Sunday, May 3, 2015

Jessica's Graduation Dress

Jessica was my first grandchild and has always been very special to me of course. She's 18 now and I just don't know where all those years went. She graduates in June and will then go clear across the country to the University of British Columbia where she has been accepted in a Performing Arts program.

 Graduates at her high school are required to wear white dresses for the graduation ceremony. I was all too happy to offer my services as dressmaker. She wanted lace and together we found the fabric at Fabricville and came up with a  design based on this dress.



I used Vogue  8766   as my base pattern.



 I used the bodice of View D for my muslin and the skirt of viewD as well for the skirt.I lowered the front neckline, and  I changed the back neckline into a V. Once I had perfected the fit of the bodice, I drew directly onto the muslin ,the outline for the sweetheart bustier layer. I reshaped the skirt to an A-line and added a deep pleat at center front and after Jessie's approval, I got to work. 25 hours later (Yes 25 hours!!!) or five days, after many fittings with my cold hands, Lol. I ended up with this.



                                                            

  


The lace is polyester, the under layer is poly satin charmeuse, and the lining is a silky rayon challis for comfort.



The binding around the neckline and armholes is bias strips of the charmeuse and was impossible to not twist. I tried each area three times and had to give up but then I remembered seeing this designer jacket




  (I can't find the link), online with its twisted binding and decided to relax my expectations.




I delivered her dress to Jessica today and there was no doubt that she is perfectly satisfied with her dress and that she  absolutely loves it so I'm very happy tonight!  This project was truly a labour of love!

These photos were taken right after skating practice and she still looks wonderful in her dress!




Next up I'll show you a few spring pieces I managed to make in between DD's coat and DGD's dress so come back for another visit please!.

Happy Sewing from



12 comments:

Vicki said...

What a beautiful dress and fitted so perfectly.

SewCraftyChemist said...

It's PERFECT!!!

So glad you were able to move past the binding issue. It's absolutely fabulous and she looks so beautiful!

Linda T said...

Beautiful dress on a lovely young lady!

Beverly said...

She's adorable & the dress is so pretty! Isn't it wonderful to make dresses for your granddaughter?

Cherie said...

Wow! It is just like your inspiration! I think the binding turned out great!

Donna W said...

This dress is just beautiful and of course the model is too. It is so nice to sew for loved ones.

Sharon said...

Gorgeous graduation gown, you have certainly put a lot of love into this gown.

Sarah Liz said...

She looks beautiful - as is her lovely mother, especially in attitude for making such a gown. I hope your daughter does well - I have a degree in Arts, majoring Drama and Screen Studies - Hons Class 1). Seems like creativity runs through your family too.

Sew, Jean Margaret said...

Gorgeous dress and so nice that you got to sew it for your grand daughter. She looks beautiful in it.

zahava said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Ann Brodsky said...

What a gorgeous dress and beautiful granddaughter! It's so nice of you to help her celebrate this special event.

Gail said...

What a beautiful dress. I find the idea of graduating in a long white gown very foreign. In Australia most schools have a uniform and that is what they wear. My daughter's school allowed the prefects to wear stockings rather than long khaki green socks at the graduation...wow!! luck my dds were prefects.