As promised here is the tutorial on how I sewed
this Jingle Bell Dress.
I dug this 2 piece bridesmaid dress from
Watters and Watters out of my closet. I didn't use the top, just the full a-line skirt which is made of Dupioni silk, it's size small & fully lined.
To make the Jingle Bell Dress, follow
this free pattern & tutorial, the dress features a trapezoid center bodice shape with double breasted button closure.
I cut out the dress pieces according to these diagrams I drew.
The dress pattern is in size 2/3 & I needed size 4/5, so I drafted my own pattern. I did drop the waist down a bit so there was room to add a cumber bund, so do add a couple of inches to the bottom of the bodice.
After sewing the bodice together...
I placed the trapezoid shaped bodice piece on top.
By hand I sewed on 15 tiny silver jingle bells down each of the 2 sides of the trapezoid piece.
I made the Jingle Bell Dress sleeveless & covered the raw edges by sewing on bias tape. I cut 1 inch strips from the leftover fabric...
then used a 1/2 inch bias tape maker & an iron to make the bias tape. Then I sewed the bias tape around the raw edges of the arm holes.
When attaching the skirt to the bodice I put 3 inverted pleats in the front & made it gathered in the back. The gathering method I used was zigzag over cording, but you can use your preferred gathering method.
The same technique was used to make both the head band & cumber bund which is...
Sew right sides together (I used 1/4 inch seam allowance). Turn right side out, I used a smoothie straw & a chopstick as my turning tools.
Press with iron.
Sew on the sequin trim.
The finished head band:
20 inches long & 1.25 inches of .75 inch elastic were used.
The finished cumber bund:
24 inches long & 1.5 inches wide, 1.5 inches of velcro were used.
So how much did this cost to make?
$3.99 !!!
It was $3.99 for 1 1/3 yards of silver sequin trim (there are a few inches leftover), long silver skirt was from my closet (skirt & top (a gift) were bought on consignment for $14 (that's what the price tag read), only the skirt was used for this project, so I still have the top for a future project), 30 tiny silver jingle bells were from my stash as well as the elastic for the head band. Oh, I guess I forgot to add the cost of the 1.5 inches of velcro whatever that small amount would be...
So although this dress might look expensive, it actually didn't cost that much to produce, yeah ! Gotta love that :)
Also one last note, about the hair, to achieve this look we did
sock bun curls.
PS Many thanks to the
Project Run & Play sew along judges who picked my Jingle Bell Dress as the winner for week 1 :)
