Friday, May 25, 2012

Prom 2012: Audrey and Mila

Two dresses this year! Not sure if I'm in any hurry to attempt that again, I definitely need to improve my time management if I do!


Miss L asked me to make her dress the day after Prom LAST YEAR! "Breakfast at Tiffany's", but in a different color: champagne pink. Amazingly enough, she never changed her mind, so that's what I made.






She also wanted it to have a "flowy" skirt and the matching necklace. Her mom found the brooch at a local antique shop, and I brought the pearls and clasp at the bead store.








The fabric all came from Joann's, since they have multiple fabrics in matching colors. Chiffon, Crepe, and Lining, and when it on sale, it's a bargain. I wish I could get a better quality set of fabrics in matching dye lots, so if you know of a source, please share! The patterns I used? A combination of 3, which I don't have handy at the moment, but can report back on later!


Miss T brought me a picture of the Mila Kunis 2011 Oscars dress, designed by Ellie Saab. She requested more coverage (less sheerness and less cleavage), no train, and a change of color.


I used Vogue 8358 for the foundation dress, which I made out of stretch satin from Joann's (matching dye lot issue, again).





This dress took a lot of thought and engineering to make a reality! I started with the neckline, and after a few failed attempts (and advice from friends), cut the chiffon on the bias, then pinned it down and stitched it over an underlayer of lace.


It also took some close studying to figure our the right sequence of the other chiffon drapes coming from different directions, but I think I did a decent job.





The skirt ruffles were more time consuming that I expected, also.
1. Cut a strip of lace 5" wide, 58" long.
2. Attach your gathering foot and run the lace through the machine.
3. Attach your normal stitching foot and attach the gathered lace to a 3" wide strip of chiffon. (I tried to do step 2 and 3 at the same time but it looked terrible.)
4. Attach your narrow hem foot (5mm), and finish the long edge of the chiffon.
5. Attach your normal foot again, and stitch a narrow pin tuck along the center length of the chiffon. (The Saab dress showed 2 of those tucks, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.)
6. Cut a scalloped edge into the length of the lace.
7. Chalk a line on the skirt that is 45 degrees from center front and back for ruffle placement.
8. Stitch the ruffle along the chalkline, and again along the lace/chiffon seam (this helped keep the ruffles from flipping up when she walked and "calmed them down" a little.
9. Repeat 9 more times, until both right and left sides are filled.

To cover the gap at center front and back where the ruffles started and stopped, I used a 1/2 yard of chiffon, and attached it above, tacking it down along the way to keep it in place. That narrow hem foot and I are BFFs now! Everything from the waist up was hand-stitched in place, I went through nearly 2 full spools of thread making the whole dress!


The two dresses are so different from each other, but so beautiful in their own ways. I'm really happy with how they turned out, and the girls were equally thrilled!



18 comments:

Mariela Alethia said...

Two beautiful dresses. Great job!

Irene said...

The dresses are absolutely gorgeous! I've often wondered whether young ladies going to prom have even an inkling of an idea how much time their dresses take to make.

Linda T said...

All I can say is "WOW" Both are beautiful and you did a wonderful job. congratulations!

Anonymous said...

What a challenge you set for yourself. Both dresses are gorgeous - you should be very proud. From their smiles, I'd say both girls wore the prom dresses of their dreams!
NinaLBoston

Dilliander said...

Fabulous Christine, you will have a hard time keeping it to one prom dress next year, or even two dresses, once word gets out!!

Bunny said...

The girls look stunning in their beautiful gowns. Beautiful interpretations. They are so lady like and pretty. Great job, Kristine!

Gail said...

They both look stunning. Loved the blue and the understated elegance of the BAT dress shows off her natural beauty. I have to made a formal dress for my daughter for next year. Given DD1's dress took six months to complete, I need to start finding inspiration.

gwensews said...

Sewing two gowns was quite a feat. Congratulations on a fantastic job.

a little sewing said...

wow Kristine, you did a fabulous job on those two gowns! they are both beautiful and the girls look spectacular.

SueC56 said...

Oh my goodness! Glad my daughter is too old for proms now that I'm sewing.

SueC56

AllisonC said...

These are both beautiful, it looks like you put a ton of work into them.

Jos van KloskaCreAtief! said...

absolutely fabulous!!

Big in Japan said...

Impressive and the girls look so happy! Good job managing two very different styles.

Rose said...

Well done you

Sally said...

These dresses are gorgeous! Great job Kristine!

Have you stopped sewing? I really miss seeing your projects!

Sally said...

These dresses are gorgeous! Great job Kristine!

Have you stopped sewing? I really miss seeing your projects!

S said...

These are incredible! Kudos to you on creating these masterpieces!!

HeathersSphere said...

Such beautiful gowns on the ladies. Also that lady pictured in the center looks fabulous. Are you now MIA? Busy?