My dress has a backstory. I found out about the Cotillon months ago and decided I was going to make me a billowy ballgown. I didn't want a tight and sexy dress. I wanted a more classical comfortable look.
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My plan was to make a black & white Lenox dress. The dress would have a white silk duppioni or shantung top, fancy glass buttons down the front to the waistline and from the waistline down the dress wouldn't button. Because the bottom of the dress would be a huge circle with a big crinoline under it. The shirt would have three-quarter length sleeves with cuffs and those same fancy buttons would be on the cuffs.
As you can see, that's not what I wore. I couldn't find a pure white silk duppioni or shantung in the garment district that didn't cost an arm and a leg. I found the black silk duppioni at Metro Textiles but the white...no where. Ivory, sure. White embroidered, no problem. Pure bridal white...not unless it was $40 a yard...more than I wanted to spend since I'd put all of my money in my granddaughters dresses. I found a white silk shantung on fabric.com and I hesitated. I was worried it wouldn't show up in time or the weight would be wrong.
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Then I decided to put this all out of my mind because I NEEDED to concentrate on the construction of the girls dresses. When I finally came to (after heading into work two of my days off) I was up against a time crunch. I went through my older evening wear and none of it either fit the way it use to or wasn't what I wanted to wear.
I started to lose it then. I even thought of heading to Macy's in NYC, because the plus size division has a 1/2 floor of evening wear, and buy something. I remembered Renee (MissCeliesPants) saying she no longer made her evening dresses and I sooooo get it.
I'm now three days away from the event. The girls dresses have been delivered and I no longer have any excuses. I have to come up with something to wear. I thought about what drew me to the Lenox dress and what feeling I wanted to convey in my dress.
That's when I started to wish I could wear my velvet Myosotis but it was too heavy for the weather, too autumn looking, blah blah blah. Though the dress embodied the comfortable look I wanted so I went searching for something in the fabric collection that would work.
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I've been hoarding this fabric for at least a decade. It wasn't what I thought it would be when I ordered it but I loved it and KNEW it would make a special dress.
A quick trip to the garment district Friday afternoon (after I spent the morning at work) and I had piping and buttons from Joyce Trimmings. Then it was just getting myself together to sew it.
Supply List ~
Brocade & Sheer fabric from deep stash
Blackish gray silk charmeuse also from deep stash
3 - 1" black sparkly buttons from Joyce Trimmings
4 yds of black & silver metallic piping from Joyce Trimmings
Construction ~
There is nothing new in the construction of this dress. I made it exactly the same way as I did the velvet version except I added a collar.
Some construction photos:
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The bodice front and back was lined with the grayish black silk charmeuse. I cut the pockets from the silk too. The hem on the dress is 3.5" deep and as you can see it was still grazing the floor. I walked with a portion of it in my hand the entire night or I tripped over it.
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Since I was short on time I didn't line the dress ~ hoping and praying that the crinoline I'd ordered from Amazon would be delivered in time! I don't know what I would have done if it hadn't arrived! Hahahahahahaha!
A few pictures of the dress ~
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Also a few pictures of my niece at the Cotillion ~
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Finally ~
I loved my finished dress. I loved that it was comfortable and easy to wear. I loved that it was me...classic with a side of drama. I'm wearing extra hair because I sewed until 12:30am on Sunday morning. We needed to be at the Event at 3pm on Sunday so I had no time to go and get my hair done. However, I think the curly mane works really well with the dress.
Like I said earlier the girls dress posts are up next. But y'all I have a backlog of posts. I have three finished garments that I had no time to photograph between the all of the rain and making these dresses...so quite a few new posts will be coming to the blog.
...as always more later!
My plan was to make a black & white Lenox dress. The dress would have a white silk duppioni or shantung top, fancy glass buttons down the front to the waistline and from the waistline down the dress wouldn't button. Because the bottom of the dress would be a huge circle with a big crinoline under it. The shirt would have three-quarter length sleeves with cuffs and those same fancy buttons would be on the cuffs.
As you can see, that's not what I wore. I couldn't find a pure white silk duppioni or shantung in the garment district that didn't cost an arm and a leg. I found the black silk duppioni at Metro Textiles but the white...no where. Ivory, sure. White embroidered, no problem. Pure bridal white...not unless it was $40 a yard...more than I wanted to spend since I'd put all of my money in my granddaughters dresses. I found a white silk shantung on fabric.com and I hesitated. I was worried it wouldn't show up in time or the weight would be wrong.
My daughter and the granddaughters -
the blog posts with their dresses is up next
Then I decided to put this all out of my mind because I NEEDED to concentrate on the construction of the girls dresses. When I finally came to (after heading into work two of my days off) I was up against a time crunch. I went through my older evening wear and none of it either fit the way it use to or wasn't what I wanted to wear.
I started to lose it then. I even thought of heading to Macy's in NYC, because the plus size division has a 1/2 floor of evening wear, and buy something. I remembered Renee (MissCeliesPants) saying she no longer made her evening dresses and I sooooo get it.
I'm now three days away from the event. The girls dresses have been delivered and I no longer have any excuses. I have to come up with something to wear. I thought about what drew me to the Lenox dress and what feeling I wanted to convey in my dress.
That's when I started to wish I could wear my velvet Myosotis but it was too heavy for the weather, too autumn looking, blah blah blah. Though the dress embodied the comfortable look I wanted so I went searching for something in the fabric collection that would work.
I've been hoarding this fabric for at least a decade. It wasn't what I thought it would be when I ordered it but I loved it and KNEW it would make a special dress.
A quick trip to the garment district Friday afternoon (after I spent the morning at work) and I had piping and buttons from Joyce Trimmings. Then it was just getting myself together to sew it.
Supply List ~
Brocade & Sheer fabric from deep stash
Blackish gray silk charmeuse also from deep stash
3 - 1" black sparkly buttons from Joyce Trimmings
4 yds of black & silver metallic piping from Joyce Trimmings
Construction ~
There is nothing new in the construction of this dress. I made it exactly the same way as I did the velvet version except I added a collar.
Some construction photos:
I added a collar with piping and piping to the front of the top
Deciding whether to add piping to the sleeves or not
Added piping to the bodice bottom before sewing the skirt on
Close up of black & silver piping and black enamel & CZ buttons
I'm always on the fence about adding pockets but from previous versions
I did know that I wanted them just a little deeper
My daughter and I at the Cotillion holding my skirt - LOL!
Since I was short on time I didn't line the dress ~ hoping and praying that the crinoline I'd ordered from Amazon would be delivered in time! I don't know what I would have done if it hadn't arrived! Hahahahahahaha!
A few pictures of the dress ~
The only back shot we took but there's a lot of fabric in this dress
and you can see how sheer the fabric was at the hemline
Me and my sweet Samantha
Also a few pictures of my niece at the Cotillion ~
And the curtsy which takes months to learn to do properly
Finally ~
I loved my finished dress. I loved that it was comfortable and easy to wear. I loved that it was me...classic with a side of drama. I'm wearing extra hair because I sewed until 12:30am on Sunday morning. We needed to be at the Event at 3pm on Sunday so I had no time to go and get my hair done. However, I think the curly mane works really well with the dress.
Like I said earlier the girls dress posts are up next. But y'all I have a backlog of posts. I have three finished garments that I had no time to photograph between the all of the rain and making these dresses...so quite a few new posts will be coming to the blog.
...as always more later!