Monday, November 28, 2011

Sofie's Valedictory Dress

My baby Sofie graduated from high school recently and I made her a new dress for her Valedictory dinner.  I anticipated this event a while back and bought some silk chiffon from China on my last Hong Kong visit.  The fabric is an ombra that is black on both selvages and grading to white/cream in the middle.  Luckily she was happy with the fabric.

I used a mix of patterns - a bias cut night dress 12-2008-128B for the skirt and Butterick 5029 for the front bodice.  I then cut long ties - very long rectangles and attached them just under the bust.  To keep things simple I used elastic across the back to keep the dress close to the body as per the nightgown pattern - so no zip or other fastener needed!  I later went back and added elastic under the bust too to keep that area also closer to the body
You can see the bodice here and the rectangles hanging down. I also stitched the beads to the shoulders to keep them in place as Sofie wore the dress.
The ties wrap up over the bust, tie up at the back and hang down the back.  It was a bit of trial and error to see what looked good.  We ended up twisting around the bodice neck and tucking in around the bodice.

Of course the occasion required fake tan, hairdo, heavy makeup and false eyelashes!  The photos (except the dress form ones) were taken on a fancy smancy camera owned by Ellen's (dd1) boyfriend.  More can be seen here

17 comments:

Lisa said...

What a stunning dress,your daughter is completely dazzling in that dress. I love the ombre fabric it's very expensive looking.

Audrey said...

What a gorgeous, unique dress. Your daughter looks so beautiful and happy. I like the way the ombre was used on the diagonal instead of the typical vertical direction.

Ann Made Studio said...

It is gorgeous and she looks amazing...you all do :)
I love the details and the necklace is so stylish.

Mel.J said...

Congrats Sofie - and gorgeous dress!

Sharon said...

Stunning dress, love all the details.

Anne-Marie said...

Ohhh this is beautiful, so light, delicate and feminine. Your daughter must have completely charmed by the dress. She looked so beautiful !

AllisonC said...

Wow this is stunning Vicki (although it is hard to imagine anything not looking good on Sofie). I really thought the photos were from a magazine at first!

Summerset said...

She's gorgeous! Congrats on the event, too. You did a marvelous job on the dress!

cidell said...

What a milestone for DD. I love love love this dress! I want to move to Australia so you can make me fancy party dresses. Great work!

The Slapdash Sewist said...

Love that! Wonderful use of the ombre chiffon.

for the love of a house said...

What a beautiful dress, and what a gorgeous daughter! Congratulations to her!!

I wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas!
joan

p.s. thank you so much for leaving your "calling card"!

Diana said...

What a gorgeous ,sophisticated dress for a beautiful daughter. And what a great Mom Sofie has!
Happy New Year Vicki.

Shannon said...

I just found this post. My goodness, your daughter has grown up into such a stunning young woman. And, what a lovely dress - wow!

Carolyn said...

What a stunning dress and your daughter looks absolutely beautiful!

Lily Can Sew said...

Beautiful dress!!!!


I nominated you for the Liebster Blog Award. =) I like your sewings.
Please link back to my site

www.lilycansew.blogspot.com

Judith said...

Stunning dress! You have married the fabric and dress style together perfectly.

MissP said...

Wow what a georgeous dress! You have made black and white look so stylish.

https://sewmodiste.wordpress.com