The phone rings…the bride says, “We have a little problem getting the flower girl’s zipper up” and since “you are working on my dress, I figure you can make this work too”.
How tough can it be? The bride mentions the fact that ALL of the family says that ALL she needs is a corset back. OK then…my job is set isn’t it? Or is it? Let’s take a look at the “Before” photo shall we? Hold your breath!
Want to peek at more? Armhole cutting into her skin and a belt that will never go around the waist altered or not. 
Can you see the side seam curving to the back? The seam is being pulled toward the front to cover her tummy and lower down pulled towards her butt in the back.
Under the center back zipper the fabric is being pulled up as well with no ease.
Right away, I say I will have to make side panels in all the layers to make this work. Then I ask how much did this dress cost as I think that it could be re-ordered in the right size and save them some money.
The answer was “$60” and the bride says that the flower girl, her soon to be 13 yr old stepdaughter will not compromise with a new dress as this is her “dream dress”. REALLY! OK then…let’s plan for some real labor costs.
I cut the belt away from the zipper so they can go and buy some ribbon to match or contrast with the other bridesmaids who are wearing shades of purple. I measure the waist to let the bride know how much ribbon to buy…hold your breath…45 inches or 114.3 cm.
Let’s get started by carefully opening up seams and shifting lace motifs shall we? One good thing is the seam allowances are almost 1 inch wide so the new panels have to be 2.5 inches wide to make up 4 inches of new ease on each side seam.
The tulle lining has wide seam allowances too…hooray!
If you approach this project as a treasure hunt…let’s see what $60 gets you. For each of the skirt layers, five, there is a row of stitching but, bummer…a couple of those rows ended up making a fold which will be released later.
Can you read Chinese? What size did they order?
Wondering why the center back seam was pulling up? How about a pleat in the lining?
Opening and releasing the lining allowed things to relax. Note the huge slash at the end of the zipper.
Someone forgot to close up the lining center back seam:
Skipping down to the skirt hem where the lining and satin were sewn together. Not a good day for keeping the stitching ends even was it?
One layer of the skirt was organza and here is what they used for the hem…the selvedge…nice touch!
Before I saw the dress the bride told me that I would have to find fabric to match the grey. I told her that SHE would have to find the fabric and this is what the whole family came up with. They shopped at two JoAnn’s and came up with mauve….hmmm.
Moving on to the waist seams…another bad day for matching:
In the end I went to JoAnn’s and found the 5 layers of grey needed:
Here you can see the 4 inches of ease using all the wide seam allowances:
Each bodice strip had a narrow seam and understitching just like the dress armhole:
Not bad except the only tulle was a sparkle variety. Once on the wearer, it should blend in and not be too noticeable.
Each layer of the skirt was measured to see how wide each new strip should be. One side to another varied by 2 inches. In other words, not all the strips were 4 inches wide, a couple were 6 inches to bridge the gap.
The layers in order of sequence:
Skirt layers attached and ready to be basted to the bodice, left side and right sides:
As we come to the end, I noticed that the center back seam in the lining was sewn by hand:
And opening the hem edge, you can see that it was another bad day for matching. No wonder that the back hem was pulling up when sewn to the satin layer. All this was just wadded up inside.
Second try-on:
Flipping the dress inside out to check the lining:
What else do we need? Maybe a purple belt hand tacked to the waist seam:
Front view of finished dress with the old side seam lace motifs re-attached and pressed:
After all this I had to go outside and see what Mr. Mole had gathered from the garden. Yes, those are plums, orange cherry tomatoes, romaine lettuce, summer squash and white eggplant/aubergines. 
The smoke continues to drift in and out of our 100 + degree valley while the fire crews are making back fires to slow the rate of growth but it will be a long time before they can contain the perimeters. It seems the whole West coast is under siege!
Stay cool everyone and I wish you a great sewing week!
fit for a queen 
Hmm! Not bad, considering.
Interesting to see how makeshift the original manufacture was.
I still have no idea how people dream about a dress they cannot even put on. Personally I would always buy a larger size that you could try on and pin out, and later take it in, than something that looks embarrassing with your underwear and what not hanging out
Sadly, tKate, he internet tempts and lures women and girls into thinking that their dream dress is just a click away. Yes, buy this dress and look like the thin Asian model with the dress that is clamped in back…a fantasy for sure! They would be better off following your blog and doing a “Frida”! http://fabrickated.com/
That’s a lot of work! Funnily enough, I quite enjoy doing jobs like this. How satisfying is it to see the zip fastening up properly when you’ve finished?
