Saga of the Prom Dress - Chapter One

My first formal project has been a dress for my daughter's junior prom. I've been waiting to sew this project since my daughter was born. Luckily, she chose a very simple design (Simplicity 3826) so I wasn't worried that the dress required sewing skills I didn't have. The only thing left for me to worry about was the fabric she would choose. The recommended fabrics listed were firm fabrics like satin, taffeta, dupioni. I thought the dress would have made up nicely in a dupioni, but that's not what she chose. Instead, she chose crepe-backed satin, but preferred the crepe side over the satin side. (My daughter has very conservative taste for a 17 year old.) Her choice turned out well because the crepe side has little flecks of "shiny" from the satin threads. It will have a subtle sparkle under the right kind of light.

DD's measurement matched the pattern measurements for size 10 almost exactly. I haven't been a fan of making muslins, but I decided I'd better be safe and make one for this important project -- particularly for the top because it required boning and I'd never boned anything before. When DD tried on the muslin top it seemed a little big. But since her measurements matched the pattern measurements so well, I didn't believe my eyes and went ahead a made the top from the fashion fabric. BIG MISTAKE! The top was huge -- just like the muslin! There was no way she could have filled out the cups of that top, even with a padded bra. Fortunately, I bought extra fashion fabric and made another top using a smaller size. Whew! First crisis averted. I never really liked Simplicity patterns and it's been years since I used one of the other Big 4 patterns -- and now I remember why! The fit is horrendous!