Mother of the Bride dress: Custom Belt!!

The last step of the mother of the bride dress: A custom belt!

It is common to see vintage dresses with a matching belt and fabric covered belt buckle. I love that look and actually I remember that it was not too long ago that we could purchase packages in the local sewing store to cover belts similar to how you can cover buttons. Those are getting very hard to find today. I have looked online and found a few, but nothing that really excited me.

Since I really wanted the belt for the mother of the bride dress to match the dress as well as have a covered buckle, I was resigned to the fact that I might have to cover the buckle myself. Now I can make the belt, no problem. But the buckle proved to be another story. Since I only wanted a 1" buckle, trying to get my fat fingers to cover the buckle with the slippery silk fabric proved to be a challenge. A challenge that was driving me nuts! I really didn't want to spend more time on the belt and buckle than it took me to make the whole dress!

However, I found the answer to my problems! I located online in one of my vintage blogs I follow a post about a women in California that covers belts, buckle and buttons in a business out of her home. I investigated a little further and found out the following:

Pat Mahoney is a woman who has a custom button and buckle business out of Lodi, CA. Apparently back in 1965 the Singer company discontinued it's button and belt covering business in Lodi, Pat purchased all the equipment and began her own business covering buttons and buckles. I called Pat and she suggested I send $5 to her address, and then she would send me a catalog of her items. Once you receive the catalog, you simply fill out the envelope with what you want, add the fabric and the payment and send it back to her. She completes the order and will mail it back to you. She doesn't have a website and her catalog is something that looks like a simple presentation from Kinko's. But her workmanship is fabulous!!! I cannot say enough about the quality of her work or the simplicity of the process. I added an additional $5 for the rush charge as I needed it soon for the wedding (and was unsure of her turnaround time) and rush it came!! I mailed off the envelope on April 29th and received the completed belt and buckle on May 8th! Amazing!

Simply contact Pat at the information below:

Pat Mahoney (Pat's Custom Buttons and Belts)
PO Box 335
Lodi, CA 95241

Send her $5 and a little note asking for a catalog and she will get it out in the mail to you. Totally worth it!!

The cover of Pat's catalog

Perfect buckle!!!

I seriously couldn't have done this!

 See below to a link for an interesting article about Pat. And stay tuned for final mother of the bride dress pictures complete with gloves and shoes!

This weekend it's off to the Bay Area for the first wedding dress fitting!  So excited!!!


Pat's custom buttons

We have a hat!!!

We have a hat! I'm a little behind in my blogging what with life and all! But we have a hat for the wedding. And I didn't have to make it!

While in Berkeley last weekend Meghan and I went to the Berkeley Hat Shop on Telegraph and I found The One!!

Details below on Berkeley Hat Company. They are this little hole in the wall place in Berkeley that you have to look for to find. They carry all kinds of hats, from funky hipster hats to Kentucky Derby hats and everything in between. Not the most organized shop and you have to dig for stuff, but a great place to kick around. Street parking only and no extra charge for the drunks and druggies hanging out on the corner!

Address-Phone: Berkeley Hat Company, 2510 Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley CA 94704 -- Tel. (510) 962-4428
http://www.berkeleyhat.com

Berkeley Hat Company

As you can see from the pictures it is a cross between a hat and a fascinator. I didn't really want the "church lady" look and a small fascinator didn't really work for me (and I couldn't find one I liked). Meghan and I came across this beauty! It has a real 1950's look to it, which works because the dress is from a vintage reproduction 1951 pattern!

Now I know, it's not gray! Well, there was no gray to be had. Anywhere. So since this one fit the style I was looking for, I went with it. It also gives me the option to carry a beige handbag and that means that I don't have to shop for a bag!

So excited since it was also only $60!!!  Seriously. I looked at some hats in shops and online and there was a price range from $100 up to $500. I just wasn't going to pay that. So this beauty was carried home with me!

Now you may ask yourself "how am I going to get that on the plane to go to Europe?"  Well I have the perfect solution! Meghan gave me a floral hatbox she had in her apartment and it worked perfectly on the plane. It was something she picked up at a yardsale for $2 to hold yarn or notions and she gave it to me to carry my hat some with me. The idea was that this would be a trial run for the June trip. Well, not only did it carry the hat without getting crushed. It set on the top of my handle of my luggage so wonderfully it will be no problem at all to take it with me. And my plan is to fold up my dress and place it under the hat so that I can carry the wedding outfit with me on the plane. Fits perfectly in the overhead compartment and I don't have to worry about what to wear in the off chance my luggage gets lost! Yay!

So with the hat purchase complete we are just about done for the wedding! I have the hat, gloves, shoes and handbag. The dress is basically done. I have sent away to have a custom belt and covered belt buckle done for the dress so stay tuned for that post soon!

A terrible picture of the hat in the car!

I was trying to be silly. It came off more stupid than silly!

Wow! Someone needs some makeup!

A great side view