Definitely a better idea to buy bigger and take in.
It made me smile for sure when that zipper went up…Lordie, you never know! Adding 8 inches to a dress means you ordered a dress 4 sizes too small.
Holy Mother of God! What an jaw dropping save! Mrs. Mole you are amazing!
Us Canucks north of you (Okanagan in BC) are trapped in our houses with the smoke in the air, it was so bad yesterday it looked like fog, and that was after several hours of rain, which usually clears it up somewhat. We all spend our days fantasizing about torrential rain to clear the air, and not having burning eyes and being able to breathe. Living the dream.
Sorry so much smoke is heading your way, Elle! Here folks are getting used to wearing smoke masks just to go outside and never opening the windows. We too are praying for rain but that may by some time in Nov. By that time the thick crust of soot and ash will be 1/4 inch thick on everything in the back yard and windows and cars.
I hope you charged these idiots a FORTUNE for all that labour [and shopping for them] Poor child being overfed and bloated out to that size. Oh dear.
Trying to imagine what lies ahead for a girl with such a large waist entering high school. It is hard enough trying to fit in and find your space without struggling to find decent fitting clothes. At least she will be covered up for the wedding.
You’ve made it possible for her to feel like a princess for one day. In fact, I’m sure you made her feel special throughout the whole process. That’s a memory she’ll treasure.
I’m staring at the photos and I’m still not sure how you got all that lace into place like that–I hope the bride and flowergirl were appreciative because that is a save for the ages. Wishing you clearer skies soon!
Some of the lace was removed and re-attached more evenly. The blank areas will remain blank and especially under her arms, the fabric is nice and smooth with no lace or beads to give her a rash. Thank you, ParisGrrl.
😱OMG!!! You are amazing. A lot of work. But I know you can do anything.
It’s all about the solution and once I had all the fabrics, it just fell into place. I just want to show other seamstresses that many alterations are possible. Thanks, Donna!
out of interest how much does an alteration like this cost? you have the patience of a saint!
It took 5 hours but I charged for 2.5 because it is not the girl’s fault she was too large for the dress, it was not ordered with any reference to her actual size. It could have been the same situation with a smaller girl say a size 4 but her mother ordered a size 0…more new panels to make it fit. By now you can tell I like digging around INSIDE clothes where you find all the secrets…ha ha!
I am astonished you got all that done in under 5 hours. You are amazing!
Those cheap Chinese dresses need to go back to China. They’re awful to work on, and invariably, I get brides/party members who thought they were actually getting what the picture showed when they ordered. If the deal seems too good to be true, it’s a nightmare about to happen. Awful!
When you feel the fabrics you know that something is not right. Ultra-thin satin that ravels like crazy and really long stitches…holy shit…will a dress hold together with length 5 stitches? And if there is too much fabric to ease in…just make a pleat even if it is next to a zipper…Hell yes!
This time you really did work a miracle! How do they not understand that an eight inch gap translates as four sizes too small? I’ll admit to feeling a little smug that even my most hastily assembled slapdash dress innards look good compared to some of the things you found inside this one. Have you considered a book, ‘Choosing a Dress that Might Just Fit’ or ‘If you’re too fat walk away’ , or ‘It’s a Zip, Not aMagic Wand’.
Oh Jay, you crack me up! So many of my brides after their first fitting tell me that they learned so much listening to me explain what will be done to their dresses that they wish I could have been with them when selecting their gown. Then I tell them that they can buy my time for the normal rate and i will shop with them. I HAVE written a book…the blog, every week a post about turning disasters into dream dresses…ha ha.
It’s been a very long time, but I remember having to order a bridesmaid dress and the sizing was really confusing. Sort of like the difference between pattern sizes v. RTW sizing, when I look back on it now. The shop wasn’t much help either, they didn’t have samples, at least in my size. The wedding was in a different city and the bride had just given me a brand, color description, and style number. I ended up with a dress that was about one size too small in the chest and waist, but fortunately my mother was able to alter it and cover the little gap that was left at the back waist with bow. (Even worse for me, it was a backless dress. DD+ bra shopping nightmare.). Not a cheap dress, but still made out of hideous synthetic velvet with lace doilies. One of the other bridesmaids ended up with the wrong color because of the bride’s ambiguous description, and no one noticed until 5 minutes before the ceremony. I think this experience was a lot like the hit or miss people now have when buying wedding dresses online, whether they are from China or anywhere. So I have some sympathies about that, though it is a hardship for seamstresses! Great work on the dress for this girl – I’m sure it will make her feel very pretty on the day.
