Burda Style For people who sew

Description

My lovely sister Alyce asked me earlier this year if i could make her Formal Dress. Here in Australia, once your finish your final year exams you have a big dressy Formal to finish school.
In May we sat down and decided on a dress style- taking cues from Valentino’s Spring/Summer 2011 collection, but with a few changes- incorporating a strapless sweetheart shape and including a corselette.

Alyce’s style is refined and simple- she doesnt like a lot of bling or anything over the top, so we stuck to a dress that was simple and refined.

After making a trial that she was happy with we went to purchase our fabric from Tessuti , who i have always found to be extremely helpful and have a great range. We bought silk georgette and silk satin in a dusty rose and as we couldnt decide on the day we purchased over the phone our tulle in a latte colour.

The corselette was made from a cotton material (actually old sheets- it had a herringbone pattern and was very thick!) with steel boning and hook and eye tape finished with grosgrain ribbon.

The bodice was princess seam with five layers of material- tulle, silk georgette, silk satin, cotton material and silk duponi and plastic boning. The skirt was a half circle skirt made of tulle, silk georgette and silk satin. Unfortunately the silk materials were not wide enough to construct the skirt from two pieces- so these was made into quarters.

The flounces were constructed from tulle with an organza bias binding finish. It took me a bit of time to construct the front flounces because of the curved bodice.

The belt she wore is from Saba and her clutch is from Peep Toe shoes

While the dress took me a long time, as i am really only a beginner sewer, i am really stoked with the outcome. The idea was to have a dress that was simple, elegant and beautiful, just like Alyce, and i think, combined with her accessories, hair and make up, we nailed it. She got lots of compliments off her friends and the parents around.

I think she felt she looked beautiful and special- and on this alone, i am a really happy and proud big sister. I liked the fact that for one of her biggest moments in her life so far, i was able to help and bring her ideas and style to life.

Photos by Flutter and Click Photography

Material Notes

Cotton
Silk Georgette
Silk Satin
Fine Tulle
Silk Duponi
Organza

Difficulty

Intermediate

Categories

Season

Spring, Summer

For

Women

Garment Type

Dress

Style

Evening Wear

Material

Cotton, Organza, Satin, Silk, Tulle