Prom 2009!

Last week was DD#2's Semi-formal dance. This week is was DD#1's prom (technically, her boyfriend's Senior prom). As I finished up the lavendar semi-formal dress for DD#2, the activity turned to finishing the stole and making the purse for DD#1.

Here's DD#1 modeling her stole and purse:

The stole and purse were the perfect accessories for the dress. As mentioned before, the dress was RTW to a tune of $350! I pitched in $50 so that guarantees me one wearing of the dress ;) . I went to JoAnn's and purchased the white/silver brocade for the stole and purse. Again, the stole pattern was provided to me courtesy of Mary. (Again, many thanks to you, Mary!) She forwarded me the link.

In my previous post on the stole pattern, I mentioned my displeasure of the original length. So the front slit became an embellished pocket. I added a button/buttonhole closure and an inside snap so the one side would not collapse or cave in and cause an uneven front hemline. I could tell when DD#2 first tried on the stole, it was met with an admiring glance aka her "seal of approval". I thought the fabric and revamped style of the stole would be a perfect match for the dress, both in color and style, and it was.

On the front, I added crystal buttons with buttonholes placed at an angle down one side of the front. The other side are "faux" buttons, however, the snap is placed on the inside to keep the stole layers together. The underlayer would have collapsed without it and dropped the hemline on one side.

I did light alterations to her RTW dress as well. I cut the lining 8" higher so she wouldn't trip/fall over it. It was very long. Just did a rotary cutter slice too (knit dress so no fraying issues). No hemming--no one is going to see the lining. The back had a long train as well. I pinned it up as she desired. Yes, the side seams are swinging back. There's no way around that. But I told her it almost looks like a design style. It looked nice anyway. I added an extra crystal button from the stole below the back design and cut a loop from the extra lining piece that was cut off. Voila! A new design on the back which she loved.

The purse was made from one of my fave books by Emma Brennan on Vintage Handbags. So much better than any storebought clutch IMO.

I'll take closeups later today for the details.

I leave you with pics of the charming couple. She's even wearing my wedding jewelry (necklace and earrings).

The Seal of Approval

I received the Bossy Chick's (aka DD#1) Seal of Approval tonight. She was trying on her prom gown, tried on my wedding jewelry, and put on the stole. I wanted to double check the fit. Usually if it fits me it will fit her, and it does. Notice the updated pic has the buttons (attached with pins at this point) that I'm going to use. I'll take a trip to the fabric store tomorrow to get the same button in a smaller size to create a train loop for her dress.

It really looks lovely on her and the stole is perfect for it. The dress is slim fitted with a low back and the length of the stole just covers the dip in the dress back. She needs a little help in the boob area to create the right angle for the dress cups so I gave her the stick-on cups I bought from Frederick's of Hollywood eons ago. Told her, "I hope they still stick!" We certainly don't want any, uh, "wardrobe malfunctions".

Also, I cut out the new dress muslin for DD#2. That was all I was going to do, but actually was able to sew almost the entire muslin. Just need to attach the front to the back and insert a temporary zipper. Things are moving along and progressing smoothly, but very busy with little downtime.

It's been a long day, time for bed!

Unexpected Turned Better-Than-Expected.

I was making the stole (pictured at right) two days ago and got unexpected results. One of those "I should've made a muslin moments." until I decided I liked the stole even better a different way. One that provides more coverage for a chilly night. We never know if it's going to be warm or chilly on Prom night in the Poconos.

The stole directions/"pattern" are free and found in this link, a big thank you to Mary.

The problem I had with the stole directions is that it said to use a 60" length. No problem even though my fabric wasn't 60" wide. I pieced it with a CB seam. The issue was that you can see the stole is actually much wider than the one on the model. This could be attributed to the fact that I edgestitched around the perimeter. If I didn't, the stole would have draped in folds. Another thing that bothered me was the 60" of length was far too short, and I'm not a big woman. In fact, my neck shoulders are a pattern size 10 and narrow. My arms are relatively thin as well. The one end stuck out like a 5" stub through the opening and did not drape down to my hipline as shown on the model. What is she, like a stinking size 0 and 5'1"???

However, as I was playing around with it, I decided I liked it pinned at the front, almost cape-like. In fact, I liked that even better than the stole style in the model's pic. The slit will turn into a pocket and I'll put 3 elegant buttons/buttonholes on the top edge where I have pins. A hook/eye will be inserted underneath to keep the other edge up so it doesn't drop unattractively.

One of my sewing shortcomings is that I jump around so much between what I do, and jump around fabrics used, that I feel like a jack-of-all-trades, specializing in maybe one or two things. I sew very occasionally with fancy fabrics. So when I went to interface the opening, which was like a bound buttonhole, I made my markings very lightly in pen. I do this frequently because my kids make off with pencils (and pens too), so often whatever in the drawer gets used. This was one of those times when I should have done a thread tracing, but wanting to hurry up, neglected to use this marking option. When I cut my "box" to the corners and dabbed Fray Check on it, seep, seep, seep...the ink bled to the right side! #*@(*(*(*#@#$#$@$@

To cover up this snafu, I applied fusible web to two tiny squares of fabric and placed them at the corners. Then I handstitched seed beads around the entire opening and fabric squares. This effectively camoflauged the mistake. If you look real hard you can tell, but the casual observer will never notice. I might fill in a few more sead beads at the corners to totally conceal any edges.

In the end, I really like it and will hunt for some buttons this week. I still have to trim some stray threads due to the nature of the fabric.

In other news, I forgot to take a picture of my softball basket with all the things I made! Can you believe it??? I happily overheard a conversation between two ladies while dropping in our tickets at the basket auction. One said, "Don't put more tickets in there! I want to win that basket." :)

Also, DD#2 and I had a heart-to-heart talk about her dress. She is going back to the original design. She keeps hedging on the styles and so indecisive. I had to make her face reality on what she wanted, what would be figure flattering. Yesterday I finished up the pattern alteration tweaks, today I will start the second (and final) muslin.

I leave you with a parting shot of DS#2. He loves to be outside, loves to garden. I'd probably like to garden too if I didn't love sewing so much. At the Softball Fundraiser dance, I won a basket of these flowers. He couldn't wait to plan them. Our yard is looking like crap so it's a pleasure to have him take an interest in outdoor work. He even broke up some old slate and created a sidewalk behind the flowers.I also won a HUGE double-sided flannel bedspread embroidered with our school's logo on one side. Perhaps my luck is changing as I age? I won a huge LL snack basket at Opening Day ceremonies almost two weeks ago too. Time to play the lottery? Maybe it is.

The Perfect Stole.

A HUGE Thank you to Mary!!! She pointed out this lovely FREE stole which is exactly what I want to make for DD#2's Semi-formal dance and DD#1's Prom.

I just want something to cover the shoulders and arms to prevent a chill, but that still looks elegant and classy. This little number fits the bill.

Thanks again, Mary!