Delusional flower girls. That’s a new one. I’ve had to make a save like this once or twice before, but usually for a pregnant bridesmaid or an MoB, never for a teenage flower girl.
My thoughts were…who ordered a size 16 without measuring her and checking the size chart on the website? Maybe it is like women in their 90’s (my mother) who insist that they have always been a particular size all their life and never admit that things and brands change, skin falls, butts droop, boobs drop and hence sizes change too.
Well, another amazing save. You are a miracle worker. I know that young lady will feel like the most beautiful person on earth when she puts that dress on. My heart goes out to her in many ways.
I felt sorry for her having to now adjust to having a stepmom and starting a new high school experience…having a too small dress shouldn’t feature into what she is going through.
Yes. Exactly that. I saw that and felt so sorry for her. God, but 13 was hard enough without being way too heavy. I hope she feels beautiful and loved.
Your work is absolutely amazing. Did I miss the part where you said how many hours it took to re-work this dress? Love your posts.
I put a good 5 hours into this one with selecting fabrics and standing line at JoAnn’s with a paper number in my hand and then standing in line waiting for a cashier to ring me up.
WOW!
May you never have to deal with this situation, Ellen…but if you do…try making strips!!!! Thank you for commenting and visiting!
The whole story just breaks my damn heart, until the happy ending (at least the temporary happy ending on the day of the wedding). . . you are a Goddess!!!
Did you slip a $100 shop hour in there for challenging?
I could not have done this in five hours – I bow to your experience!
Thankfully, not too much smoke in our part of the willamette valley. Two more near 100′ days before it all starts downhill again.
Keeping my fingers crossed for cooler September mornings!!! Love your area…we love spending time at the Oregon Gardens and Mt. Angel! I did get my second tip this year, the first one being $5, the second one was $20 for work above and beyond the call of duty. This project just adds to my karma!
You did an amazing job getting this dress to appropriately fit the girl. Amazing work to only be finished by that cheap looking garishly bright purple ribbon. Gah! When will people learn to pick colors better?!
Really LeeAnn, you don’t like the purple belt…but it matches all the other bridesmaids…have to be totally color co-ordinated these days! Thank you!
well, I sit here and clap with my hands. You are such an artist. It is fantastique. Nobody can pay you what you deserve for your excellent work . And my greetings to Mr. Mole and I congratulate him for such a talented wife.
heidi
Thank you, Heidi! A seamstress can take great joy in charging less than the going rate when she feels like it, we can also do special things like steaming the dress and veil for free or providing padded hangers, new garment bags etc. There are many days that working is not all about the money, but the human connection and gratitude that I have so many clients.
Your compassion for the child going through all these changes does you great credit.
ceci
If you have ever had a 13 year old child that had to make adjustments in her life as a stepchild, it all comes flooding home….to me…in my life looking back and admiring the changes my youngest daughter had to make in a foreign country, new schools, wearing uniforms and a new stepfather…so much at such a tender age.
I remember being 13 and moving to the other side of the world; so kind of you to sympathize with this young lady. And you’ve done amazing work again. With each “before” photo, my jaw dropped in surprise that this was made, let alone sold. Such a relief to see the end product!
you are a miracle worker, dress looks amazing!!
Thanks, Sarah, I always tell my brides that I still learn something from every dress…only this time I wish I had not had to learn so much…ha ha!
My language source person says that the handwritten numbers on the tag are the size indicator. The 104 is probably height and the 86 is the width. Assuming that is cm, that’s about 3’4″ height and 34″ hip/width.
Thank you, Jen…neither one of those measurements matches our girl so there was a real mix-up when ordering.
I wonder why a parent would let this dress be ordered. Such a humiliating exercise for this round girl. My first thought was that they should have ordered TWO dresses and you could have attached them to each other. What an amazing save, Mrs Mole! Again!
I agree, two dresses would have been nice but there still would have been labor charges to blend the two together. In the end, everything came out OK and Cinderella can go to the ball/wedding and toss rose petals down the aisle or whatever flower girls do these days.
When I saw the blog post title, I thought “This will be a doozy of a project!” and you have not disappointed!
