Party (dress) Animal Update #1

The dress is progressing well, but now I've hit the most time-consuming and tedious part of the overall construction...gathering the skirt hem and attaching it to the lining hem...I NEED A BREAK!!

UPDATE: Party (dress) Animal

OMG...you will NOT believe this!!  Baby Girl came home and showed me a picture of her girlfriend's dress...is this wild or what?  I'm sure everyone will think this was planned, but it was pure happenstance!!

Party (dress) Animal

I know…I know…it’s been quite some time since my last blog entry, and I apologize for my negligence.  I know you’ve been sitting on the edge of your proverbial seats, thinking to yourselves “I wonder what Aisha’s been doing.  What remarkable new creation will she unveil?  I can’t stand the anticipation!!”  Okay, maybe you weren’t thinking those exact words, but if it’s any consolation please know that I have been sufficiently scolded for my slothfulness – thank you, Denise!!  And while I do admit to being negligent in my blogging, I’ve not abandoned all activities related to Sewing – or Crafts in general – and I will update you on those things which have kept me somewhat busy this past summer.

I have just been commissioned by my exclusive client – my daughter, aka Baby Girl – to create another one-of-a-kind garment, this time for Homecoming.  She so enjoyed wearing the Frou Frou Party Dress that she wanted something similar but with some style variations, of course.  Also, she wanted the dress made from gold metallic with a contrasting bodice from some type of embellished fabric – perhaps sequins or an encrusted organza like the one we used on Frou Frou.  (My first thought – hmm…gold…not gold-colored, but GOLD!!  That will be one memorable dress, to say the least!  She’ll look like an Oscar statue on the famous red carpet!)

As usual, we procrastinated on fabric and notion shopping, but last night we finally made it to our local JoAnn store which occupies a two-story building.  All of the Arts & Crafts merchandise is located on the lower level and fabric and sewing merchandise on the upper level.  We immediately spotted a gold sequined fabric at the top of the stairs which we grabbed on the way towards the other metallic fabrics.  However, once we took a close look at our options and compared the coloring and hand of each fabric, she reconsidered her firm stance on the metallic.  (Whew, dodge a bullet on that one!!)

So instead, Baby Girl had a brainstorm.  “What about animal print!” she declared.  (Oh boy…now animal print?!)  I spotted a grouping of prints and as we walked towards them, she spots this black & white zebra print fabric – rather cute, I must admit.  Then, she has another brainstorm.  ”What about the zebra print for the top and yellow for the skirt?  You know black & white and yellow go together!”  As you can probably guess, I wasn’t a fan of the idea.  Instead of sugar plums, visions of yellow jacket bumble-bees danced in my head.  Maybe it was divine intervention which prevented us from finding just the right shade, but she soon abandoned the yellow-idea in favor of hot pink.

So, we took our bolts of fabric to the table to have yardages cut and then made our way back  downstairs.  But while walking toward the cash registers, I kept thinking we needed to add something to this dress to transition from the print to the solid.  The last thing I wanted was for it to look like it was born from two other unrelated garments – the top from one dress and the skirt from another.  So, back upstairs we go

to find a trim which would add that certain je ne se quoi.

So, here we are.  The zebra print has a slight nap but is lightweight enough to partner with the pink crepe-back satin.  The trim is a velvet-shimmer ribbon which marries these two fabrics perfectly.

  

I have 2 days to crank this puppy out, but I’m not worried.  Having made a version of this dress before, I am familiar with its challenges and am prepared for them.  In fact, I took more specific measurements of Baby Girl’s problem-fit areas – specifically that back!  I’m even going to make a muslin draft of the bodice and note any adjustments before cutting into the fashion fabric, and have determined how and when to include the trimming to the construction.  I think I’m ready!!  Heck, I may even knock out some coordinating accessories!!

Okay, I am super-excited and maybe the accessories will be a little overkill, but I believe this dress will be G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S!!  I’ll keep you posted… I promise!!

Be blessed!!

Aisha