But ONLY under a perfect storm set of conditions.
Homecoming was rapidly counting down to tonight and a friend of mine couldn’t find a dress for her daughter. She was nearing a panic. I hate seeing people I care about in distress when I can help. Since I’m planning to start up a limited clothing line anyway, I offered my services.
You see, last year, my hubby took me out to dinner on a local high school’s prom night. My fashionista sensibilities cringed over the parade of ill-fitting, poorly made, cheap fabric passing for formal wear.
Twenty dollar prom dresses bought online LOOK like twenty dollar prom dresses bought online.
I vowed that wouldn’t happen to my friend’s daughter.
My young friend wanted yellow, and strapless. Unfortunately I had no yellow fabric in my stash and no time to purchase any, but I *did* have a vintage gold strapless dress I knew I could alter or make over.
The simple alteration I’d hoped for turned into using the old girl for her fabric and starting over with a complete redesign from scratch. And that lovely satin I picked up last week for Edwardian underthings ended up being a perfect lining and foundation layer.
With only 2 1/2 days to design, fit, and make a dress, I made over this old dress into a cute, short, bespoke corset dress for the young lady. It was a corset dress because her prior experiences with strapless dresses had been uncomfortable.
Unfortunately, the speed at which I had to work prevented me from getting many pictures, and none of the finished project before it went out the door. This is probably a blessing because due to the tight deadline the satin lining skirt ended up with pinked edges rather than a proper hem, and the raw edges inside never got properly finished. We won’t even discuss the zipper. Nothing good ever comes of rushing a zipper installation. I had to rip it out and redo it three times!
I promised she’d have a finished dress in time for tonight if I had to sew her into the darn thing! And what costumer or seamstress worth her salt hasn’t done exactly that at one time or another?
Somehow, it all came together and I was putting the last hand stitches in as her mother arrived to pick it up. My friend was pleased with the end result, and quite gracious about the unfinished bits.
Her mother was kind enough to send me some pics of her happy looking daughter in the dress. As the young lady is a minor, I won’t post her picture in the dress without her mother’s permission.
I will say that I thought she was lovely in her Manic Seamstress Original, and looked far better attired than any of the cheap, fast-fashion I saw so many teenagers wearing last prom season. And I guarantee no one else will be wearing the same dress!
Enjoy your evening, hon. You look beautiful!
The Manic Seamstress 