{"id":3329,"date":"2023-05-22T11:54:44","date_gmt":"2023-05-22T15:54:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/?p=3329"},"modified":"2023-05-22T11:54:45","modified_gmt":"2023-05-22T15:54:45","slug":"making-your-own-prom-dress-is-it-worth-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/making-your-own-prom-dress-is-it-worth-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Making Your Own Prom Dress: Is It Worth It?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Riley Gonzales, News Editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re ever planning on making your own prom dress, here\u2019s an important tip: Make sure you buy the correct fabric before<\/em> you begin sewing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It seems pretty obvious, but you want to go into the project prepared, having done the correct research and acquired the correct materials. As an amateur seamstress with only a few years of experience with a sewing machine, I dove headfirst into the process of making my own prom dress without considering all of the variables. After a few late nights spent sewing and agonizing over why I couldn\u2019t make my skirt look right<\/em>, I did some digging online and discovered my downfall: the fabric I had used was too stiff for what I was trying to accomplish. Nevertheless, despite the attempt failing, I think my experience is worth sharing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How does one go about making their own prom dress?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, luckily it doesn\u2019t require any fancy materials or extensive prior knowledge. A sewing machine, fabric, a pair of scissors, pins, some thread, and the right preparation are all you need. I recommend finding a tutorial to follow or a pattern to trace online, but if you have your own unique vision, no worries. I couldn\u2019t find a particular pattern that fit what I had in mind for my dress, so I decided to drape it myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t own a dress form (which is essentially a mannequin used for pinning cloth), but it\u2019s easy to work around if you don\u2019t have one. Rather than pinning it to a mannequin, I formed the dress to my own clothing while I was wearing it, creating the shape I wanted while adhering to my measurements more specifically than a dress form or a pattern would have been able to achieve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I began with the skirt, which I made with two layers\u2014a sheer layer of tulle on top and a solid layer underneath\u2014but I quickly found myself frustrated with how the folds of the fabric were falling. I was trying to create something whimsical that would sway when I moved. Instead, I ended up with a bell shape that hung limp and stayed in one place. Adding in the proper hems improved upon the issue, but I still wasn\u2019t entirely satisfied. So, I set the skirt aside for the time being and began work on the top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wanted to create a halter top that was draped in a similar fashion to the skirt using more tulle. After trying the look with only one layer of fabric, I found it was a bit too see-through, but adding a second layer gave it the right amount of opacity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally feeling satisfied with the top of the dress, I returned to the skirt with less than a week remaining before prom. I spent a lot of that time staring blankly at it before finally turning to the Internet, where I discovered through various Youtube videos that I was supposed to use chiffon, a fabric more lightweight than tulle. With the current fabric, the dress was unfixable. I\u2019d have to completely restart with new materials. There was not enough time left before prom nor enough money left in my bank account to accomplish this, and so, I sadly had to abandon my project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, it isn\u2019t impossible to make a prom dress. As long as you thoroughly research your ideas in advance, you can come to a beautiful result. Senior Grace Huang endeavored to make her own dress, and found immense success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like me, Grace had limited experience with sewing before she started on her dress, commenting that, \u201cthe biggest thing I made in the past was a skirt.\u201d She found her inspiration online, explaining, \u201cI saw this video on making a pattern online and sewing it and I was like, \u2018cool, I want to do this, this looks manageable.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grace goes into detail about how she stitched the dress together, using a blue charmeuse fabric, a sewing machine, and hand sewing needles, \u201cFirst I had to print out the pattern, cut out the pattern, and cut out the fabric and then stitch together the fabric, add in the darts, basically start hemming it and finishing off the details.\u201d Grace ended up with a simple yet elegant dress that she happily wore to prom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the experience, Grace reflects, \u201cI know there are imperfections in the dress, a lot of them, but you know what? I\u2019m glad I decided to try.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sewing a dress for the first time is certainly a learning experience, and there is only room to grow for Grace, myself, and anyone else who is just beginning. Though my own attempt at a dress was unsuccessful, it\u2019s only motivated me more to continue sewing and improve this skill. If you have ever had an interest in making clothing, don\u2019t be afraid to start the process, because the work is rewarding and a good end result is achievable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Riley Gonzales, News Editor If you\u2019re ever planning on making your own prom dress, here\u2019s an important tip: Make sure you buy the correct fabric before you begin sewing. It seems pretty obvious, but you want to go into the project prepared, having done the correct research and acquired the correct materials. As an…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":3330,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[305,672,673,618,286,282,427,269,211,285,671],"class_list":["post-3329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-dance","tag-diy","tag-diy-prom-dress","tag-dress","tag-journalism","tag-opinion","tag-prom","tag-rhhs","tag-river-hill","tag-river-hill-high-school","tag-sew"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/unnamed-23.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3329"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3329\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3331,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3329\/revisions\/3331"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}