Oh dear, Paola…after so many ivory dresses, it just seemed appropriate to toss in a real stinker/doozy for you but also as a teaching tool.
You did a wonderful job with the extra fabric for the side seams!
I’ve done quite a handful of additions, corset backs and gussets as well!
As long as they know it is a lot of work!
The cool thing is, I take photos along the way and give them to the client…if they don’t sew, they are pretty impressed at each stage and never quibble over the bill. Normally there are shortcuts to explain and decisions to be made but this one was not like that. They gave me free rein to do my best, Susan.
Your work and your kindness to this poor girl are both amazing.
When you crank out the same old dresses day after day with little regard from the bride for the workmanship or time spent, it is an honor to do something totally different and worth sharing with all of you.Thank you, Tracy!
Well, that is one outstanding alteration! Good heavens! You have a heart of gold, that’s for sure! I get so annoyed at people boasting about how little their dresses cost them that I would have charged the full amount, just to make a point! I once had to listen to a family member (at her daughter’s wedding) complain about how the seamstress who altered her dress charged what her dress, on sale, cost to purchase in the first place! Needless to say, I was completely tactless and gave a succinct lecture on just WHY the alterations cost so much. 😀
All I can say is…total up the cost of fake nails $60, fake lashes $150, hair-do $100, make-up $120 compared to the seamstresses’ bill. In the end, you have a dress that fits well and flatters…all the rest is gone down the drain.
if that was the flower girl, what did the bride wear? when i saw the all-white lace dress, i thought it was the gown. i wish i could see the child’s wedding gown. or not.
The bride, the new stepmom is a very large lady with purple clad bridesmaids but very appreciative for all I have done to make her day perfect.
Amazing transition Mrs Mole. People have absolutely no idea what they are doing or what is involved. They buy the cheapest dress then pay to have the dress altered with skills & materials way beyond the value of the dress. Do you feel when you have a major overhaul like this the folks have any idea the skills you bring to them?
They do have an idea when I send them all the photos…I try to overwhelm the non-sewers…ha ha!
Oh, that poor girl. You did an amazing job, but all I can think about is how a 13 year old has a 45 inch waist. I feel like giving them a reference for my surgeon.
One can only hope that the high school experience will cause her to change her diet and become more active and have a growth spurt…fingers crossed!
HA HA 🙂 I LAUGHED outloud when I read the bit about “Problem zipping it” ..As soon as I HEAR THAT on the phone I know the garment is at LEAST 4-8 inches TOO SMALL 😦 I am actually FASTER at adding corset-backs now. I would have done that but would have needed to make it LOW….under the buttocks…. Been there-done that. The armholes would have needed adjusting even if it WAS her size I think 😦 This looks BEAUTIFUL 🙂 Poor peep 😦 WHY do they let their children get so heavy at such a YOUNG age? I WARN them in advance after I see the HUGE amount of work required. This alteration is going to cost..$x-$x as an ESTIMATE. If there is time I ALWAYS suggest ordering a larger dress but they don’t listen 😦 Your ‘cheap’ dress or gown or your ‘clearance priced’ dress or gown is NOT inexpensive when you have to pay me $100 PLUS to make it fit 😦 I learned YEARS AGO to make that Jo Ann trip MYSELF when I need fabric/trims. They NEVER find the right thing 😦 I just do that errand when I have others to do 🙂 GOOD LUCK with those terrible fires.
I have to agree 100% with you…even the threat of the alterations going over $100 will not deter folks from buying the wrong size at a cheap price. I do get fed up with making dresses bought on Etsy, never fitting anyone, into better gowns. I have not featured any of them so far but I may soon. Why does anyone think that Etsy dresses will fit? A bride asked me today about what qualifications a seamstress needs to have before starting her business…like there is some piece of paper or a license they need to have…all they need is BALLS. Anyone can call themselves a seamstress to sell “custom made” wedding gowns…really…that would be like me calling myself a drapery specialist having never made drapes for clients before but I could still do it couldn’t I?
All you need is a sewing machine and pretty marketing pictures. If you wave a handsewing needle at it, you’re couture!!
You are not only a magician but also a Saint! I order dresses and other clothing from China often but I am ordering it for stage productions. I order 2xl or 3xl if they have it and then reduce as needed and usually it doesn’t need too much and I am putting these pieces on thin high school girls. China’s idea of size and ours is not the same. Years ago when I costumed a production of “Miss Saigon” I ordered the dresses from China and for any girl who wasn’t a size small to medium at most US sizes I had to order two dresses to do just what you did, panels right up the sides and down the sleeves.
