Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Adding sleeves

There is a wonderful young woman at church named Chloe. Her high school prom was last month, and she had the most beautiful dress. The only problem is that her dress was strapless, and she wanted a bit more coverage, being a modest young lady and all that.
Enter me: Emilee the tailor. Novice tailor, really, having never worked with anything as gorgeous as Chloe's dress. But I had an idea--stemming from this pattern that I had once picked up at a 99-cent sale at JoAnn's. Now, for all you people out there who might ever be associated with someone who wants sleeves added to a strapless gown, run--don't walk, RUN!--and buy this pattern. The modification becomes very simple. (Seriously. If you can run a sewing machine, you could make this work. Just cut out the pieces, line them if you wish--I did--, and pin them on the person wearing the dress to see where they need to be attached. Then sew them on like you'd sew on a button. Or a Boy Scout patch. Easy peasy.) I mean, the pattern dress is basically a strapless dress with a cap-sleeve and back piece added on after the fact. Perfect for our uses. Doesn't she look stunning? And the back. (I loved that this pattern piece covered up the back, too. I hate it when my back is bare and I feel naked. You know?)Now certainly a trained dressmaker could have done a better job, but would a trained dressmaker pose with the lovely lady in her finished gown? Well, maybe. But. . . would a trained dressmaker deliberately look especially frumpy just to make the lovely young lady look even more beautiful? I doubt it. All the fabric for this came from the little scarf that is so often sold with the strapless formal gown. There was even enough left over for this cute little purse.

18 comments:

Sara said...

Fantastic! I'm so glad to see it on Chloe. It is beautiful.

Cynthia said...

That looks great! Definitely not easy peasy, though. You have done such an amazing job self teaching yourself- you are amazing!

mags said...

that back part is so gorgeous! so's the front of course, but whoever notices the back? EVERYONE! will now of course. also who else can make a post about tailoring so entertaining? again, you are so freaking talented.

Story Family said...

Em, you never cease to amaze me. I'm quite sure that project would thoroughly befuddle me. And those darn boy scout badges are the death of me. Maybe someday I'll be able to call them easy-peasy. Wish you were closer and I could just run right over and visit while you attached them for me....

adventure knitter said...

wow! i'm totally impressed!

Irish Cream said...

Yeah, the straps look oh-so-easy, until you look at the BACK! WOW.

And, of course, you didn't stop there, you also made her a matching clutch purse!

Tailor away, my friend, as you have great skills. I am honored to call you friend (and will refer all tailoring to you).

Shelly and Ken said...

You are amazing Emilee! You say easy peasy and I look and think "no way could I make that. Emilee is SOOOO talented."

Emilee said...

Now ladies, I was posting this because I want people to feel empowered. The pattern is one piece. One piece for each side, straps and back together. You could all totally do this.

Denise said...

Emilee, you are amazing! Great work!

brittani c. said...

Easy, huh. We'll see about that. Chloe was probably the prettiest girl at the ball! The purse is a great idea.

Amanda and Chris said...

Great job, Emilee! It looks like the dress was originally made the way it is now! You did a wonderful job!

Bonnie said...

This turned out so great! I love the purse too! great job!

Millie @ The Busy Butlers said...

Nice work, Em! As always, I'm incredibly impressed. The back is especially gorgeous! Great tips! And that purse. THAT PURSE! What pattern did you use for IT??? I am positively in love with it!

Elizabeth Reid said...

Wow.

Em, remember when we were roommates and we would talk about the kinds of moms we wanted to be? I remember you saying something like,

"I want to be the kind of mom who has a big purse and everything she needs in it. Oh, you need a change of clothes? It would be in my purse. An extra sack lunch for a friend? I'd whip it out."

Em, you ARE that super mom!

Holli said...

Gorgeous, Em. You inspire me! (PS One of my friends who blog hops off of my blog thinks you are super talented too.)

Outlandish McCandlish said...

You are too cool. We will be at Potato Creek again this year for our anniversery. Can't wait to hug you.

karen said...

looks fabulous. Wish I would have had the pattern before I launched into Aleesha's dress. Love the water park pix.

Jeff and Larissa said...

I'm so glad you got these pictures! You did a spectacular job and that clutch is so diva! That's a good tip too, to get that pattern.