Making a Prom Dress!

As a senior, I will be attending prom this year, and ever since I was little I have had a very specific idea of what type of dress I want. Unfortunately, it's been nearly impossible to find the right one, and they're all so expensive - so I decided to make my own! I'll be using Simplicity pattern 3878, although I will be making a few small changes as I go.

First, we bought the material, and the notions that I would need. I decided to forgo the boning in this dress unless it needed it (it didn't), because boning can be uncomfortable after a while, and isn't always nice to work with. Furthermore, I have another dress of similar material that has boning in it, and sometimes the boning places to much stress on the fabric and begins to rip/wrinkle it.

The first thing to do was sew my bodice. I got a dressform for Christmas (thanks Mom and Dad!). and I absolutely love it! It's been really helpful to have a copy of myself to hold things up to while sewing, and it makes it much easier to show you pictures during the process! Anyway, when making the bodice, there's a lot of gathering, which is fine, but you need to make sure that everything is exactly how you want it to be. Once you sew the pieces together, it will look like that forever (unless you want to rip out some seams...), so make sure you're happy with your gathers before hand! Also, I would recommend having your gathering stitches closer to the edges of your fabric than normal. They are easy to see on this dress if they peep out anywhere, and with the tulle it's really frustrating to try picking stitches out.

Onto the skirt! The first thing I sewed was the outer silky skirt, which was all easy straight sewing. Next came the lining, which was just like the outer skirt. After the lining came the crinoline pouffy-ness at the bottom... don't break your thread when you gather this! This was the worst part of the entire dress for me, because I had to go back and re-sew gathers so many times. I recommend doing this part in sections, where your gathering threads divide the skirt into thirds, so that if one breaks you won't lose all of your hard work, and it is much more manageable to work with.

Finally, you sew the top layer of the skirt. Now, the instructions will tell you to sew it just like the other layers, and then gather it at the top. I tried that, and then ended up going back and doing it my own way, which worked better for me. I gathered each individual section first, and used binder clips to make sure they would line up with the other layers of the skirt. Then I sewed the sides together and attached everything. I found it easier to meter my gathering this way, and it just made everything more manageable.

Finally, you put the zipper in and add the lining! I've been doing so much historical costuming recently that I had to struggle to remember how to put in a zipper! I got it after a minute though, and I am pretty pleased with how well it blends in. Finally, you sew the lining together in the same way you sewed the base of the bodice, put it all together, and you're done! I opted not to include the ruffle at the top (I just knew that would end with itchy armpits, and I didn't want prom to be any less fun because of something like that), and I also chose to not add the ribbon or the rosettes. And voila!

Please ignore the fact that I have a leotard on under the dress here, I was at Sewing Showcase (a mini fashion show for a local nursing home) and then going straight to dance class.