i love this dress because it's so elegant and pretty + i just ADORE miumiu so i really wanted to recreate it! i especially like the lace details and the bodice, not to mention the super cute puff sleeves xx
anyways after some contemplation i decided not to use this design (at least for this project) because i think it feels too casual and also because velvet fabric is so expensive TT especially with my uncertainties about how the bodice and smocking worked i didn't want to risk wasting like $60 of fabric on a pattern im not confident making right now.
like honestly the shop site doesnt have enough substantial pictures for me to be able to recreate it accurately and it's hard to see the smaller seam details on a Black Velvet dress . frustrated me for the longest time!!! i asked some other sewists for their thoughts and they couldnt really figure it out either
it's still a project i want to pursue in the future, but ah well. another time! anyways i scrapped this version.
i chanced upon this design from selkie's ss23 show and i immediately loved it!! apart from the classic selkie bodice + puff sleeves, what really caught my eye was the skirt design . so unique and magical with the cascading layers, which reminds me of a waterfall or a small stream in the forest ^__^ given my predicament about skirt length i honestly think that this perfectly consoles both sides of the spectrum. see it's LONG but it also gives the impression that it's short because of the layered skirt + transparency of the bottom half i love it so much
anyways i did some research and kind of figured out how the skirt and pattern pieces might work since it's not ur usual circle skirt or whatever and i guess i was reassured enough that i could handle this project :3 so i settled on this one. yay!!
anyways i got started on the actual patternmaking and sewing process. first thing i did was to really break down the entire pattern with a sketch and just some rough notes. quite proud of my sketchbook pages this time!
i think a lot of these shapes/patterns wont actually end up being used in the exactly same way, but i figured i'd just work my way through it LOL
before starting on the actual pattern i thought it'd be good to make some standard pattern blocks for myself, which are basically kind of like blueprints of your body that can be modified to make different types of garments or whatever. basically it's the template from which you can make actual sewing patterns for yourself! i made some on pattern paper with a tutorial, which was actually pretty agonising because the shapes and measurements can be so confusing
then i gathered my materials from some local stores... i think i needed 10 yards of blue organza and 2m of satin lining (dont ask me why theyre in different measurements HELP) and ofc i needed some ribbon and blue thread! i also needed a bit of elastic but i used the ones i already had at home. also saw some super cute fabrics along the way! maybe ill use them for future projects...
i know i started the whole ideation process like 3 months before my actual prom but i only started seriously sewing 2 weeks before it actually happened. not good time management!!! but thank god because i managed to finish in time. phew!!! first off i started to make toiles (mockups) for the bodice, which had a sweetheart neckline and princess seams + the puff sleeves. unfortunately i don't have many photos for this part because it was painfully boring and i was just itching to get on with the real one
ANYWAYS! onto the actual dress this was so stressful btw i was so afraid i would mess up with the skirt and the bodice or whatever. which i kind of did at some points but overall i think it turned out terrifically!!! here are some pictures i took of the process and final result
of course this project was far from perfect, and so i'd like to reflect on some of the things i could've done differently!
- i couldve started WAY earlier and procrastinated far less... the stress was awful in the days leading up to prom and if anything had happened to my sewing machine i would've been DONE FOR!!!
- if you can't tell from the pictures, my sleeve elastics (all 4 of them TT) snapped halfway through my prom. kind of a wardrobe malfunction disaster!!! i managed to salvage it a little with safety pins and it's good that my bodice still held up but i need to remember to test my garments better
- another thing about sleeves they restricted my movement because i messed up the measurements. it's a mistake i've made before and hopefully this will be the last time i'm making it
- i need to learn the proper hemming techniques especially for bodices! it's partially because i used lightweight fabrics, but the neckline kept folding outwards and you could see the raw edges which looked terrible LOL. not very sure on how to solve this but i will explore using different techniques next time!
okay but overall im really happy with how this went!! such a big project and a dream come true for me personally. it was so rewarding especially when people complimented my dress and i got to tell them "actually i made it !!!!" their expressions were priceless lol it was a major confidence boost. love it!!!