DIY Evening Gown For A Very Special Wedding

Hi Guys! Today I’m sharing my DIY evening gown that I made to wear to a very special wedding. Who’s wedding are you asking? Well, it was my Fairy Sew Mami, Mimi G Style and Norris Ford’s wedding. When Mimi asked me if I was attending her wedding, I was like, Uh HELLO!! Of course I’ll be there! It was the perfect excuse for me to fly back to the West Coast and I would get to witness these two amazing people get married! Just as soon as I said yes, I started to think, what will I make to wear?! When the Sewing & DIY Queen invites you to her wedding, of course you HAVE to make your look. I knew all my other sewfriends who were attending would be making their dresses and so my wheels started turning.

Fabric and Construction

Fabric

I purchased this champagne pink pleated charmeuse fabric from Walmart a while ago for…wait for it…..$1 a yard!!!!!! Yes, I purchased what was on the bolt. I think I purchased 8 yards. I had no clue what I would do with it, but I knew I just had to have it. When I started thinking about the dress I wanted to make, I thought this fabric would be perfect for it. I don’t have a link to Walmart, but I did find the same fabric HERE.

Construction

I had an idea in my head of how I wanted my dress to look so I started looking through my patterns to figure out which patterns I would use. I decided to frankenpattern my gown. I used McCall’s 7366 bodice from view A for the bodice portion. I used McCall’s 7683 pattern piece 5 for the skirt. I knew this would garantee that no one else would be wearing the same dress as me. LOL

How I Modified the Bodice

I modified the bodice for M7366 because the original pattern is actually 2 pieces with the middle exposed. This was not the look I was going for so I cut the bodice on the fold. The modifications I made are as follows:

1. I made a size 14 and graded at the waist to the size 16 and left the rest of the pattern as is. (I probably should have removed the center front seam allowance, since I cut it on the fold)
2. For the back bodice, I drew a straight line down the center back and made the same grading adjustments to the back.
3. For the skirt portion, I shortened the pattern using the lines already on the pattern but ultimately ended up cutting a few inches off the bottom because I’m short.
4. For the neck portion, I ended up shortening the ends and adding a fastner on the inside. I used an invisible zipper in the back as well.
5. I technically did not line my dress in the traditional sense. The fabric was kind of thin so I cut my fashion fabric and lining pieces and sewed the two pieces as one.
6. I ended up adding 2 bust darts after I had constructed the dress because it was a little large.

I loved everything about my dress. I thought it was perfect for the occassion. The fabric was very light and breathable and I danced the night away! Unfortunately, I did not get a very good picture of the bride and I, but I did post the one I did have on my Instagram HERE. Mimi looked gorgeous during the private ceremony and out did herself with her reception dress that she made herself. (of course)

Here are a few of the good photos I did capture during the cocktail hour with some new and old friends.

The lady who is pretty in pink is Carmen and she’s my new bestie. Isn’t her dress BAD?!!! Follow her IG @cagreinvented

I’ve been following these two amazing latinas for many years now. On the left is Ada from www.allthingsada.com. Ms. Ada just launched her very own natural haircare line called Botanika Beauty. I mean, who does that? I started following Carolina from following Ada. Ms. Carolina owns a natural hair salon in the Domincan Republic and is opening a second location in NYC. You can find Carolina HERE.

Ahh, all my ladies. I love these women. We were brought together by Mimi many years ago. I met them all at the conferences Mimi use to have in California. These ladies are all amazing in their own right. They are all bloggers and are rocking it in the sewing community. I will list their blogs and IG info below so that you can follow them as well.

Anita Morris https://www.anitabydesign.com/ IG: @anitabydesign

Tiffany Turner https://tipstitched.com/ IG: @tipstitched

Danesha https://www.classyfiedlife.com/ IG: @classyfiedlife

Brittany J Jones https://www.brittanyjjones.com/ IG: @brittanyjjones

So what did you think of my dress? This is my second summer wedding guest dress that I’ve made. If you recall, I also frankenpatterned a dress for my brother-in-law’s wedding last summer. You can check out that dress HERE. Let me know what you think of my dress below!

Until Next time,

Johanna