A Slice of Nostalgic Pie

Well maybe I shouldn't post this because it's a bit embarrassing, but it's fun too (in a nerdy sort of way).... Yesterday, I looked in the top of my bedroom closet at my special white box that holds my wedding dress (from almost 8 years ago) and a blessing dress that I sewed for my little Kendyl and decided to get them out to play with them. The last time I got my wedding dress out (3 years ago) it sadly ended in tears because I couldn't zip it up (I had just had a baby a few months before that). I was actually quite a bit bigger then and have been working hard for three years to lose most of that baby weight that you can get from having two kids in a row.

So as I pulled it out and tried to slip it on I was nervous that it still wouldn't fit even though I knew I was smaller now. I was so excited when Seth zipped it up with a whoosh! It's the first time I have fit back in my wedding dress since our two girls have entered our lives! It was definitely tighter through the hips and stomach then I remember and looser in the chest area than it was 8 years ago, but I got it on. :)

I put on lipstick and earings and put my hair up in a weddingish hairdo. I also paraded all over the house and let my girls hold the train of my dress and made Seth take a bajillion pictures of me. I even called my parents and talked Seth into calling his parents to tell them that I was prancing around the house in my wedding dress. :) My oldest said excitedly, "What if daddy dies and then you have to wear this again?!" This didn't impress daddy very much. :)

My mom's life long best friend made this dress for me. She used some lace that my mom had for the top part. If you look closely you can see that it's hand made lace because it's a bit uneven. The lace, of course, is very old, because my mom has rooms and boxes of old trimmings, lace, fabric, etc. and it was just the right length. I sure am grateful my mom collects that kind of stuff.

What we also pulled out of the box was Kendyl's blessing gown. (Makenzie was blessed in a very old handmade gown from 1800 something that my mom still has). With Kendyl I decided to try to sew her gown. It was a new hobby at the time I was trying to develop. I made the slip underneath and then the dress.

Here's a close up of my two favorite things about her blessing gown. The handmade butterfly lace trim from around the turn of the century (another gift from mom) and the little flowers you can see dotting the dress that poke out. Those flowers were left overs from my wedding veil that my mom sewed into it. I had 9 left over that my mom didn't use and so I put them scattered throughout Kendyl's dress.

We were very nearly late for church because nothing seemed as wonderful to put on after playing in my wedding dress for an hour. Kendyl and Makenzie carried their dressed up dolly all day long and shared holding her at church as well. What a fun morning we had. I need to get that box out more often. :)