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Difficulty:
Category: Sewing
Type of item: Clothing
For: Women
Style: Retro / Vintage, Romantic, Cute, Whimsical, Funky
Materials
Black Satin underlined with silk organza.
What was your inspiration?
I saw the music video for Settle Down by Kimbra and instantly fell in love with her dress. It was a classic baby-doll dress with an edgy, daring sheer panel in the front. It was exactly my style! Knowing that I would have little or no occasion to wear this dress myself, I decided to make it for my friend to wear to her bachelorette party. I used Susan Khalje's Couture Dress class to make the dress. I fit her in a muslin before making the final product, which is underlined and lined. I incorporated a hand-picked side zipper. This was such a fun dress to create and my friend felt so special to have a custom-made dress for her bachelorette party!
What are you most proud of?
I am most proud of the fact that I was able to create this dress without a set pattern for it. I blended two different dress patterns and altered the front bodice to add the center sheer panel. I am also proud of the couture techniques that went into this dress. It came out perfectly and fits my friend like a dream...or a custom garment :)
What advice would you give someone starting this project?
Always take the time to make a muslin before starting a project. I actually had to make two muslins - the first one was an entire size too big! It would have been quite the challenge to try to resize the dress if I hadn't made a muslin beforehand. It also took some time for me to figure out the center panel and I would have ruined the fashion fabric with all the ripping out and re-evaluating that had to be done.
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