Pink Graduation Dress

Since I’m a big fan of planning ahead, especially when it allows me to procrastinate on projects in life due sooner, I have begun work on my dress for graduation.

See, I’m thinking about doing Me Made May, but I’m also graduating from college in May. So what am I to do but make a dress to wear?

I’ve attended graduation at my college once before, and it was quite warm. Like almost uncomfortable warm.

So it was time to make a nice warm weather dress.

This fabric is special, though.

My mother, when she was a teenager, made her own clothes, but stopped later, as she had continual fights with her sewing machine. But she kept all of her fabric.

Including this lovely polyester georgette pink beauty! So when I raided her stash last year, we both agreed that it would make a lovely sundress.

So in following that, I decided it would make the perfect dress for graduation! A bit of old before I venture on to something new!

I redrafted my strapless bodice, which somehow was still too big when I tried it on! I took in the bodice as I went, leaving plenty in the back for attaching the zipper.

When I had been planning to make a ballroom dress, I had already cut the fabric into two parts, a bodice part, and a skirt part. I made the waistband and attached it to the bodice, then pleated  the skirt to the under waistband, then I took the needle to the over waistband.

I put in the zipper by hand, which was an adventure… I didn’t want to cut into the dress fabric, in case I went too far, so I ended up folding over the triangle of fabric.

Then a month went by.

I tacked this extra fabric down, tacked the neckline down instead of figuring out a facing (since I’ve never made a facing), and then doing my version of a rolled hem. I’m not sure if it is the right way to do a rolled hem, but it worked for me.

It turned out better than I had hoped! Having that much fabric in the skirt gives it automatic volume! No petticoat or alternate puffyness needed.

I love the silhouette of this dress, nipped in at the waist and puffy, but still knee length, which is snazzy.

I already picked my shoes out,  so I finally have an excuse to wear them! I got them abroad and they’ll be perfect for this!

I am all ready for May, then! Maybe can we just skip forward a month? Just until midterms craziness ends?