Black Stretch lace and Red pepper knit Prom Gown--- McCall's 7047

Yayyyyyy.....this gown completed my Prom season work! I had this gown to construct and a bunch of gowns to alter. It was a busy season! This was a pretty neat dress to make. Ms. K is a lovely HS Senior and LOVED this dress! She described it as "being everything"!  As always I'm happy to please! It's all about giving my clients what they want:)

Design wise it wasn't anything complicated to construct (I used McCall's pattern 7047 ) and it served as the perfect palette for the gorgeous black lace I overlayed on top of the red pepper colored performance knit! That's right the red knit was actually a PERFORMANCE knit (like the kind you wear when you go running that wicks away sweat LOL) instead of a typical spandex. For the record this is the 2nd time I've used a performance knit in a way in which it's technically not intended. You may recall this dress HERE. I had some hesitations about using the performance knit since it didn't rebound as well as a power stretch spandex. It tended to "curl" a little when stretched. To be quite honest I was a bit nervous about this. But I followed my gut and went with it and it turned out well!

The only other challenge (not really a big one) was the pattern was made for only a 2 way stretch knit while my fabric duo were 4 way stretch fabrics. Of course I altered the pattern and too it in so I could take advantage of the negative ease. I also changed the size of the back opening from the original design by making it deeper and wider. I cut out the pieces for the lace and red knit separately (didn't overlay lace and knit together and cut out as one) and then I went back to overlay the pieces and basted them together keeping them flat. After basting them together I went ahead and sewed the gown together. To prevent any weird stretching from happening in the back I ended up running a channel of 1/2" elastic over each shoulder and on the curve sides and used clear elastic to stabilize the lower curve bottom. Originally I just used clear elastic around the entire opening and that wasn't enough to prevent gaping. As a precaution and to ensure perfection, I had my client use "Hollywood tape" around the opening to make sure her dress didn't shift in anyway in the back.

(black stretch lace over the red knit. Such a great contrast. The red knit was just bright enough that the black overlay didn't mute it down too much)

The only other change I made to the pattern is I widened and lengthened the train. The original inspiration pic my client gave me (not pictured) featured a train with slightly more flare and that would've been difficult to achieve in this gown without adding a center back seam to it. I didn't want to disturb the lace pattern by doing that or adding godets. Without the added flare the train turned out great and because she planned to dance the night away it was the perfect length.

Well I think that about covers all the gown details. Here's pics given to me of my lovely client wearing it. I loved the fact that she picked a style that was age appropriate and not too revealing!!! Half the prom gowns out there nowadays looks just like lingerie! LOL!

 Super glad I made it through another Prom season! Looking forward to next year's :)