I don't know how many of you know this, but my sewing background is actually in the bridal world. When I was 18, I got a job at a shop in Orem, UT named Gowns by Pamela. Pam, the owner is an incredibly designer and she had this great idea to sew her own beatufil wedding dress patterns and then to rent them out to brides who could pay a lot less for a lot nicer of a wedding dress, wear it once, (like all brides do) and then return it to be cleaned and prepped for another bride. She made all the gowns in bodice and skirt portions separately (because so many women are shaped differently from top to bottom!) and she made them all so they could be altered to fit each bride. I got the job as the in-house head-seamstress, so I sewed the actual bodices and skirts and I occasionally got to do fittings for the brides.
From this marvelous experience, I learned to recognize a good pattern that fits actual WOMEN'S bodies. I also learned how to sew on an industrial machine, which has changed my life forever. Normal weenie household machines go about 200 stitches per minute maximum.....my industrial machine sews 5,500 stitches per minute. There you have it. The other thing I learned is to HATE hand-sewing. I didn't used to hate it. I spent years sewing goofy little mermaid tails for my barbies, as well as all manner of haphazard gowns. Me, my sister, and my aunt (who is two years older than me) sat and hand-sewed countess little accessories, clothing for our stuffed kittens. This was all when I was 6 or 7 years old. I didn't sew on a sewing maching until I was 12 (Thank heavens for my good mother, who introduced me to the joys of sewing.)
The thing is, with a wedding dress, you're stitching countess numbers of little pearls. OH, and then there's the great part when you stick your finger with a needle, and you don't realize it until a couple of minutes later when you look down to behold several splotches of scarlet blood on a $1200 wedding dress. GOOD times. So, how does this all tie in with these pictures? This is a Buccaneer Style Pirate Coat. I wanted to show it to my customers and see if they think I should offer it on my website. Is it different enough than the classic pirate coat? Is it worth $35 more to get lovely buttons hand-sewn onto it? I just want your opinions. They're always valued, and I do know that sometimes I'm totally full of crap and it's good to have my customers bring me back down to earth. ;)
I don't know how many of you know this, but my sewing background is actually in the bridal world. When I was 18, I got a job at a shop in Orem, UT named Gowns by Pamela. Pam, the owner is an incredibly designer and she had this great idea to sew her own beatufil wedding dress patterns and then to rent them out to brides who could pay a lot less for a lot nicer of a wedding dress, wear it once, (like all brides do) and then return it to be cleaned and prepped for another bride. She made all the gowns in bodice and skirt portions separately (because so many women are shaped differently from top to bottom!) and she made them all so they could be altered to fit each bride. I got the job as the in-house head-seamstress, so I sewed the actual bodices and skirts and I occasionally got to do fittings for the brides.
From this marvelous experience, I learned to recognize a good pattern that fits actual WOMEN'S bodies. I also learned how to sew on an industrial machine, which has changed my life forever. Normal weenie household machines go about 200 stitches per minute maximum.....my industrial machine sews 5,500 stitches per minute. There you have it. The other thing I learned is to HATE hand-sewing. I didn't used to hate it. I spent years sewing goofy little mermaid tails for my barbies, as well as all manner of haphazard gowns. Me, my sister, and my aunt (who is two years older than me) sat and hand-sewed countess little accessories, clothing for our stuffed kittens. This was all when I was 6 or 7 years old. I didn't sew on a sewing maching until I was 12 (Thank heavens for my good mother, who introduced me to the joys of sewing.) 
The thing is, with a wedding dress, you're stitching countess numbers of little pearls. OH, and then there's the great part when you stick your finger with a needle, and you don't realize it until a couple of minutes later when you look down to behold several splotches of scarlet blood on a $1200 wedding dress. GOOD times. So, how does this all tie in with these pictures? This is a Buccaneer Style Pirate Coat. I wanted to show it to my customers and see if they think I should offer it on my website. Is it different enough than the classic pirate coat? Is it worth $35 more to get lovely buttons hand-sewn onto it? I just want your opinions. They're always valued, and I do know that sometimes I'm totally full of crap and it's good to have my customers bring me back down to earth. ;)
