The Beautiful Monstrosity

oh god help me. i think i accidentally started a tradition of making my dress for NYE every year. Remember this dress from last year? well i wasnt going to make a dress this year cause i couldnt find any inspiration like i did with that one. Then...one day...i was walking through a walmart, that miraculously still has a fabric section, and i saw some fabric. and i said to myself "that is the GAUDIEST crap i have EVER laid eyes on....i have to have it!" thus was the inspiration for my new years dress born.

"ok" i said to myself "gold foil polk-a-dots on a sheer fine netting. well clearly i must line this with something but what?....well gold on black disco dots of course!! duh. now what pattern to use with this oh so subtle and refined combination of materials?...well heres a nice pattern, balooney in nature, with tucks, and gathers galore. yes please ill have that." the pic below is of the fabrics. i was going to make an awesome fascinator out of that glitter flower and some netting on a headband but i ran out of time. its ok though. i think it MIGHT have been too much even for me. hahaha

i used McCalls Pattern 6347 (view B on the right) which was for use with a stretch fabric. on the back of a pattern meant for stretchy fabrics there is a little guide that you use to see if the fabric is stretchy ENOUGH for the pattern. these met the requirements so i can only assume the few small issues i had with the fit of the pattern were due to the fact that i doubled up the fabric. maybe it made it less stretchy? i dont know. all i know is i hit a few snags and dealt with them but i DO think if i made this in a t shirt material it would have worked up even better. ill DEFINITELY be using this pattern again in the future. but ill be making the small. this time i made the extra small. and it fit but i think the drape would have been better on me in the small.

First issue was buying the fabric. it only had yardage requirements for 60" wide fabric. well anyone who sews knows that most fashion fabrics only come in 45" wide. so thats kinda rude of them. anyhow i guessed at the yardage and 3.5 yards (of each fabric cause i was layering them) was indeed barely enough. it called for 2.5. i had to lay it out differently for cutting too. i really wish id have taken a pic of that part of the process for my own future reference but i was under the gun. i of course waited till a few days before NYE to start sewing. The back (which was supposed to look like the blue dress below) was the second issue. the yoke fit fine but its like there wasnt enough fabric to gather into the yoke. which is why i made the assessment that maybe i needed the small after all. essentially it was pulling really strangely across the top back so in a heat of fury....i mean GENIUS...i decided to make it a halter top. i changed nothing save for lopping off the top back (at about the part it was pulling funny. a bit above that for seam allowance) and adding extensions to the front yolk shoulder area for ties. the back i folded over and added a piece of 1/4 inch elastic in to the casing so it wouldnt slump down.

You can also see how long this dress is supposed to be in the blue dress picture. yep i took about 6 inches off the bottom of this pattern cause thats how i like my new years dresses. short! the pic below is one i put on facebook i think while i was making it but you can see my knees so you can tell how really short it is, but with tights on it looks just short enough! The third problem was the side poufs (for lack of a better descriptor) the instructions in the pattern are written incorrectly i believe. it tells you to sew the pouf corners right sides together and then turn it. but this is physically impossible. and that portion is going into the seam anyhow so i sewed them wrong sides together plus it cut down on bulk. this isnt going to make any sense to anyone not currently working through this portion of the pattern but i figured it was worth mentioning just in case it helped anyone.

Tales of the dress. i started calling it The Beautiful Monstrosity because it was gaudy as hell and gorgeous all at the same time. i am in love with the way these fabrics looked together i have to tell you. i was running into snags in construction and my sewing friends were like "hows it coming?" and i i was like "its a freakin mess but im not going to loose hope. its going to be beautiful! at the very least it will be sparkly and that will be enough."

also for new years dresses i have coined a phrase (which solidly places making my NYE dress every year in the tradition category) "if you dont question whether its a shirt or a dress its not short enough for new years." id said it a time or two jokingly but when i went to the liquor store to pick up booze for the night The Beautiful Monstrosity was on a hanger in the back of my car and the nice guy at the store offered to help me to my car with my box o booze. when he was done loading the box in he pointed at TBM and said "pretty. is that your shirt for tonight." i just laughed and said "yes sir. it IS for tonight but THAT is a dress." at which point he said... 0.0 ... "oh. well you have fun tonight."

If you care to see all my silly photos from new years this year you sure can. they are over here on my flicker.