Style

The style in Evora and what I bought around town...

I have seen a lot of jumpsuits here in Evora. Mostly younger women wear jumpsuits or skinny jeans with a t-shirt during the day and sometimes shorts. Last year I remember being shocked at the amount of people in pants when it was 90+ degrees outside, but this time around I have seen a lot more shorts.

Here is what is in the windows in the stores around town (forgive me for the glare it was midday when these were taken.)

I have only seen girls in dresses like these in clubs at night. Young women never seem to wear sun dresses or skirts during the day. I have seen older women wear patterned dresses that go below the knee but not to the ankle not unlike dresses that my grandmother owned although probably more modern.

The patterned pants in this photo are pretty typical. I have seen a lot of young women in loose fitting patterned pants or a jumpsuit with the same style pant made of some comfy looking jersey-knit type material. I have also seen young women wear "rompers" which are exactly the same as the jumpsuits but with shorts instead of pants

One of the main products of Portugal is cork. There are shops all around town that sell a whole bunch of things made of cork including the purses you see above. They also have wallets, hats of every kind, and postcards, all made of cork.

While I was walking around taking these pictures I found this retro singer sewing machine. I believe the sign says it has been restored to new.

And yes, I found one of these too! Because what would any touristy spot be without a custom penny making machine!

There are a lot of China shops around town where you can find almost anything for cheap. They are ridiculously bigger than they look. You walk in and see a whole bunch of touristy things, clothes, jewelry, sunglasses, phone chargers, etc. All packed together in a tight space and then you realize there is another room, so you walk back, and from there you can see that there are a few more rooms it is crazy! You name it, they have it!

This is the cork purse I bought here last year that I still love very much although the corners now have holes in them :( It was the only cheetah print one that I saw and I am happy I snatched it up because I still have not seen another one like it.

I found this faux leather jacket on sale for 12 euros in a store called Pull and Bear the first week I was here this time around.

I also found these adorable leggings on sale at the same place :)

Next time I'll show you a bit from our trip to Coimbra last weekend and maybe some of out apartment... I am working on finishing a cotton dress that I started a long time ago perhaps you will see that too!

Thanks for reading!

Around Evora, Portugal

A walk inside the city walls...

Evora is a small walled city and all of the roads within the walls, and some outside of the walls, are cobblestone.

This is the main square Praca de Geraldo. A few cafes have outdoor seating in the middle of a roundabout like street. Here is where a lot of tourists have lunch and locals have coffee. When you ask for a coffee in Portugal you will likely get a tiny cup with one shot of espresso unless you ask for bigger. I have come to like the tiny cup of espresso with just  a touch of milk which is called a pingo or pingado.

Here is what I had for lunch in the square a week or so ago. It is impossible to be vegan here when you are eating out and nearly impossible to be vegetarian. I ordered this ensalada de queijo because it was the only vegetarian option on the menu that besides a sandes de queijo (which is essentially grilled cheese.) As you might guess, the salads are quite lacking! There are a couple of specifically vegetarian restaurants in Evora which I am thankful for. And yes, those are french fries, or batatas fritas, you see on the other plate :)  

Above you can see some of the Roman ruins within the city walls. This is the temple of Diana. And I happened to be passing by as some tourists were being given a carriage ride a perfect photo op!

Here is one of the streets that is pretty typical inside the wall. There are a lot of one ways that look very much just like an alley way but people drive fast down them as if its no big deal. The Portugese word for cobblestone street is paralelipipido (not sure if I spelled that one correctly.)

It is a bit more challenging to find street names here. For the most part they are on the sides of buildings in small towns like Evora and I think it is even that way in Lisbon which is the capital. 

In my last post I said I would show you some Portuguese style but that will have to wait until next time because I have run out of patience with the internet device I am using.

Thanks for reading!  

My hoop space with a view

I gotta say I am a pretty lucky lady!

Not only am I married to the most amazing, loving, sexy, handsome, man but also, this...

is my hooping space for the next month.

That's right, Ha uma piscina no telhado!

There is a pool on the roof :) and as you can see there is plenty of space around for me to throw my hoop in any direction I please. And, for some reason, it seems there is never anyone at the pool.

we have a great view of the countryside since the apartment we are staying in is located outside the city wall.

 

 And  a view of some of the city. All of the buildings are pretty old since this is a very old city. They all have the red shingles and are painted white usually with a portion of the bottom painted blue, grey, or yellow.

There are a lot of abandoned buildings around. The main thing that this city has going for  it, it seems, is tourism. There are a lot of historic attractions and fun gift shops inside the walls of the city. The economy does not seem to be booming here (just as everywhere else!) But there is a university in the city as well.

In the distance you can see the cathedral. I am not sure, but I think there is only one big cathedral here. Shortly after posting this I remembered there is at least one other big cathedral in the city walls but the one in this picture is the one that I went in last year. 

Well folks that is all for today. I am going to grab some lunch and more pictures... Tomorrow I will show you some Portuguese style :)

Thanks for reading!

New subject

What happens when you are done with your wedding dress?...

Next project?...

Since I am out of the country for the next month or so I will not have much sewing to blog about. Unfortunately I could not bring my machine with me although I do hope to work on a few things by hand and I will certainly share those creations with you!

I am currently in Evora, Portugal so I figured I may as well share some of my experiences while I am here.

This is a panorama of the view from our rooftop the last time my husband and I were here. Last year, starting in April, my husband spent 4 months here for work and I was here 3 of those months.

