible style. One thing in particular about her, is that she loves big rings and is rarely seen without her signature accessories.

To liven up a simple halter, I added tuxedo pleating in the bust and skirt areas. I still have to send her dress up to her in New York, so we can fit it one last time, but before I complete the hem, I will turn what is now an A-line skirt into a flattering tulip skirt. I can't wait...it's going to be gorgeous!

And then there was a veil....

2010-01-08T17:13:00.000-08:00

Today was Blake's Grandmother's birthday, so we took her to Albany Bistro in Decatur (yum!!!) for lunch and then to Jimmy Smith Jewelers. She loves to shop for jewelry so we thought she would like to be involved in helping us pick out our wedding bands. I'll save the wedding bands for another blog post....

When we returned from lunch and shopping, I was trying to describe to her what type of veil I wanted to wear. I explained that I loved the look of a birdcage veil with a fascinator and had found a few handmade birdcage veils that I liked while browsing Etsy.

Just in case you've never shopped Etsy (http://www.etsy.com/), it is an (insert sing-song voice here) AMAZING marketplace for handmade goods. While trying to find the exact veils that I had been eyeing, I came across this beautiful piece from Hems and Bustles in Austin, Texas and decided that it was the one.

What a blessing in disguise this snow and ice storm in North Alabama has been. I've found my shoes AND my veil.

I have shoes!!!

2010-01-07T13:14:00.000-08:00

I bought my wedding shoes today!!! It's snowing in North Alabama and what better to do when you're stuck in the house than to shop for shoes online.

I've had my eye on these since...um, basically since the day after we were engaged. I knew I wanted to wear red shoes with my wedding dress (although my friend Gwen in Kentucky has a saying about what "mama always says" about who wears red shoes to church, hahaha) because my engagement ring, which once belonged to Blake's grandmother, is made of both diamonds and rubies, and I thought it would be neat to have ruby shoes to match my ruby ring. And okay, I admit, it might also be because I wanted to channel a little bit of Judy Garland, a la Wizard of Oz, as I walked down the aisle.

I searched high and low from the east coast to the west for the perfect red shoes. I scoured Las Vegas and Miami and New York, but in the end, it was these beauties that I fell in love with in the beginning that will adorn my pretty little feet.

I purchased them from Nina (http://www.ninashoes.com/) but I designed them myself through a cool little feature they have on their site where you can design your own shoes...which goes well with my theme of designing all the dresses. This particular Nina style is called the Elke and it has a 4.25 inch heel. The color is red rouge luster satin...ooh la la! And...just in case any of you are interested in designing your own shoes on the Nina website, if you sign up for their emails, you get 20% off your order AND free shipping (SCORE for the recessionista fashionista inside us all!).

More pix to follow as soon as I get them in the mail...yay!!!

Wedding Fabric

2009-10-03T21:15:00.000-07:00

Let me preface this post by telling you that I always (ALWAYS) try to buy on sale...especially (ESPECIALLY) when it comes to fabric. If I'm not using my wholesale designer's discount, I am clipping coupons for Hancock or Joann Fabrics. And even when I'm not buying on sale, I have a limit when it comes to how much I will spend per yard.

Rewind back to my days as a college student at the University of Miami. On the edge of swanky Coral Gables (where my beloved alma mater is), there is a fabric store called Rex Fabrics (http://www.rexfabrics.com/). It might as well have been called the No-No store. I went to Rex only one time while living in Miami...and as a poor college student, found that I could barely afford a scrap of their worst fabric, much less a yard of any of the good stuff.

The walls are lined with fine fabrics imported from all ends of the earth. But especially impressive, they carry fabrics from all the major fashion houses. So when you walk inside, you are surrounded by Chanel, Valentino, Roberto Cavalli...seriously EVERYTHING that is ANYTHING. Floor to ceiling...it's amazing. Celebrities, socialites, dignitaries, even First Ladies have all shopped at Rex.

How much does fabric cost at Rex, you ask? Alot! I remember the first time I shopped there, picking up what I thought was a simple satin. Then I saw the price tag. $200/yard. Not so bad you say. But for a poor collegiate engineering student almost a decade ago, $20/yard was pricey...$200/yard was unfathomable.

Fast foward to my recent trip back to my adopted hometown of Miami. I dragged my fiance Blake into Rex and told him, "You can come in with me, but you can't look at what I'm looking at, because you can't see my wedding dress fabric."

Poor Blake. While a nice young gay man with painted-on sideburns (yes.) escorted me through aisles of rolls of the most exquisite materials, he spent the entire time playing a game: finding the most expensive fabric in the store. He found one for $900/yard that resembled a shower curtain he said his grandmother once owned. He found one for $1,000/yard. Then he found the motherload...$2,000/yard. That deserves to be spelled out...in all caps. TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS PER YARD.

Really??? How do you cut that???!!!

While he was playing his game, I found my perfect fabric. Nestled between the Chanel wedding collection and some other fancy Parisian import, I found a beautiful handmade, hand-beaded roll of what I think an angel probably created...actually someone in Rome, Italy...but nonetheless it was perfect. And considering it was in the "fancy" room of Rex, upstairs and amongst some of the winners of Blake's game, it was quite the bargain, if you will, at only $399/yard.

One dollar shy of $400 per measly yard is what I paid. And when I called my mother to tell her, I'm not sure she understood. But then she saw it. In all it's glory. And then she understood.

It really is pretty.

But I think when it comes time to cut it, I will need a therapist to hold my hand and walk me through every slice. Most importantly though, I can't wait to wear it...and I can't wait for Blake to see it...on March 20th.

And just to satisfy my inner thrift, the rest of the fabric that I buy for the dress will probably come from Joann or Hancock...and you can bet your bottom dollar that I will be using a coupon!!!

I'm getting married!!!

2009-09-26T18:56:00.000-07:00

When you know, you know, you know. That's what my future husband and I used to say to each other, because we've known each other since we were 12 years old, but it took us until we were 30 to figure out we were meant to be together.

Originally, I wanted to start this blog to compliment my handbag website, http://www.kazukdesigns.com/, but when I decided that I would be making my wedding dress...AND all of my bridesmaids' dresses...AND dresses for the flower girls...AND dresses for my older sister and future sister-in-law to wear to the wedding, I thought maybe it would be a good idea to document my madness - since planning a wedding is tough enough, and not too many brides would take on the daunting task of making all those dresses!

My fiance, Blake, has PROMISED never to look at this blog (at least until after the wedding), as I will be posting lots of pictures of my dress - sketches, fabric photos, progress photos, etc. But I hope that you will enjoy joining me on my incredible journey of turning my wedding into a fashion show.

By the way...the beautiful rouched navy dress I'm wearing, I made by knocking off a couture dress I saw in Vogue and guess what??!! That beautiful fabric was found on the $1 rack at Wal-Mart!!! It was also the last piece that my Japanese Granny (for whom my company, kazu k. designs is named) helped me sew.

And yep, I'm making a crazy face and doing the "tiger" in this particular engagement photo...but that's just me.