Formal Gown Pictures

I've finally taken a few photos of two formal gowns I made this past spring. They were originally made for me and my sister to wear to a formal event, but, however, they were not finished before the deadline so the have remained unworn unto this point. Both dresses were made with the same pattern, featuring princess seams that spread into a full gored skirt with black tulle peaking out below the hemline. The dresses are further embellished with a wide black ribbon worn about the waist and pinned in place with a large flower.

When my sister and I started planning how we wanted our dresses to look, we browsed various websites offering formal gowns. Our inspiration for the final product originally came from a pretty pink dress made by A Formal Choice and a similar dress from Beautifully Modest. I was unable to find a pattern for the exact design specifications that I was looking for, so I drafted the bodice of view "F" from Butterick 4443 into the strapless panels of McCall's 5001, and followed the pattern instructions from the Butterick pattern until the dress was lined, at which point turned to the directions written for the McCall's pattern for advice on attaching the tulle to the lining. My sister and I wanted the necklines to be square, so I reshaped the neckline of the dress while testing the re-drafted pattern on an inexpensive fabric.

I found Claire Shaeffer's book, Sew Any Fabric, very helpful as I was learning how to handle the fabric that I planned to use. I was a bit confused as to how I was going to ease the sleeve cap into the armholes of the dresses, because I was using taffeta to make one of them, and many people advise removing ease from the sleeve pattern when making a taffeta sleeve, because this fabric is said to be difficult to ease. I posted at the forum of Sensibility.com with my concerns, and the ladies there were very generous with their advice -- the discussion can be found here (you may need to be a registered member and login before you are able to view this thread). After taking the advice of Elizabeth Stewart Clark, the sleeves went into the gowns very easily and I'm quite satisfied with the results :) You can also find another thread here that I started at the same forum when having trouble with the hem of the satin dress. I eventually used an artificial horsehair braid, as was suggested. Thank you so much to the ladies of the S&S forum -- you ladies are awsome!

With all of the above being said, it is now time to show the pictures! Click on any one of them for a larger photo :)















The pink gown was made from a taffeta fabric which I purchased from JoAnn's (fabric store). It was a rather thick taffeta with a very iridescent sheen on the right side. I am not a very big fan of extremely shiny dresses (at least not for myself, anyway), so I used the wrong side of the fabric and found that I really liked it. The dress was hand-hemmed after tiny darts were sewn into the hem allowance to control the fullness that came from the gores. The dress does appear shine a little, but this comes from the flash of the camera.

The red gown was made from a somewhat dull-finished satin from the "Casa Collection" at JoAnn's. I believe that the fabric is 100% polyester, and it's very forgiving -- I fell in love with it! You can see the sleeve detail by referring to the last picture.

Both dresses came directly from the closet and could use a little pressing (the hem of the red one especially --it's a little bit smooshed!), so please excuse their condition. Please excuse also the back picture of the red dress, as it seems a slight bit blurry. The ribbon and flower have yet to be permanently attached -- they are only just pinned in place for the photos :)

Hopefully these dresses will come out of the closet for wearing someday -- it is rather nice knowing that they are there, though -- just in case we ever need them!

-Rebekah