Fittings...are Awkward

I have officially hit the one-week mark at my new job! It feels so odd to have a job that doesn't involve pixie dust and crowd control, but I'm just so happy to be working that I don't mind.

Today I spent more time on the floor observing fittings rather than in the back. I still sewed two and a half bustles, though. At the moment, I'd kind of like to sew than fit. I mean, I'm used to fittings. After all, I spent plenty of time wrangling college kids into ancient costumes and pinning them into submission. But a college kid in a costume is completely different from a bride in a gown! There's so many things to consider, plus they're bound to be eagle-eyed. One bride noticed the boning on the front of her dress. I wouldn't have noticed it, but she did!

I also learned how to ring people up after their alterations. And when I say "learned," I mean "was walked through it and remember about 30% of the process." Ouch.

But on the upside, one of the people I fitted today was Kat. Yay! And I don't mean to brag, but I think that, dress-wise, I'm on the list of awesome brides. That shade of blue is INCREDIBLY pretty.

(Just think...I could have made them all wear yellow...buttercup yellow...)

Once she was fitted, I put on my dress so she could see how to tie the bustle. I put the veil on and everything. She looked like she might possibly cry...which made me feel terribly validated. I felt like a bride for reals.

But do you know what made me feel giddy? I look EFFING TINY in my dress. Seriously. I have never felt so skinny in my life!

My new (grown up) job!

I've had my new "big girl" job for about a week now, but I haven't gotten a chance to rectify it! And thus, this blog entry.

I wrote a little while back about getting a job at the shop where I bought my wedding gown. The job, exactly, is part-time alterations. Basically I'm working about 20-40 hours a week on wedding (and wedding-related) dresses and prom dresses.

Since I have sewing experience, but not alterations experience, they're starting me off on some lower-level stuff- tacking down lace, adding more beads, etc. I've helped with some fittings and called brides to confirm appointments.

I've also sewn bustles. Oh mah gah. Bustles.

I've had to explain this to a couple of men, but I'll toss it out here too. When a wedding dress is bustled, it doesn't mean the Victorian/Edwardian butt cages.

(source)

Wedding dress bustles are basically just fancy ways of pinning up the train. So far I've been trained to sew two of them- the American bustle and the French bustle.

The French is simple, but tedious. Sew a loop, sew the ribbons. There's at least three points, but usually five or seven. (My dress has thirteen! Gah!)

The American is harder because you have to hide the button-and-loop rigging on the outside of the dress. The tiny stitches on the French bustle are easy to hide, but not buttons and loops and hooks. Oy.

(To see what I'm blabbering about, look here.)

I guess, to sum everything up, I like my new job. I'm super awesomely incredibly grateful I have a job- it makes the whole getting married and leaving home thing a hecka ton easier! Is it what i want to spend the rest of my life doing? Nope. But it's all good. I like what I'm doing, the people I work with are really nice, and I'm getting PAID! Awesome times, y'all.

EMPLOOOOOYED!

So I'm a WDW CM, but at the moment I'm living in Nashvegas. Can't really make the commute.

I've been applying for jobs all over the general area for a while, but got nothing- not even a retail job, much less in theater. Quite discouraging.

I went in a few weeks ago for the alterations on my wedding dress, and I struck up a conversation with the alterations manager. I mentioned that some people had suggested I make my own wedding dress, and she said "Well, if you ever need a job, you could always apply here."

"Um," I said. "I do need one, actually."

As soon as I was out of my gown she handed me an application and I filled it out right there. A week and a half later I did a sew test and an interview, and today I got a message saying "When can you start?"

Thank you, God!!!!!! I am gainfully employed!!!!!!!

So guess who forgot she had a blog?

*sigh*

I meant to update. I really did. But Disney World is so crazy...and I was so tired...that...well, things didn't go quite as well as I had planned when it came from the blog-writing-front.

So yeah.

Now I'm going to work harder on blogging. Because I like blogging. And I really ought to keep up with it.

I'm going to do a big revamp of the blog layout too. It's time for a change.

In the meantime, here's what I've been up too:

-I got seasonal status at Disney World!

-Patrick came with the rest of my family to pick me up from Orlando, and I had a deliriously happy time dragging him around the parks.

-On a side note, P has a job! He's working at Target full time in the electronics department. He lurves it, and he gets good hours. So yay!

-We drove home last Sunday. Thirteen hours. In the minivan. Whole family. Yeah. It was great.

-I arrived home...to discover a car! I am now the proud and pleased owner of a 2006 PT Cruiser. The color is called "cool vanilla." I named it the Mach 5, even though El Padre calls it the Mach 2 1/2.

-I've lost around twelve pounds. Well, somewhere between ten and fifteen. I feel like I look a lot thinner.

-I'm all set for my very last semester of school. I'm really excited about graduating. Like seriously. Ready to get out of here.

-I started rehearsal for Beau Jest. It's marvelous. Simply marvelous. I'm having a ball already!

So yeah. Hopefully this semester will go well.