Prom Dress Diary 2: Buying Materials

As my last 'Prom Dress Diary' post says, I am going to make my dress for prom in June and these are my updates on making it. So, now I have bought most of my fabric and materials to make it so I should be able to start soon!
As I said before, I haven't drawn a definite final design but I now have one which is mostly what I want it to look like but I'm still not too sure of the length. Also, the real thing will have beads and fabric flowers on it but this picture is of my main design.

Because I'm not following any dress patterns, I didn't know exaclty how much fabric to buy so a lot of it was estimating. I think I have bought a bit too much but it's okay because I need some extra fabric to make the fabric flowers from and its always good to have some leftovers just in case I change my design along the way or make any mistakes. And I'll always use the leftover fabric for something else later on anyway!

So this is the fabric that I've bought...

4 yards of emrbroidered tulle ~ £14.34
I got this as a decorative extra to add to my dress, not too sure where I want to put it (maybe around the hem) but I got it cos its pwetty :)
This hasn't actually come in the post yet, but it should do soon!

 Boohoo Crop Top ~ £8.99 (incl. P&P)

 I ordered one of these high neck crop tops from Boohoo.com because this is the shape I want for the top part of my dress and I couldn't find a good pattern, so I got this top to disassemble it and use it as a pattern. I'll probably put it back together and keep it to wear afterwards!

(Boohoo.com Victoria Roll Neck Crop Top)

3 metres Glitter Tulle Netting ~ £10.32
The photo doesn't really show it, but its pale pink netting with sliver glitter all over it and its AMAZEBALLS. This fabric is for the skirt to go over the top to add body to the skirt and just look pretty really. When I ordered it the website called it "bubblegum pink" which made me think it would be a bit too dark but when it came it was really pale pink and just beyond perf! :)

2m pink lace ~ £5.90
This is for the back of the top, so it will just be lace across my back. The lace looks kind of a more intense pink than my other fabric but actually when there is just one layer of it, it is quite light. The lace is a flower print knit which ties in with the fabric flowers I will have on the dress for decoration.

3 metres 100% cotton ~ £12.00

This will make the front of the top and the main skirt under the glitter netting. It is quite pink but in reality its a bit lighter than the picture.

2 metres Plain Pink Tulle Netting ~ £2.60

Not sure if I'll use this or not yet, but I got it in case I need it to add some shape to the skirt underneath the cotton, so it's basically just plain pink netting.

 

Hook and Eyes ~ £0.00 (I already had them)

1 metre Medium Weight  Fusible Interfacing ~ £1.79

5 metres Pink Double Satin 19mm Ribbon ~ 3.28

The hook and eyes are for the top half of my dress, I might put them all along it, depending on how tight and hard to get into it is. But I will definitley have to put one at the back of the high neckline so I can get that on

 properly. Interfacing is used to fabric stiffer. I got some iron on interfacing because I think the cotton will be too flimsy on the top; especially around the neck so I will use this to stiffen it. The ribbon is mainly to make my corsage but I may use it as decoration in other areas.

I will make decorative fabric flowers out of all of the leftover fabrics.

This should be most of the stuff I need, but I also have to get some pink thread and maybe a few more beads. So the total cost for all of this was £59.22 add that total to my total from my last post and the cost so far is....£67.21! As I only have a couple more small things to get, this should be very close to my final cost total to make the dress, unless I find later on that I have to buy something else. The average cost of a prom dress is £244, so making it should end up a lot cheaper, the cost is probably all in the labour. Well, I can start making now! Let's just hope it goes well...

Prom Dress Diary 1: Planning

So prom is on 28th June and most people (well....girls) seem to be buying their dresses now, and for a long time I have been thinking about making my own dress but because of all the exams I have at the moment I have considered that i might not have enough spare time. But to be honest I spend most of my time sitting around, watching TV, on twitter and eating Milky Bars anyway so this can't hurt! I decided to stop moaning about it and just make my prom dress....or attempt to anyway! Im gunna go for it!

I have had a design for a dress for a very long time but lately my ideas keep changing. Although I considered a dark blue like navy or midnight blue, one thing that has generally been consistant is that my dress would be pale pink. So I dont have a definite design but I have a few different ones which I will probably combine as I go along to make it. As my year 7 design & technology teacher always said "if you fail to plan then you plan to fail" and I always though "screw that!" I have a general idea in my head of what the dress will look like, and these pictures show you a few general sketches I have done of some ideas but I know I will end up changing it as I go along, so we may as well all just wait and see how it turns out when its done! And lets hope its pretty decent or else I will have to try and buy a dress last minute....that or go to prom naked....awkward!

Louise gave me this idea and I thought it sounded pretty snazzy, so as I make it I will post my 'Prom Dress Diary' to update where I am and how I've done it....and whether or not I have had a mental breakdown yet!

At the moment I have only just started, which means that I sort of have a design! And today I bought some paper flowers in pink and white from a craft shop [total of £2], which I will probably use to make a wrist corsage along with some fabric flowers I will make later on. I also bought some Dylon fabric dye in 07-powder-pink [for £5.99] which you can use as a permanent pigment to colour clothes in your washing machine at home. I got this just in case i needed it. Right now I also have some beads because I searched through my room as I knew I had some beads somewhere and found these three tubes from ages ago, which just happened to be the perfect colours!

For now, the current total cost is £7.99! Im pretty sure that making my own dress will work out cheaper than buying one and as I go along I'll work out the cost to find out if I am right! But at the moment I reckon for anyone who can or wants to, making your own prom dress will be worthwhile for cost as well as individuality!

Hopefully my dress will end up alright and at least wearable! This should be an interesting 3-ish months!

~Erin~