prom dress

E’s Prom Dress Finale

~ Tia Dia ~ 29 Comments

Front view, modeled so nicely by my vintage Acme fully adjustable “living” dress form.  🙂

Bodice front

Another bodice pic.  I tried to get those sparkly star effect thingys happening with the light prisming through the crystals, but obviously my photography skills aren’t up to snuff, and I wasn’t about to Photoshop them in.

So there we have it.  Six yards of silk chiffon + silk peau de soie bodice embroidered with freshwater pearls, Swarovski crystals, silk flowers, japanese seed beads + petticoats and a variety of supporting layers = one completed prom dress.  I had a lot of fun!!!

E’s Prom Dress 4: Bodice Lining

~ Tia Dia ~ 4 Comments

Boning channels in the bodice lining.  I used an Egyptian cotton shirting – feels lovely next to the skin – for the lining, and grosgrain ribbon for the channels.  I’ll be using spiral steel boning for the bodice.

E’s Prom Dress 3: Embellishments

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Japanese iridescent glass seed beads, silk flowers, fresh water pearls and Swarovski crystals for the bodice.

E’s Prom Dress 3: The Cummerbund

~ Tia Dia ~ 5 Comments

The waist is accented by a very flourescent lime green cummerbund.  I could not for the life of me find silk in the colour I wanted, so ended up using this poly charmeuse, and it is awful to sew with – slippery, unpredictable and will not shape the way silk would.  Once the dress is on dear E, the cummerbund will fit tautly and the handstitched pleating will not be so noticeable.  The zipper is completely hand-picked.  I’ve been craving some hand sewing these days, and this zipper was like a sip of cold water on a hot day when you really want to jump into a swimming pool.  But there’s a lot more hand work to be done on the bodice yet….

E’s Prom Dress 2: The Bodice

~ Tia Dia ~ 4 Comments

I used Burda 05-2011-122 aka The Bombshell Dress for the bodice.  We decided on a medium-weight ivory silk peau de soie.  It’s a dream to work with.  Here’s the interior.

E’s Prom Dress 1: The Skirt

~ Tia Dia ~ 15 Comments

I’m making a prom dress for a good friend’s daughter, and instead of posting all the information when it’s complete, I thought I’d break up my progress into a variety of posts.  This is six yards of silk chiffon in a border print for the skirt.