Prom 2006 was March 3rd and 4th. Here they do a promenade, and the family and friends come to watch, and pay for the opportunity! Prom 2005 with DD#2 was a 3 day last minute sewathon that I did not want to repeat.
I ordered some nice poly satin from fabric.com, a pale icy pink and a fuschia for the contrast. DD#3 picked a dress that she loved, pictured here. She wanted a square neckline, and cap sleeves. So I would be starting with a basic sheath, and going from there.
Well, my Bernina 1630 had a board go bad, so it has been in and out of the shop for two months. So much for getting started on the dress early, as I had intended to. Add to that, that we have put our house up for sale and I have been cleaning and throwing out stuff, etc.....
It was the week before prom, and I had printed off the pattern from Dress Shop (6, Pro) and realized I needed a few more measurements to get the fit right. So I made the changes and planned on starting on the dress on Saturday. I ended up cleaning on Sat. because we had someone coming to see the house. Monday we had two showings scheduled, only one came. Tuesday, I tried to get some legal stuff taken care of on the house, plus I'm a Cubmaster, and we had our Blue and Gold Banquet that night. Wednesday I had more paperwork that needed to be taken care of, and I'm still no farther on the dress.
So that evening I start slicing and dicing on the pattern, checking to make sure I've added seam allowances. I made a muslin of the dress bodice so I could check the fit before DD left for school the next morning. Thursday morning-she said it fit, but I made her try it on while I could see it, and made some changes. I started with the fuschia strips, and the embroidery. I have a Deco 500, so I was limited in what I could do. We had also decided not to do any embroidery on the main part of the bodice or skirt. Thursday evening, and I am finally cutting out the icy pink fabric. Should I be panicking? I sewed the bodice before heading off to sleep.
Friday morning-I get my youngest off to school and I get started....about noon I am trying to get the sleeves in, I put one in the wrong armhole, take it out and redo it. When DD comes home and we try it on, the sleeves are too small, so out they come-what a waste of time. I also realized that I had taken double off the back of the bodice and I will have to make some design changes. I had ordered some Ambiance lining, but it was a darker pink, so I just used some white cotton batiste that I had on hand. The icy pink was so pale that I used white thread to sew it.
Friday afternoon- it is late and I am finally starting on the skirt. I used fabric glue to hold down the edges of the fuschia before I sewed them down. Also on the hem. In the interest of time-as I had none-I did not double the fabric in the back skirt, so the overskirt was only on the front sides. Twenty minutes before her date is to come, and I'm ironing the dress and checking for loose threads. I tacked the lining down on the insides, I'm past the point of caring too much about that. There is a funny bubble in the front center to the point, at the bottom edge of the bodice....I'll look at it tomorrow.
Sat. morning....she got makeup on her dress....touching her face and then her dress. So I fix the bubble in the front, and wash it, it came out nicely. I put the heat fix crystals on, and her dress is really finished this time.
Ava was blessed today by her dad. I made her dress. It was a little bit of a challenge finding all the fabric. The pattern is from Ottobre 1/2003 #3, size 62.The lining fabric is bearissima swiss batiste. The sheer is a polyester from fabric.com. Ava's mom, Jamie wanted a little more something on the bodice, so I added some ribbon, and then the bow is attached seperately.