Portugal is a very beautiful place and there are a ton of things to enjoy. I will keep this post short since I don't have anymore pictures for now but next time I'll show you my new hooping space and some cool sights around the town :)

Thanks for reading!

Recap and what not to do

Here is a recap and some final pictures of my dress

The final product:

top detail

By the way whoever got us the portable  wine cups in the red box thank you!(there was no card attached.)

side detail

Back detail

The back after the wedding (One of the pick-ups was accidentally taken out and there are a couple of holes chewed in the organza thanks to a certain evil cat >:()

top detail

My advice and what I would have done differently:

If you are planning on making your own wedding dress it will be easier if you:

1. Try making any kind of formal dress that requires boning. Specifically if you have never made a formal dress and aren't sure how to structure it. I would suggest buying any pattern and going through the steps so that you understand how formal dresses are made.

2. Work with the fabric you will be using on your dress before you start your dress. Even if you just make a little hand bag out of the same material, it is good to get a feel for what the fabric is like.

3. Make sure you are using the right kind of thread and needle for the material. This will save you a lot of headaches!

4. If you have never worked on a specific element that will be on your dress practice first! (ie. zippers, buttons, beading, etc.)

If I could do it again I would have...

1. Used panels for the top part and the zipper would have been in back so the dress wouldn't have looked so bulky from the side. Instead I used one big piece of taffeta underneath one big piece of organza and put the zipper down the side so that I could get the diagonal gathers.

2. Pinned a lot more when I attached the organza to the taffeta. I pinned a lot but not enough! There was too much organza which made the dress look bulky :(

3. Paid more attention when I was attaching the bottom organza to the top so as not to catch pieces that should not have been attached. I accidentally sewed more organza right where the beading is along the front than I intended which made the dress tighter in that area. Instead of taking those stitches out and trying again, I sewed the beading on and squeezed into it which made the dress look even worse from the side than it already did.

4. Spent more time on it!! I really wish that I would not have waited so long to put the lining and zipper in because then I could have had more time for everything else and some of my mistakes would have been fixed.

5. Planned on putting boning for structure in and done it right from the beginning. I did end up adding boning to hold my dress up but I should have done it right and added the boning to my lining before attaching the lining to the dress. This would have saved me such a headache! 

6. Lastly, I would have kept my dress far far away from my sisters' room mates' cat.

I hope my blog is helpful to at least on person out there! I think I will continue to blog about my sewing adventures for those interested in hearing about them :) I am out of town until further notice so until I make it back to my sewing machine I may just post about hooping :)

Side Note: hooping is fun!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liKA_7UXfp8

Thanks for reading!

Whew, it's done!

That's right I am now a married woman!

That last month was especially stressful...

I finished the dress just in the nick of time! And although I would have liked to have more time to adjust a few more mistakes, I was not completely disgusted with the way it turned out :)

That picture is probably the best that I have at the moment to show how the dress looked. You can't see the beading at the bottom or in the back, but once I get it cleaned up I'll take closer up photos so you can! 

Here is a look back at 2 weeks before the wedding:

Before I put beading on the top of the dress, I gathered all of the extra organza that was making the dress look bulky. (I should have pinned way more when I was attaching the organza to the taffeta!)The beading that I placed over this mess made it look like there was no mistake at all. As you can tell I also worked a little sweetheart top in there too! (I realize the sweetheart top is done wrong but it was kind of too late to do it right.)  

Long before I finished the dress I got my hands on some of this stuff because it came in very handy for the beading that I attached. I feel like a cheater for using pre-beaded material from Joann fabrics, but unless you are great at beading it is the way to go. I found some really pretty beaded material that had a lot of embroidery work that I liked and am not capable of doing. Since I cut the beaded material there were pieces that would not have stayed together without some re-knotting and fray check.

Here you can see the bottom beading better and you can see what the front looked like before the gathers.

This is all I have time for right now but I plan on doing a big recap of all of the mistakes I made and some more advice for anyone who is considering making their own wedding dress. I really hope this has helped and I hope people learn from my mistakes (There were plenty to learn from!) I know that if any seamstress took a look at my blog they would laugh but I do not claim to be a seamstress or to know what I am doing really! I just want people to know that anything is possible if you try hard enough! And even with all of the mistakes I made everyone at my wedding said the dress was gorgeous (even though it was totally bulky from the side:/)

PS

Thank you so so so much again and again to the most awesome sister in the world, Candice Sanchez for all of your help! She pulled me together when I fell apart and helped me sew in the boning for my dress and she helped with everything! Also thanks to my friend Sara for giving me some beautiful beads to help finish the back of the dress and thanks to EVERYONE for your support :)

More to come please stay tuned!!

Still not done?!

5 days until the wedding!!

Yikes it is crunch time

I have not posted in a while because life has been crazy busy and stressful the past couple of weeks but I wanted to leave you with an update before the big day. I am currentky not finished with my dress... an artist is never finished with her/his masterpiece (or something like that haha)

Right now I am in Colorado getting ready for my wedding and I am having a few technical difficulties with the dress.

The dress looks very pretty but from the side it looks bulky so I am, once again, taking in the zipper and trying to squeeze some of the extra fabric tighter so that I can look like my normal shape. 

I am also worried about the stay up ability of the dress since it is strapless. My sister found this great tutorial so I am going to do this to it:

http://jezebel.com/5901827/how-to-keep-any-strapless-dress-from-falling-down

 

Last, I want my dress to be longer in the back than it currently is so I am adding more organza.

 

After the wedding I will have tons of pictures and a few more details about my process and the lessons I have learned (there are quite a few!)

 

Thanks for reading!