Prom dress number two

3:34 pm



Untitled, originally uploaded by indiaeden.
I have a new rule; I have to have known you since birth to make you a prom dress.
After making India's prom dress last year I have been asked to make several more. I'm more than happy to make them for special young women I've known since birth, or thereabouts, and this year I've made one for India's oldest friend Jemma.
I first met Jemma and her mother Lisa at a post natal Mummy and baby group in 1997. India was nine months old and Jemma was three months old.
India and Jemma became so fond of one another during the following months that by the time they were toddlers, Lisa and I often had to keep pace walking with them in their pushchairs so they could hold hands.
I could get all teary and soppy about how those toddlers have now grown into beautiful young women, but I'll just embarrass them, so best not go there eh?
Let's stick to the dressmaking.
After months of looking at prom dress styles, Jemma decided on Vogue V8766.
Jemma liked Adele's black lace dress, so that was our original inspiration.
We decided to go for view C as the underlining and view F as the overdress.
The lace Jemma chose is beautiful, a lovely teal colour that is hard to capture on camera.
There is a lot of hand stitching in this dress. The zip is in the left seam, I could have put it in the centre back, but decided I prefer a hidden zip under the arm. I sewed the zip in by hand, not wanting to pull the lace with machine stitches. I used tiny hand stitches, something I hadn't ever done before, but having seen Ann the winner of The Great British Sewing Bee had used the same technique with her winning dress (the same Vogue pattern ,although a different view). I thought I'd try it out.
I also hand stitched the facing in place, rather than understitching, as I was concerned the understitching might show through the open lace. Again, I used tiny stitches, making sure the facing was rolled in to the inside of the neck and not outwards.
The hem of the lace skirt took me an hour and a half to sew by hand.
I machine hemmed the lining, which now it's complete I think was probably a little lazy of me.
I have to say the recent tip for sewing circle skirt hems on the Collette blog was very well timed. Marking the hem to be turned with a row of machine stitching is genius! That really helped me when pressing up the hem on both the hand sewn and machine sewn hems.

prom dress 2

Jemma is coming over tomorrow for a final try on, and to check for any last minute alterations. (fingers crossed there wont be any) I wont have any modelled pics though until after her prom, so for now you'll have to make do with this photo on my model, woefully inadequate. I know this is going to look so much better on the young woman it's intended for, and I hope she has a wonderful prom wearing it.

Don't be shy, say hello!

7 comments

  1. Ooh gorgeous! Even more so I am sure on the special lady.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The dress looks gorgeous and she will look stunning in it!

    (I always do my hems by that method - I just thought I was cheating!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've always just carefully pressed and tacked, but the row of machine stitching to mark the hem is so so much easier. Can't believe I didn't know about this method before.

      Delete
  3. Oh Jeanette - it is so beautiful! You could earn a fortune making them, especially when I think about some of the frankly hideous TOWIE style monstrosities I have seen and the eye watering cost of them!

    ReplyDelete
  4. You are like her fairy godmother.
    What a fantastic prom dress. One I am sure that will one day be adoringly tried on by her grandchildren.
    I am in awe of your dressmaking skills.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Breathtakingly beautiful, can't wait to see the lovely lass wearing this creation.

    You are one talented gal.

    Hugs San xx

    ReplyDelete
  6. Anonymous10:29 am

    ♥ ♥ ♥ So so beautiful ♥ ♥ ♥ Oh Jeanette, I am following new rules regarding my dress since changing faith, if only I could create things half as well as you, I would be sorted lol.

    ReplyDelete

Hi, I love to hear from readers, hate to think I'm talking to myself here, so don't be shy say hello!