Friday 3 January 2014

DIY skater dress for a friend


Blazer and heels- H&M






Boots- Office


Cardigan- Homemade


cardigan- Urban Outfitters
So I set myself the 'small' challenge of making my friends a dress for her birthday in a complete surprise fabric and colour. It took a little longer than intended and ended up being more like a christmas present but, I think, shes happy with the outcome and she looks gorgeous in it. In these photos she has paired it with: a cream blazer and nude heels for a formal occasion, tights and lace boots for daytime and two different style wool cardigans. The cream cardigan gives a more sophisticated look as the colour matches well with the shade of blue in the dress whereas the tartan cardigan gives it a fun twist and shows how clashing prints can work really well. If you fancy having a go at making a dress for yourself or a friend be sure to go for a simple pattern to start off with and chose fabrics that will not disagree with your sewing machine (for example no pleather or stretchy fabrics). Happy belated Birthday Hannah! haha

Prom dress (finally) - Fishtail

I've been meaning to do this post for a while but I left my dress at a friends after prom and 6 months have just flown by but I wanted to show you how I designed and was involved with the creating of my prom dress incase any one is thinking of doing the same thing. If you are someone who knows what does and doesnt suit you or you like to have something a bit different or a simply worried you may turn up in the same dress as someone I would definitely look into getting your dress made for you. You're probably thinking yeh right as if we all have the money for that but if you look around in your local area and ask people you know you're bound to find a seamstress that is willing make you one for a fraction of the cost of big companies and dress shops. If you are a budding clothes designer or are just interested in fashion it is a great thing to do to get involved with the designing and the whole process. I originally designed my dress months before the prom and found a seamstress earlier so that I could discuss it with her. I then found two dress patterns that together would make up the design I wanted and hunted around for the fabrics in the right colours. The embellishment I used was taken from my sisters prom dress that she wore 6 years before. Definitely worth the stress of wondering if it would turn out right and be finished in time and just a shame I can't wear it around everyday haha.

my original dress design 

the hem of the skirt had to be hand sewn- two full circles of chiffon
side seams on dress and back seam for zip
the fishtail skirt had 4 layers of different fabrics to ensure that it flowed outwards in that mermaid style- including chiffon, satin, silk lining and net



the back straps were creating by plaiting chiffon and sewing onto satin to make them stronger. The shoulder diamante pieces were added after to hide the shoulder join



Diamante motif taken from a previously owned dress




the layering of the chiffon and satin meant that in different lights it was different colours