I was recently invited to a masquerade birthday party and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to make a sequin dress! Sequin fabric is so beautiful and it comes in so many options now. You can get it large and small and even comes in reversible colors. So, off I went to the fabric store to pick my fabric.
After looking at all of my fabric options, I decided on this beautiful blue sequin fabric I found at my local fabric store. They are not online, but JOANN has a similar fabric HERE.
I needed to make something cute and fast since I only had a few hours before the party. Why am I like that? lol I decided to go with the Crew bodycon dress by www.studiocalicot.com. I made this dress a while ago when I did the pattern test for this dress here. It’s so easy to put together and has a great fit without any adjustments. Definitely a great go to pattern.
Modifications
Ok, I’ve got a confession to make. I cut the fabric wrong and ended up not having enough fabric. The front and back of the dress is supposed to be cut on the fold, which I did, but I cut one and then the next right below it. I should have placed one salvage edge in the middle and had the other salvage edge meet it and then cut on the fold. See the image below. Had I cut it the way shown, I would have had enough length. Long story short, the dress came out too short for my liking and would have been pulling it down all night long. What was I going to do? I only had an hour to get ready at this point.
I decided that I was going to add a ruffle to the hem! I had just enough fabric left to get this done. I belong to Mimi G’s Sew It Academy and remembered she has a class on drafting a bodice and adding a peplum to it. I quickly went to watch it and I was just as quickly able to make the ruffle for the bottom of my dress! So all I did was measure the hemline of the dress and multiply that number by 1.5 and the width of the rectangle was 8 inches. I cut 2 on the fold. Sewed both and that the ends and gathered to the measurement of the hem line and attached it. That’s it! I didn’t have to hem it because I used the salvage edge of the fabric. It had a pretty scalloped boarder I was able to use to my advantage.
The only other modification I made to this dress was to use a White & Silver Ribbed Striped Trim from Hobby Lobby. Y’all gonna get real sick of me and this amazing ribbed trim because I want to put it on everything! It’s just so cool and Hobby Lobby has a great selection. I seriously want it in all the colors! n case you missed it, I recently used it in THIS make.
Tips for Sewing with Sequin Fabric
Alright, having worked with sequin fabric before, I have a few tips for you. I made this Uh-Mazing sequin skirt a while ago and you can read about it HERE.
- OK, first, be ready to have a lot of clean up. This stuff goes everywhere!
- Don’t use your good fabric scissors to cut your fabric. The sequins will eat it right up and make your fabric scissors dull.
- Use a thick needle and be prepared to maybe break 1 or 10. JK, maybe not 10. I used a leather needle and sewed a little slower and I was just fine and no needles were broken in the making of this dress.
Ok, now go out there and make all the sequin things!
Until next time,
Johanna
Great tips and a fabulous dress! You look amazing. I hope you had a great time.
Thanks Kris! The party was so good. Thanks for reading my post!
Love the details & construction tips.. i think BLUE if your Fall & Winter color. Your look FABULOUS
Thank you so much! I love the color blue. It’s my fav.
I just love seeing what you’re doing! Love your fabric and color choices. But most of all I really like the way you explain things; like use a leather needle and don’t use your good scissors.
Thank you!