It doesn't seem possible to think that Jackson is old enough already, but at age 2 he has his first wedding gig coming up. Our dear friend Bethany Greene has asked Jackson to be ringbearer as she weds David Melton in beautiful Colorado next week. The theme of the wedding is burlap and lace and the style is vintage so I've been on the hunt for wardrobe pieces to create the "vintage paperboy" look that Bethany was inspired by.
The colors of the wedding - gray, yellow, and ivory - seem to be more aplenty in Spring than in the present or upcoming season. I scored big with the perfect gray newsboy cap at Babies 'R Us and ideal gray trousers at a local children's thrift store for just $4. Truth be told, this outfit has brought on quite the arduous hunt and most of the search has been for naught. With that being the case and time quickly running out, I got busy searching online for Do-It-Yourself tutorials on things like how to make a child's bow-tie and suspenders.
I decided the first project would be to make the suspenders. I'd found some for sale online but when I found this
tutorial on a blog, I just had to try making them! The days-gone-by
style seemed too perfect given the vintage feel of the wedding. Unsure
of my ability to tackle the sewing machine single-handed, I did all of
the sewing for this project by hand. (Note to self: sewing through
leather is a little hard on the fingertips.) I was pretty stoked with the results, although please don't look too closely, perfectionists.
The next step was the yellow bow-tie. I found the perfect yellow pin-striped fabric at Jo-Ann's and found the tutorial for making the bow-tie here. Now the first lesson in making a bow-tie is this: never, never, NEVER start making it very late at night when you're pregnant, sick, and exhausted. One wrong measurement led to a second trip to the fabric store for replacement fabrics (less than $2...phew!) and a fresh start on a day when I'd had more sleep. But all in all, it turned out great. I'm not a seamstress or even a button-sewer so I recruited the help of my accomplished friend Glory. Under her tutelage, I got through the step-by-step process and got this finished product:
As I mentioned before, ivory shirts were nowhere to be found. My choices were either white or blue at every store and thrift store I visited. That being the case, I decided to try my hand at dying a white shirt and hoped for the best. I found a couple of different "recipes" from various sources and did a test run on an old white sheet that I ripped up. The winner of the ivory contest turned out to be coffee! Yum! A simple blend of coffee and vinegar did the trick and the perfect, ivory Nordstrom's dress shirt was born out of a thrift store find.
Finally, all that was left was to have Jackson model the entire ensemble and make sure he wouldn't go bananas with a bow-tie tucked under his neck and suspenders resting on his shoulders. He was an instant pro at looking like an Amish boy. He played as usual and took the new duds in stride. And boy did I think he looked adorable!
I can't wait for the wedding next week!
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