My new thing to do at Joann’s is to order online with in store pick up. It is the best. I just go to the register show them the pick up receipt and they hand me the already paid for package. I have even done it after going to the store and picking out fabric – I just take a picture of the end of the roll and then go home and order it. The lines at the cutting table at our Joann’s are out of control as is the check out. I can usually even use a coupon.
Your kindness to this young girl is just proof that there really are many good people in this world.
Great tip on the JoAnn’s ordering of fabrics!!! I did order something earlier, non-fabric and it was bagged and waiting for me when I arrived but never thought about doing it with fabrics! You can spend 30 minutes standing in line at the cutting table with a paper number only to find the same line at the checkout with one lonely cashier. Our JoAnn’s is now packed tight with bolts of polar fleece all the way up the ceilings!!! Who buys that stuff? The one fabric that our local ASG gets the most of in donated fabrics…you got it, bolts of fleece. I ended up using some to make Shoulder Wraps from the Nancy’s Notions website to give away to nursing home residents for our Community Sew projects.
I LOVE you guys 🙂 You make me feel VERY fortunate 🙂 My local JA is in Zanesville Ohio 🙂 Sometimes I have to WAIT but no longer than 15 minutes or so. I know ‘my’ girls, so I stand and listen and contribute sometimes to chit-chat so it’s not bad at all 🙂 I LOVE my JA employees. I give them Christmas gifts because I see them more than ANYONE else all year long 🙂 Concerning FLEECE. I HATE SEWING IT 😦 There-I SAID IT OUTLOUD 🙂 HATE IT. I use it to make RICE BAGS..bags to fill with rice and zap in the microwave for injuries or sadness or broken hearts 🙂 Other than that-you can KEEP IT 😦 Made a fleece vest and a fleece jacket…NEVER-EVER again 😦 Give me SATIN and CHIFFON 🙂
Wow.. a super rework. I never cease to be amazed how you pull it off. Hey, are those gold nugget tomatoes? They taste like candy. ; )
Not sure what those tomatoes are called as Mr Mole just cut some up last year from Trader Joe’s as an experiment. He got so excited when the seeds came up and now we have half the backyard with those plants pumping out produce like crazy. Seems they like the soot and heat and I have been bagging them up and giving so much away and freezing some too. No, I don’t do canning, if it can’t go in a Ziploc freezer bag and into a freezer, I can’t be bothered leaving my sewing room.
GOLD NUGGETS are AWESOME 🙂
Wow!!! I am always impressed by your work but this time you’re really, really blowing my mind! What a beautiful end result – she looks just lovely. Dream dress indeed! You’re a real fairy godseamstress to turn those cheap rags into such a gorgeous, well-fitted dress. I bet she was just thrilled with the result!
I just hope she can have some fun doing twirls while watching her dad commit to another woman. Thank you Tamara for your sweet comments!
Wow . . . I really am old enough to be a fossil. As long as the family was paying the cost of having the entire dress remade why didn’t they ask Mrs. Mole to line the bodice? Or at least the front of the bodice? In what world would a parent think it’s appropriate for their 13 year old daughter to wear a dress with a bodice constructed out of 2 layers of tulle, some lace, and two circles of lining(?) padding(?) at the chest? (I can probably answer my own question: Dad is clueless or hasn’t thought it through or hasn’t seen the dress; soon-to-be stepmom doesn’t have the determination to force a more appropriate choice or only cares about how how she’ll look in her dress.
This is the third flower girl dress I have altered this season and it is YES to your question, Val. It IS all about the bride and how the bridal party aka known as stepchildren must compliment the new stepmom perfectly. One bride ordered the dress 4 sizes too big even after asking me how to measure the girl for a “custom” dress to be made in Hollywood. Then the next one was ordered 4 sizes too small without even bothering to measure the girl. My policy of not working on children’s clothes has gone out the window this year. I see these sad girls trying their best to look happy wearing matching colors to the real bridesmaids in ill-fitting dresses. This current grey dress will be worn with a camisole under so I was not worried about the sheer nature but those 2 weird bust pads are confusing for sure.
Wow! I have no words!
