First fitting…
Feb 22nd, 2007 by Katie
On Saturday we gave you the Surfer Chicks and their preparations for an ethical civil partnership; today we’re pleased to welcome Jenny to the Ethical Weddings blog, as she gives us the lowdown on her first dress fitting…
“I still have more than a year to wait for my wedding… but at my first dress fitting on Tuesday I realised that a year is probably only just enough time for all the things I need to do!
Jo Mackin of Wholly Jo’s is a dressmaker who uses ethical fabrics such as organic and vegetarian silks, Fairtrade cotton and natural hemp to make dresses for weddings and other big occasions.
At my first consultation with her it was fascinating to look through samples of all the different fabrics and discuss the way I would like my dress to look.
I am really looking forward to having a made-to-measure dress for my wedding day. But I was a bit concerned about having a dress made from scratch that I would only use once. It seems kinda wasteful. So, I have asked Jo to make me a two-piece dress, a top and a skirt, rather than a full length dress. This way I can dye the pieces afterwards and use them as clothes for posh nights out.
Jo says that silk dyes very evenly and should look very good. She even showed me a piece of organic silk that she had dyed using tea – and it is a beautiful rich brown colour. I never realised you could dye things with tea but it sounds a great solution to me.
My next fitting will be later in the year when Jo has made a ‘toile’ (mock-up dress) from charity shop fabric. Before then I need to get the underwear that I will be wearing as this apparently affects the measurements quite a lot. So if anyone knows of any ethical underwear for me to investigate, I’d love to hear about it!
In the meantime, we need to get a new venue sorted. A local school had permitted us to use their field but they have pulled out. So now I’m on the look out for a field and a tent, as near to our home town as possible to minimise emissions from our guests’ journeys.
Will a year be enough for all the things we need to book I wonder??”
Thanks Jenny! If anyone has any tips or advice they’d like to share with Jenny or the Surfer Chicks, do feel free to use the comment link below or tell us all about it in the Ethical Weddings Forum, where you can also find Wholly Jo’s ‘green’ dress guide…
Happy planning!
Katie
