Baby got Bling!

It may not be obvious in the picture, but this dress is covered in "rhinestone" bling!  My oldest daughter was inspired by this rhinestone covered chiffon gown.  

I recently took an online class called Fast Track Fitting by Joi Mahon on Craftsy.com, which creates perfectly fit basic pattern pieces based on detailed measurements.  I really like the class and used the muslin it made to create a cover for my dress form that can be used over and over again for each individual client

For this dress I drafted the bodice and lining by adapting the basic patterns created by the Fast Track Fitting pattern.  The skirt is simply multiple layers of tulle gathered and attached to the bodice.  Trimming the bodice is double strands of the "rhinestones" in an optical illusion of waist definition.  Draped from the waistline of the skirt is a rhinestone mesh separated into single strands that hang loose and move with the skirt.  The necklace is made from a rhinestone piece of trim held by two "rhinestone" strands.


Pattern Description: - A satin and tulle cocktail dress with "rhinestone" trim and drape.

Pattern Sizing: Custom fit using techniques from "Fast Track Fitting by Joi Mahon on Craftsy.com" for a curvy apple figure with a 34D bust.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? This dress was only intended to be loosely based on the inspiration dress.  It did look like the sketch.

Were the instructions easy to follow? There were no instructions for this simple dress!

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? The "rhinestone" mesh had to be cut into individual strands and hand sewn to the bodice and waist.  It was a lot of work!

Fabric Used: White satin for the bodice, nylon lining material and "rhinestone" mesh from the home decorating department.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? This was a simple dress, flattering to the client.  I will probably make a similar silhouette multiple times for this particular client. 

Conclusion: This dress was designed for family Christmas pictures, and hopefully prom, but ultimately to wear to my 20th wedding anniversary party. This daughter loves all the shiny bling!

Chiffon Cocktail Dress adapted from RTW

Inspiration dress

My youngest daughter tried on this dress -->
and instantly fell in love.  It was very expensive (about $300), but my main concern was how much leg showed on her 6 foot tall frame (she's obviously taller than this model because it almost showed her panties!).  She especially loved how it fit her elongated hourglass figure by accommodating her (substantial) bust, clinging to her tiny ribs and flaring over her hips.  She also asked that the hemlines in front look a little more blended and wanted a little bling added (like this other version of the dress that we found on the website).  We also created a necklace to draw the eye from her decolletage to her pretty face!

http://www.bellanovaaustin.com/proddetail.php?prod=LaFemme_15033

I looked everywhere for a pattern, since I'd never worked with a pattern with this particular fit and drape.  I finally stopped procrastinating, took a deep breath and drafted my own pattern using some techniques I'd learned in an online class called Fast Track Fitting by Joi Mahon on Craftsy.com, which created perfectly fit pattern pieces based on detailed measurements.


Pattern Description: - A hi-low cocktail dress in multi-layered chiffon with rhinestone details.

Pattern Sizing: Custom fit using techniques from "Fast Track Fitting by Joi Mahon on Craftsy.com" for a 6 foot tall elongated hourglass figure with a 34DD bra size.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? This was an adaptation of RTW LaFemme 18049 I believe it looks a lot like the original with the exception of a few requested modifications.  I wish you could see this dress in motion. We didn't have a fancy wind machine like the RTW models!

Were the instructions easy to follow? There were no instructions for this complicated dress!

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I really struggled to get this dress to cling to the ribs and still flare over the hips without using any darts and very few seams. The top layer was bias cut, but the fabric wasn't wide enough to do the same for the rest of the layers.

Fabric Used: Fabric from my stash, in this case Nylon chiffon drapery fabric! Yes, this is another dress I stole from our family room curtains.  "Rhinestone" mesh for the trim and necklace.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: The original RTW dress was waaay too short in front for this 6 foot tall girl. She also wanted the hemlines in front to look a little more blended and wanted a little bling added (like another variation of the dress on the website ).

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I actually would make this dress again. Once I got over being intimidated by all the layers and how form-fitting the dress needed to be, and actually started on the construction, it turned out beautifully, and my incredibly picky client loved it!

Conclusion: I made this dress for my youngest daughter, who is a total fashion diva, to wear for family Christmas pictures, and hopefully prom, but ultimately to wear to my 20th wedding anniversary party. Over the years I've made a lot of dresses for this daughter, and she has never been totally happy with them... until this one! I tried a lot of new fabrics and techniques on this dress and I am proud of how this dress turned out.

20th wedding anniversary

1994 Original Wedding Dress 

My original wedding dress, from 1994.  Custom sewn by me, with all hand beaded lace, including the hem and train upon which was appliqued 8" deep, hand- sequined and pearled lace.

Inspiration Dress

The modern 20th wedding anniversary gift is platinum.  I wanted to wear a wedding dress for my anniversary party, but instead of white, I chose to wear a silver (platinum!) dress.  I tried on many dresses in my search for an inspiration.  This side draped dress was close to the preferred silhouette.  In my fabric stash, I found a pale silver fabric to pair with some white chiffon.

Recently I took a class called Fast Track Fitting by Joi Mahon on Craftsy.com.  I really liked this technique of creating and altering patterns based on detailed measurements, and used it as the basis for this dress and cocktail dresses for my daughters (future posts).

The final results.  A side draped dress with a sweetheart neckline.  Rhinestones follow the drape, leading to a chiffon inset (in person the rhinestones stand out significantly more dramatically).  The necklace was made from the same rhinestones as the dress.  (More details about the rhinestones in a later post).

Due to fabric limitations, the dress was not quite as full as originally planned.  Hopefully I'll lose a few pounds before the actual anniversary which will add a little more draping.  (I'll also not be sewing right up to the time the photo was taken, so I'll have time to iron!)

Final Version!