SHARING pics from Seema & Matt

Seema was wonderful to work with. Very detailed oriented. Provided tons of pics for details and knew exactly what she wanted. Of course this made my job so much easier. Thank you Seema!
Seema lives in Micronesia because of work and had her wedding in Maui. With Seema, we mailed back and forth 2 proto-types for her to try on, she had it pinned and mailed back to me to correct. So it took about 7-8months for her wedding dress and a reception dress.

I love what the photographer did with the processing. A very soft vintage feel. Enjoy the absolutely amazing photos from Stephen Ludwig

Thank you Seema for sharing!

A wedding dress UNDER $500??!!!

Although most of my custom gowns are around the $2-5k range, I do make simple dresses for under $500. If you're looking for something simple, pretty and affordable, this has been my best seller listed at $475. Some brides had requested it slightly longer in the back for a small sweeping train.

I will be launching a small affordable collection of dresses ranging from $500-$1500 early Spring of next year, so watch out for it!!

Peaceful Crafting

Spending my day crafting...

Even though I don't concentrate/ advertsie on my little girls dresses anymore, I am lucky to have loyal customers keep coming back to me. So how can I say "no" to such warm hearted souls who support me all the way? I just can't!

I love crafting my girls dresses. I call it crafting because they are like craft projects. It doesn't take too long, not like adult dresses. They are sooo cute. well, everything is cute in toddler sizes. I think this is the 4th time this client ordered this dress. 2 this time. Must be for Christmas gifts...HOLIDAYS, best the of the year.

hmm.... I think I will add girls dresses back to my new website in the future.

Carelle & Nelson Wedding Part 1- Maui

PART 1- Maui

If you think one wedding is tough, Carelle and Nelson had to plan two weddings; one in Maui and another one for NJ. But, everything is easier LOVE. Carelle and Nelson are the cutest couple. They compliment each other like no other couple. AND MOB, Eleanor, whom I adore sooo much because she has such a personality that you don't think of her a mother, but a hip young friend. It is so wonderful to see such a connection amongst the three of them. The LOVE for one another will stir some green envy.

We started the process early 2010. Carelle and Nelson knew exactly what colors they wanted their 3 MOH, 5 bridesmaids and 3 junior bridesmaids to wear for their Maui wedding and needed to pick just the right shade so that they will also blend well with an early Fall wedding back home for NJ too. They ended up with what I called "the Papaya" which is a beautiful golden yellow with a coral orange. Then we chosen a watermelon for mom, Eleanor and and peach blush for grandma.

Photography by Ron Solimon. ENJOY!!!

Carelle's beautiful custom heels from the Philippine.

I love this picture.. so Maui.

Getting ready.

The lei flowers. A beautiful deep fuchsia

A beautiful setting for a romantic wedding.

Carelle's grandparents
The Juniors.

Loving the happy colors.


This is my favorite pic.

Carelle & Nelson Wedding- Part 2 -NJ

Part 2- The Venetian, NJ

Carelle and Nelson's NJ wedding back home was exactly 1 month after their Maui wedding. I don't know how they did it, but the wedding was amazing considering the small amount of time in between to breathe!!! The decor and details were all done to perfection by "A Touch of Elegance" . The funny thing is that Carelle said it was Nelson that has the creative eye when planning this entire wedding. He was the one putting the colors together. Needless to say, I am more than impressed by his keen eyes. Lucky girl!! Finally, a guy that understands. Most guys don't even want to be part of the planning (my husband thinks purple and blue looks the same..hmf)

Thank you so much for letting me be part of your special day!! I had so much fun.

Enjoy these amazing photos by photographer Ron Solimon

Love this shot of her dress. Shows off all the layers

Carelle's dress was amazing. Fit for a Queen. She had it custom made in the Phillipine.

I added beaded jacket and beaded applique for grandma's dress after their Hawaii wedding for NJ. Has that 1920's look which I love.

MOB dress in fuchsia and gold sequin bodice. I can't get enough of that sequin fabric, so good thing I bought the whole roll. ;) Gold with purple splash dots. I also added to the sleeve cuffs.

Added a little wrap for the girls. You never know with the early Fall weather....

The girls so cute in my flower headband. I love it!! So girly.

I love the Vaulted ceiling. So dramatic.

A very happy MOB!!

Do you know exactly what you are getting?

This post is long past due. I promised I write about this. I roughly mentioned it on my ETSY hand-made site about silks and polyester.

