Karly's Dress (No. 1)

Here is Karly in her superbly-fitted prom dress.  It didn't start out that way though.  There were some issues that needed to be addressed in order to have it molded to her figure, and what a figure she has!

These were the alteration issues that needed to be performed:

1. Shortening of her too-long straps.
2. Removing extra fabric in the hip area for a custom fit.
3. Rehemming the too-long dress
4. Creating a bustle to her liking.

When I begin alterations, my approach is typically a top/down philosophy because what is altered on the top may have an effect on what happens at the bottom.  So the first alteration to be performed was the shortening of the straps.

On the back of the dress shown below left, you can see how the straps crisscross at a decorative point at the upper back.  I cut the straps, removed the excess, and stitched together at the edge of the decoration.  This allowed a seamless look since it was so close to the area with the bling.  The eye doesn't see the seam, unless you're about 6" away looking right at the decoration.  It was the perfect spot to do this alteration.  This was another one of those "fudged alterations".  Easy and cost effective. 

Once the straps were perfectly fitted to her body, we moved down to the hip area.  She mentioned it was too full.  With her figure, it is not a problem removing some ease.  Ease is the term used for movement room.  There two different types of ease, but I'm not going to get into that.  The type of ease needed for this dress is going to vary because of body type.  There is a basic rule to follow regarding fitting ease (the amount needed to be able to move in a garment):  firmer bodies need less ease and fleshier bodies need more ease.  Therefore, when Karly wanted a dress that was more fitted in the hip area, it was not a problem.  She is slim and firm, not fleshy.  She would still be able to move and sit, and the dress could be fitted with less ease but still provide a clean line that appeared to mold to the shape of her body.  The ease was removed in the high hip/hipline area at center back seam.  This was not my preference, but the side zip dictated where an easy fix should occur.  Of course, I could have opened up the side seams, removed the zipper on one side, performed the alteration, reinstalled the zip, and restitch the lining and dress at a cost of...$$$.   Yet the question remains:  What is the most cost effective fix that will still provide the fit she desires?  It is one that can be fudged.   The question I always have to ask myself is this, "Can the alteration be fudged and still produce a result that is visually acceptable?"  If so, this is what I recommend.  Remember, these are (usually) not $1,000+ dresses and are more in the $200-$400 range.  In my opinion, costly alterations, generally speaking, are typically not the way to go in this price range.  Once the hipline area was altered to her satisfaction, I moved down to the hemline.

The concern I have with hemlines are shoes and wearer preference.  The girls have to have their prom shoes before hemming a dress and subsequently need to know where they want their hemline to fall.  I present three basic options:  skimming the floor, 1/2" off the floor, and approximately 1" off the floor.  I offer my advice but explain to each girl that it is entirely up to them.  What they want is what I will do.  However, I'm always thinking about safety and comfort.  I've seen some girls purchase beautiful 5" heels with their prom dresses and others wearing flats.  What to do, what to do?!?!  My recommendation is usually to go 1/2" off the floor with anything over 3".  One heel caught in a dress for any reason can literally knock a girl off her feet in the blink of an eye.  If a girl has pretty shoes she wants to show off, maybe 1".  If a girl has flats or something up to 3", floor skimming is fine.

However, it can get tricky.  If a girl has her dress hemmed to a 1/2" above the floor and has 5" (or plus) heels, she's probably not going to wear them when she's on the dance floor.  So...she has some thinking to do.  Once those 5" heels get kicked under the table for partying on the dance floor, her dress suddenly becomes far too long!  It can drag and become uncomfortable with her feet or someone else's feet constantly stepping on the dragging hemline.  So we discuss and try to figure out what she wants to do.  For Karly's dress, she opted for the 1" option.  She had cute shoes that matched the crystals on the dress, and she wanted to show them off.  Her shoes had minimal heel so she could have gone with any option.  Once the shoes were off, the dress skims the floor. 

Once the new hemline was stitched, we moved on to the bustle.  We experimented with different options, and she chose the one she liked best.

End result:  a dress that molded perfectly to her perfect figure, a hemline that was to her liking, and her bustle of choice.  A happy girl with a dreamy figure in a perfectly-fitted dress that would make any girl green with envy!

Note:  This prom dress was purchased off the rack at a prom dress boutique.  For DIYers, a similar style can be whipped up at home using the McCalls 6075 pattern below.  It is currently in catalogs and probably will be available for the next year or two, however, patterns can be discontinued without advance notice.  It looks like a great pattern with different styling options with mix and match pattern pieces.