On Saturday I did everything in my power to avoid wedding preparation. I even packed away the rest of the Halloween decorations and the costumes in the actual storage closet!*
(Note: Space bags will puncture if you nestle them against a skeleton candle holder.)
On Sunday I was out of excuses. I fired up Netflix, pulled up the swallowtail butterfly tutorial on the netbook, and started to make origami butterflies.
I got the first butterfly three-quarters of the way done and accidentally tore its head in half. Then I tore the entire butterfly in half in a fit of self-pity-fueled rage and realized that my time was worth more than the 20 hours it was going to take me to make 70 of them. My new wedding mantra? Fuck the butterflies. (By the way, did you know they make edible butterflies out of rice paper to perch on drinks? This is just the kind of crazy thing that brides obsess over having.)**
I went to Google, punched in “green butterflies” and found some for 35 cents apiece. Five minutes later and twenty-eight dollars poorer, I felt much better. We’ll see how I feel when they arrive. If they are totally hideous I do have a plan B in place. (I also have a plan C, but we don’t talk about that. It involves a net and some ether. And no butterflies.)
Next on the agenda: ribbon. I had decided that my next step with the ribbon, before cutting more, would be to attach the thin green ribbon to the wider green ribbon. Initially I thought I would sew them together. Halfway down my first piece of ribbon I realized that it would take forever and that sewing ribbon together is a great way to bleed a lot, so I sucked it up and added stitch-witchery on my To-Buy list.
I’m not actually a fan of stitch-witchery for real sewing projects. I find it has a habit of coming unglued in the dryer and creatively re-hemming items so that pant legs are stuck to waistbands or, even worse, necklines. Also, hemming is easy! What’s happened in this country that no one knows how to sew anymore?
I digress. It’s working out all right so far. Since this ribbon will never see a dryer, I think we’re safe. (The stuff that’s clean will be reused though. Plan on having green ribbon on any gift you receive from me for the rest of our lives.)
It is also taking forever. I figure if I do two or three a night I should be done sometime before the wedding. Maybe.
Whatever, this counts as having done wedding related things. Of note: I’ve also given the green light to our stationer to print our invitations, R.S.V.P.s, menus, insert cards, and envelopes. I also sent the deposit to the sound system company and had another conversation with our florist. (Not to mention having ordered my dress and shoes for a wedding I’m standing up in this coming April and booked my hotel room and rental car for that trip.)
Tune in next Wedding Wednesday for an update on the making of my wedding dress. I plan on cutting the fabric for the mock-muslin dress between now and then. God help us all.
*FYI, in a pinch you can hand-wash feathers. Just let them lay flat to dry and fluff afterwards. I used Oxy Clean. It worked fine.
**You can’t order them until 2 months out. I’m hoping I forget about them.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
1. I WANT RICE PAPER BUTTERFLIES FOR MY COCKTAILS!!! Must have links!! (also, how can you forget about them when you put them in the blog for posterity!)
2. Stitch Witchery is my favorite thing in the world, because while I love sewing a lot, I HATE hemming. That being said, I don’t use stitch witchery for anything permanent, just my costuming work. It’s especially awesome for pieces that will need different hems in different years for different actors. It makes taking out the old one and putting in a new sooo easy, just 15 minutes on high in the dryer and problem solved. I also use it cut really thin for Fiona’s (my doll) hems, because there is no way I’m sewing that tightly.
You can find them here, although that order sold. I did send her an email to see if she’s still making them and if I could order some. Let’s be honest – I have no intention of forgetting them!
I think it would be perfect for costuming, I just know a lot of people who try to get away with using it for actual clothing! Hems are so easy!
“It involves a net and some ether. And no butterflies.” Ahahahaha