Dress- Self Made

(I have the worst facial expressions….just saying)

Yes, I made the dress. These photos were taken so long ago but again, I’m traveling so I’ll have to use these. The dress itself is made from a light cotton/poly jersey and from only a yard of that stuff. Which means this dress cost $6. Score! There’s an empire waist with an elastic band and 3 tires for the skirt. Pretty simple but great for summer days.

I’m trying to post regularly now. And I mean it. I’m trying 2 posts per week, one being fashion/teenager related and the other a DIY. Mostly posting posts that have a meaning and are useful to you guys and not just some random article that I pieced together. I really want to grow my blog and readership and this is one way to do it. Anyhow, thanks to everyone who reads and shares! Love ya all,

You ever see a dress and you think “I NEED that!”? Yeah, I saw about a thousand of them, all the same style but all not in the exact print that matched me or my style. While I could have bought it to save time and money, I really really love the one I made. And besides, if I bought it, I can’t prance around saying “I made this!”, amrite? ;)

Oh yeah if you’re wondering, this isn’t sponsored by H&M and I’m not modeling for them (I WISH). It just happens that the store is part of the back ground…..

The concept of the dress is pretty simple, just a sweetheart neckline with an attached skirt and a strip of fabric for the waistband. There are an endless amount of these dresses out there but I am pretty sure I wouldn’t have found one that actually fit me cause I’m just so small busted. And so I made one. I also self drafted the pattern, which was a pain in the bum. I had to draft a basic bodice block just for it, and all the pattern instructions out there didn’t work for me cause well, I’m still going though adolescence so my measurements aren’t the standard “adult” size, ya know. Last resort? I “winged” it. Could have been better but not too shabby I suppose.

I made three muslins in order to get the correct fit. And then 3 finals. Why? Cause there’s an outer fabric, an interlining, and then a lining. So you could say I made 6 versions of the bodice. What I really do like about my version is that the back has super cute bows. It’s not something most dresses have. I originally planned to have a halter band/facing thing on the bodice but what a disaster as it just made me look really square at the shoulders and I couldn’t get the edges sharp or crisp enough to my liking. I ended up using self-made bias tape to finish off the edges which turned out quite nice although unexpected. The straps aren’t actually stitched, they’re just single fold bias tape with ribbon fused on the back with Seam-a-seam. This makes the straps a lot softer and bulkier. Plus, I wouldn’t have to worry about my stitching being wonky.

If you’re wondering why the bodice looks so contoured at the center front, it’s because there’s a center front seam. Surprise! The seam’s actually curved, because I pinched out a dart and did pattern rotation so there isn’t an actual dart, but the fullness is pinched out. I tried matching the print to the best of my ability and it paid off. There are also removable bra cups in there, since I can’t wear a bra with this thing (there’s the bow back).

I didn’t attach the lining  to the skirt and waistband the correct way cause I was pretty annoyed already by the time I had to do the zipper. Hence the serged seams and almost invisible zip on the side. As I said before, each part of the dress has 3 layers of fabric. The outer fabric is a really pretty orange lawn from Mood which was kinda sheer. The color is actually orange, but I like to call it coral since it just sounds a lot better. Typical me. :) The interlining was just a cheap white lawn and the lining just a cheap polyester lining fabric, all from Jo-ann.

OMG VINTAGE PHOTO AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! <3

I made a half circle skirt and didn’t go with a full circle skirt cause I though it would be too bulky with 3 layers. The skirt kinda stretched out when I was going to attach it to the waistband, which made me do a center pleat on the skirt which I actually quite like.

These pictures were taken on Wednesday at Santana Row, which surprisingly it a really great place to take photos. There are so many settings and different moods so I kinda got a mini photo shoot. I was suppose to take photos of 4 outfits but I was so tense and unnatural in the first half hour which wasted a ton of time. Therefore, we only took 2 outfits which is fine with me cause I can always go back and take more. And did I mention I got pomegranate fro-yo? My mom’s friend said that I was the most natural when I was eating. LOL!

I should probably stop rambling now. I’ll post the photos of the other dress next week.

Love ya guys,

UPDATE:

I’m joining a few link parties! Woo hoo!