DRESS IS DONE, Y’ALL.
As much as I *truly* enjoyed all the work and care that went into the making of this dress – it sure feels good to be finished with it!
A brief overview, before we go into a major picture dump – the pattern is Butterick 6019, and I made the view with the circle skirt and the halter strap. I sewed a size 6 at the bust, grading to an 8 at the waist. I also shortened the bodice 1/2″ and raised the neckline by 5/8″.
My fabric is solid black silk Faille from Mood Fabrics, which is used for the entire outside of the dress as well as the partial self-lining of the bodice. The bust cups are padded with bra foam (from my stash), the side back pieces are shirred with black elastic thread, the bodice includes lots of fabric covered boning, and the hem has 2″ wide soft black horsehair braid to give it that lovely fullness (that’s right – no petticoat or crinoline was worn for these photos!).
This dress was made entirely on my Spiegel 60609 sewing machine! It handled all those Faille layers like a champ, and even pleasantly surprised me with how well it shirred the back panels. In case you missed them, here are the posts I wrote detailing the making of this dress: Part 1 & Part 2.
There’s not much else to discuss since I went into a lot of detail already, so have some pictures!
So did I actually wear it to prom? You bet I did! Pretty much exactly as you see here (yeeeeah I ain’t about to spend $$ getting my hair or make-up done for some high school event lolz) – I ended up wearing simple black flats, instead of my Converse, because they seemed like a nice compromise of comfy and still a little fancy. Although my Converse would not have been out of place there – I saw lots of sneakers! Except mine are pretty dirty in comparison 🙂 Speaking of high school fashions, everything is quite… sparkly these days. I definitely had THE plainest dress out of everyone there, due to my lack of beading and rhinestones. Not complaining! And it seems like long dresses – especially ones with cut outs, or two pieces that show a little midriff – are still the majority rule, at least for the school that I was at.
Here’s a picture of me + my bestie on prom night! Sorry for the grainy quality – it was dark. Hopefully we’ll have some good professional photos to share once those are developed 😀
That’s all for now! Thanks for indulging my fancy dress dreams, y’all! And thanks to Mood Fabrics and Spiegel for letting this lil’ former homeschooler finally make it to prom! 🙂
Note: The materials for this dress were provided to me from Mood Fabrics as part of my participation in the Mood Sewing Network.
LLADYBIRD 
Your dress turned out beautifully and you looked lovely in it. Glad you had a nice time. That’s neat that you were homeschooled. I homeschooled all 3 of my kids! 18 years! Our son only attended traditional school for kindergarten, but the girls never went to a traditional school until they went to college. They all 3 did well in college and the last one graduates next week 🙂
Your dress turned out beautifully and you looked lovely in it. Glad you had a nice time. That’s neat that you were homeschooled. I homeschooled all 3 of my kids! 18 years! Our son only attended traditional school for kindergarten, but the girls never went to a traditional school until they went to college. They all 3 did well in college and the last one graduates next week 🙂
Thank you! And yay high five for homeschooling! I know it’s not ideal for everyone (I’m the only child out of my family who stuck with it till the end – everyone else ended up going back to public school at some point), but for me it certainly was a great decision 🙂
I volunteer as a leader with my church’s youth group, and sparkly and long does seem to be the fashion from what I’ve been hearing from our girls!
They sure love the long and sparkly! I reckon they look better in it than my 30 year old ass would 😛 haha
WHERE IS THE SLO MO TWIRLING VIDEO????? Lot’s of love and time went in to that dress, it shows. Now you need another fancy party or a dinner out to wear it some more! Or the laundromat, heads…. would…. turn….. 🙂 I was listening to an interview with a young woman who has a fashion blog, (only 18 years old, started when she was 13) she said the exact same thing you said about prom this year, long and cut outs. Nicely done, thanks for the tips!
I’m sorry! We’re lucky I even got a photo in action (I hate asking people to take my picture haha). I’m sure I’ll wear it again, so goals for next time 🙂
WOW! It’s beautiful. You look amazing in it 🙂
Thank you!
Gorgeus dress! The fabric is gorgeous and the pattern fits you like a glove. You are right not to envy beads and rhinestones, soooo tacky! And what is that about you being a homeschooler? I am a teacher in Catalonia, and here we do not have such… if you care to elaborate on that, it would be most interesting.
I’m sure you have something similar that’s just called differently 🙂 Homeschooling is when the parent takes full responsibility of teaching the child (or you can hire a private tutor, which we did here with a big group of about 100 other students, in a sort of cooperative), rather than send them to the big public or private schools. It was beneficial to me as I was able to learn at my own pace without the having to wait on and/or catch up to an entire class of people.
Stunning! That bodice would make a great peplum top.
It certainly would!
Oh it looks so fabulous on you! I’m loving that you made this for an event that you actually wore it to. I’ve wanted to make this dress too, but feel like I don’t have anywhere fancy enough to wear it to. Might have to dive in and make it anyway. Your dress is just so inspirational.
Sunni, I’m so glad to see you post here on Laurne’s blog. I have been missing your blog posts terribly and was wondering if you were all right?
Ha! I have been hoarding this pattern since it came out, dying for an event to be able to wear it to, so I completely understand what you’re saying. I think you deserve to take yourself somewhere fancy just for an excuse to make/wear it! I know you would look incredible in this dress!
Wow, it’s stunning! I can tell you put a lot of TLC into it!
So much TLC!! All worth it, though! 🙂
Perfect with or without the converse , proportions are great , glad you enjoyed the prom
Thank you so much!
This dress is so elegant and perfect for any event! ❤
Thank you!
I love bodice backs with shirring, makes fitting a breeze. Looks fab on you!
I totally agree! The shirring made fitting this bodice 1000x times easier than it otherwise would have been 🙂
Impeccable make! With the flats you look very Audrey Hepburn just beautiful! Who needs sparkles when you have style!
Thank you so much! I agree, sparkles aren’t necessary if your style is on point 😉
This is beautiful!! and you look gorgeous!! I would have worn comfy shoes too! I homeschool my 4 kids… My twins are in 9th grade, a daughter in 7th grade and a son in 3rd grade. We are just, this year entered the scary part…for me…I have to make sure they get all of the courses needed to get into college or tech school. Which ever they prefer. I know this is a sewing blog, but any thoughts on homeschooling you wish to share I would love.
Sparkles are over rated!!
Forget the Converse. What that outfit needs are a pair of truly ostentatious Docs. (Yes, I came of age in the 90’s. Why do you ask?)
Oh you rock this dress so well! I love it! My mouth is also hanging open a bit because I had no idea horsehair could add that kind of volume!! I love the look of petticoats but just feel too dweeby wearing them in public, so this is the perfect solution. Thank you for another sewing revelation. 🙂
Gorgeous finished dress! I love the bodice and it looks so great on you…fit is so hard to get just right on a dress that’s so complicated. Now you have a gorgeous dress to wear for years to come.
Wow, Wow and more Wow!
Did you dance?
This dress is stunning and fits you beautifully. Gorgeous! Your hard work certainly paid off.
You looked beautiful!!!!! I love your hair these days and that dress! May you have many other occasions to wear it! It’s a keeper.
Oh. My. God. I totally went to high school with your bestie!!!
…also, I love the dress. 🙂
(and she was in one of my classes at Vandy for a short time also.)
Omg that is too funny!! I just showed her this comment and she totally remembers you 🙂