I had to take a class (part of the curriculum) at FIT my freshman year..(gosh, it's been more than 10 years ago). Very helpful I must say. The only thing I learned from the class that I use constantly is the fabric test. I use this when I go shopping for fabric in the fabric district. The fabric sellers know by now to do the burn test to show customers the true nature of the fabric..that is if they think you know your stuff. If you don't, they can claim, but how would you really know what you're buying is exactly what you are getting???..you don't.

I have once purchased some silk brocades from an online vender from China...thinking that it was 100% silk since the site emphasize on 100% silk products. It wasn't super cheap, but cheaper than buying the silks here. When it arrived, I did the burn and only to find out that it was polyester...which for the price, I could have bought it here in the States. Why would I need to buy from China and pay the shipping. duh! Lesson learned.

If in person, most of the time I can tell what the fiber is once I touch it or by looking at the threads. This takes a lot of practice though of course. Designers who have worked for a design company that mass-produces as I did will get tons of swatches in everyday, look at it and approves the quality and color. Not much fun at all. Very tedious, but essential part of the designing process.

The burn test will identify most fabrics. Can't determine the percentage but will let you know if it's natural or synthetic.

Natural Fibers-

100% WOOL: Smells like burnt hair. Very hard to ignite a flame. You will most of the time see the edges burn, but with no flame. Doesn't bubble, just burns clean.

100% COTTON: It burns pretty clean and you can blow out the flame quickly. The burnt edge ashes pretty easily at a touch. Smells like burnt paper.

100% SILK. You can see the edges bubbles a little when burning but ashes when you touch it. Smells like burnt hair. Also a little harder to blow out. DO remember that qualities such as chiffon, satin, taffeta, shantung, organza..etc. do come in silk or polyester fibers. Pricing is a big difference. DO not assume it's silk.

Synthetic Fibers:

NYLON: is made from Petroleum. It hold a steady flame. The end will bubble and curl as you burn and will be hard after cool down. Does not ash.Will smell like plastic.

POLYESTER: have a very strong plastic smell as it burns and melts. The burnt area will bubble and very hard after cooling.
ACRYLIC & ACETATE: both are usually used only for linings. Acrylic is a little better quality than acetate. Acetate will shred if you use bleach at all. Both will be hard after burning.

Blend fibers are hard to identitfy. If it's nature with synthetic, I have notice that it will burn ans ash, but the edge of some threads will be hard and scratchy if you rub against your skin.

Please make sure that the burnt area is cool before examining with hands.

To sum it up all natural fibers will ash when burnt. And only one man-made fiber(RAYON) will ash.

All man-made/synthetic fibers EXCEPT for rayon, edges will be hard after burning.

Why is it important?? Well for one, if you paid a lot of money, you don't want to ruin it under the iron. Synthetic fibers usually burn very easily, meaning you can never have the iron on high when ironing.

Need Designer Fabrics at a great price??

You all heard of MOOD from Project Runway, but they can get pretty pricey. If you want good quality fabric at an affordable price for any project small or big, try METRO TEXTILE. They are about 1/20 the size of MOOD, but offers fabric 30-50% less than MOOD or any of the other fabric stores in the Fashion District. Why??

METRO is a secret amongst us fashion alums of F.I.T & Parsons. It's not a storefront that can be seen. They are inside a building and on the 9th floor. SO unless you know exactly where to look, you won't find them.

Their prices are the main reason why I drop by before ordering even from my wholesale venders.

But hurry, fabrics come and go at a blink of an eye here. SO if you like something, chances are some else will snatch it up too.

This is Kashi, owner of Metro. The nicest and friendliest man you'll ever meet.

I have a thing for beading and sequins. This is gold sequins with splashes of purples...I love. haha you won't find it there anymore. I bought the whole roll as you can see. (I'll show you how to tell from cheap and good quality sequins later on)
Tons and tons of fabric. For tights, curtains, pillows,wool coats, anything really.

This was end of the day. Messy after been touched by people who don't roll it back.

(I use to work at BR back in college and hated it when customers touch any pile of clothes, cus I know that I will be spending hours folding and stacking them back up. Worst when they pull from the bottom of the pile...haha then the whole stack tumbles over. good heavens!!)

This is what I picked up for myself on the last trip to see Kashi. Fall/ Winter fabric. I need new clothes..for myself, not for my line. :P yea....honestly, I really don't shop much anymore. Unless it's accessories: handbag, shoes..things I can't make...Sweater!! (they are a pain to knit. Envy those that have the patience to sit and count stitches) The most I can do is knit a scarf and with with chunky yarn so I can finish in one day.