I had thought that the bride & whoever was involved in ordering didn’t have the foresight to steer away from girl’s section. But then to see it was a size 16… was this an adult size 16 or girls size 16? Do girls sizes come in 16? I haven’t a clue, I only had a boy to figure out sizes and since he was a tall one (still is!), it was a challenge to match his age interests with sizes he needed. Anyway, I’m impressed with this transformation.
The other morning on the drive to work, I thought the sky was looking a bit odd as the sun came up, and was wondering if it was smoke from the west coast. In Iowa?! Saw later on news, yes indeed, your smoke is over Iowa and all the way to east coast :-(. Still wishing you a cool front and gentle showers!!
Sorry to be sharing our smoke with you! It does seem that the dress was ordered in a little girl’s size 16 but at least now it is a woman’s size.
By the time I got to the “after” photo I felt like I should be hearing a drum roll in the background. WOW what a remake! I would have thrown up my hands and with deepest apologies wished them all the best 🙂 You did such a fabulous job. I wonder if they really understood just how amazing your save was?! The dress came out so pretty and I’m sure the wearer was thrilled to bits. Ha! Your work is done while the bride’s work is just beginning as this girl’s new stepmom 🙂
Lots of challenges face my brides this season. OH MY, the stories I have heard of 2-3 previous marriages, loads of stepchildren blending and nasty in-laws…too bad I cannot share more backgrounds with the dresses. When a new clients comes and announces, “I heard you work magic”…so much is expected.
What a magnificent job you did to create a dream dress and repair poor work on the part of the manufacturer. Sometimes I wonder if seamstresses for companies every use a measuring tape. I am sure you made one girl very, very happy.
When I worked in a bridal factory, the only measuring device was a 6 inch ruler in case we had to measure a zipper or ribbon, otherwise everything was pre-cut by the manager and bundled for sewing. We were robots matching pieces together as fast as we could. Thank you for your kind comment, Isabelle.
You are a wizard! You gave this girl a really beautiful dress that looks great on her. Though it does make me sad to think that this is her “dream dress” when the initial construction was so shoddy…& I’m sure the fabrics don’t feel very nice.
“Dream dress” in being the nicest this girl has ever worn being the oldest of 9 children and having to babysit all the ones who came after her down to a 2 yr old baby. Having a new stepmom will certainly open her horizons and get her away from all her siblings for a while.
NINE KIDS! Holy hell. I want to adopt this girl. I hope her new stepmom is an awesome change in her life.
wow . . . I truly hope your are right Mrs. Mole. I hope step-mother is ready and interested in being a mom and gives those kids her devoted attention instead of focusing on having her “own” baby.
This young teenager just received such a loving gesture from you and your heartfelt sewing skills, that am sure you made her feel beautiful on this extremely special day – bless your heart !!!
Thank you, Carol, we are given opportunities every day to go the extra mile…this was mine.
“A little help with the zipper” turned into so much more – I should have expected it.
You kind and thoughtful woman.
I share these little trials with you, Ruth, so that you can say, “so glad I am not Mrs. Mole”.
Another amazing fix. I’ve learned not to send non-sewers to the fabric store. They have no idea what to buy and I’ve been presented with totally inappropriate fabrics. Easier to just go yourself and charge for the time. You are a saint to have made this fit and only charged for half your time. I hope your kindness and skill were appreciated.
Thanks, Mary, I’m sure once the girl and the bride start getting compliments on their dresses, they will think of me fondly. You know I would rather get paid half the amount due for a job that i enjoy and push myself than do “resentful sewing” on a project for a nasty demanding client. Unfortunately, we get a little of both and hope the nicer ones shine through.
Wow. I know a new mom would want to please a new child, but that dress doesn’t feel age appropriate to me- am I crazy? As usual you make Mission Impossible seem like everyday!
As long as the girl wears her camisole, I think she will be OK but it is very short! Some days I feel as though I am on a Candid Camera show, “Will she be able to accept the challenge and make it fit?”
She order a size 12. 40 bust and 32 waist. That tag is a generic Chinese tag for their local wedding dress. In china, they have goods that are sold for locals (super bad quality but cheap) and export (better quality depending where they are going to). I buy materials in china and you can get decent stuff as long as you are willing to pay a bit more but the local stuff is usually garbage.
Great job mrs.mole 🙂
Very nice work. Your patience and ingenuity come through. Congratulations. How many swear words?
Back then, I don’t remember but I’m sure I went through a few choice ones and lots of Diet Pepsi!