Jill's Junior Prom

A few weeks ago, Jill came to me with this picture and said she wanted her prom dress to be something like it. She had found the dress on http://www.unique-vintage.com/ and fell in love with the wrapped bodice, vintage adornments, and beaded lace overlay. "You can make it, right mom?" ....er....of course I can!




So, we went pattern shopping and the closest we found was this...well, it's a start anyway!

I actually took Jill out of school for a day to shop for the fabric! We were running out of time to order fabric, so we had to know if we could find something in town. Thankfully we did! The cameo pink silk dupioni came from Mesa Sales, and the embroidered and beaded netting came from JoAnn's.

Now, I have a lovely sewing room complete with a cutting counter thanks to my darling David, but when it comes to cutting out more than 2 yards we use the living room floor. We laid out the 8 yards of silk and bravely made the first cut...

A day of sewing and the basic dress was ready. Now for the hard part - the wrapped bodice and sleeves. I don't have any pictures of the process, I was way too focused on figuring it out to take any! We actually put Jill in the dress, and wrapped, pinned, marked and cut the pieces on her, then took them off and sewed and gathered. It took about 5 times longer and 3 times more thought than I expected! This was the most challenging sewing I have ever done!

We were finally getting close to finish, but hadn't found the jewels for the bodice pieces yet. Lucy and I had hunted out the Mesa antique stores but hadn't been inspired by anything. Luckily, our saving angel came in the form of our dear neighbor, Cecilia Basilotto! She had been watching out the window during dinner, and when Jill never came out she began to wonder what was going on. So over she came, found us up to our necks in last-minute sewing, and said "Come with me Lucy, I have just the thing!" She showed Lucy an amazing box of vintage jewelry and they chose the perfect brooch for the top, and found a bracelet with little jeweled roses that we took apart for the other pieces. It turned out perfect!!

When Jared arrived her hair, makeup, and long gloves were ready - but no dress!

Jill pinned on his boutonniere (she had made it herself from roses and jasmine in our garden).

Finally! The dress was done (not without more drama - the zipper broke as we were putting it on - I hate those nylon invisible zippers!! We actually had to sew her in to the dress! Next time - buttons). Jared gave her a sweet wrist corsage and they were ready to go at last.

Out the door! They had a great time at the dance - Jill's dress was the prettiest, of course!! She was so happy and so beautiful!