It's Prom time!

Well I've been busy the last few weeks sewing up prom dresses for a friend's daughter.
Amelia had a fair idea of what she wanted so we took her shopping for fabric at my favourite store.
She picked 2 fabrics that her mother & I would never have picked for her in a million years!
Yes, we were only going to make one dress, but the fabric was such a great price & she couldn't decide which one she liked more, so I said, why not get both?
(its not as if a 17yo wouldn't get the use out of them when maxi-dresses are all the rage this season).
She ended up with a cream stretch satin with a large floral design in chocolate brown & olive green,

and a zebra stripe crinkle chiffon, cream with dark brown/black stripes.

A fine tricot knit in cream was used to line both dresses.

We decided to use Simplicity 4577 for both dresses, as she liked the shape of the skirt & there were a few options for the bodice. (I bought this pattern at least 5 yrs ago & never made it until now! It appears it's still available to buy on http://www.simplicity.com/ , but I wouldn't wait too long if its something you'd like to try!)

For the zebra stripe chiffon, she chose view C. It was made to the pattern, with 2 variations.
The front seam was eliminated (not really sure why there was a seam here as there was minimal shaping),  & the back darts were eliminated.
The bodice on this view has a nice twist top overlay, & a sash that is attached under the twist front.
As the chiffon was so transparent, I underlined the bodice pieces with the tricot lining fabric before attaching the twist pieces.

For the cream stretch satin, she chose view A, without the gathered band & without the sash.
I again eliminated the front seam, as I wanted a smooth look, but this time I sewed the back darts.
I also added ties to the halter, & shortened the pattern 2 inches to accomodate the ties.
I understitched the bodice as far as I could on both sides, & made the lining about 1/4" smaller to allow for the stretchiness of the lining & to prevent the lining rolling to the outside.
Unfortunately this was not enough & it kept rolling out on the V-neck, which really ruined the look of the dress.
To fix this, I found some olive green seed beads in my beading supplies, & hand-stitched them around the V-Neck & across the front under-bust seam approx 1/8" away from the edge/seam.
This looked really nice & has done what I was hoping it would.



As she is a similar size to me I have been able to check the fit as I go by trying it on myself.
I'm just waiting for her to come by for her final fitting so I can mark the invisible zipper placements & hems on both dresses, & then they'll be done.
Here are the dresses, pinned on the model, ready for the final fitting.

I'm really happy with how they both turned out, & am now busting to make one (or more!) for myself, now that I've seen how nicely this patern looks on.
I'm not sure which one Amelia will choose to wear for her prom, but they will be great summer party dresses as well...
And what  great excuse to use up some of my stash to make a few of my own!
photo album link if you want to see larger photos.