Finished: Celebrity Inspiration Dress

My daughter models our latest mother-daughter collaboration: a dress for a sweet sixteen party.


Inspiration: A dress worn by one of the stars of "Gossip Girl." Pattern: Simplicity Project Runway 2922, the sleeveless version. We omitted the bubble hem of the inspiration dress.

Fabrics: Five different fabrics went in to the making of this dress. Gold metallic brocade for the neckband, 4-ply ivory silk for the dress, ivory silk for the dress lining, gold silk for the neckband lining, and a woven sew-in interfacing to give some body to the neckband. All purchased at Mood Fabrics with the help of Marisa, a very knowledgeable Mood staffer who graciously took the time to "build" this dress for us. She advocated lining the 4-ply silk and I'm so glad she did.

A shot of the dress front and the satin slingback heels DD bought at Macy's after trying on about 50 different pairs. These are actually comfortable to wear and—yippee!—fit me too.

Making the dress: This is an easy pattern and the instructions are good. What took me some time was making a muslin first, and then really working on the fit in the fashion fabric. All that pinning, sewing and trying on paid off because the neckband fits her like a glove. And props to me for installing my first invisible zipper since 1975! I used Els' tutorial and it was a piece of cake.

DD and I both love the back of this dress. Can you believe it's been over thirty years since I put in an invisible zipper?

Changes I made/what I'd do differently: The Simplicity pattern's neckband is more angular, so I softened the arm curve by redrawing the cutting line on the front and the back. I added a dress lining, which the pattern does not call for. As far as what I'd do differently—I'd save time by sewing the neckband's side seams and the dress's side seams together in one long seam. (The pattern instructs you to sew the neckband's seams, sew the dress's seams, then join the two pieces together.)

An interior shot. I hand-sewed the lining to the zipper and to the edge of the neckband where it meets the dress. The seams in the 4-ply silk are pinked (see below) but I used French seams on the silk dress lining.

Marji's tips for sewing 4-ply silk: Thank goodness for Marji, who was so fabulous to pass on these tips to me. BTW, 4-ply silk is like heaven to touch and to work with. My new favorite fabric.

• Seams can be finished by stitching 1/4" from the edge and then pinking the edges (see my photo above). Marji tried Hong Kong seams on a dress she made recently and felt it was "overkill."
• Use a press cloth every time you get near the silk.
• Seam shadow can be a danger with 4-ply, though I admit I did not have a problem with this. Marji slips brown paper beneath the seam allowances when she presses. Pinked seams help blur the edge of the seam.
• Hand-baste your seams with silk thread for fitting, as the holes from machine stitching will show no matter what you do
• If you underline the 4-ply, which you don't always need to do, do not use silk organza which is too stiff. Use crepe de chine.

Conclusion: DD says the dress turned out better than the one worn by the "Gossip Girl" star. She also recognizes that a dress made out of fabrics as high-quality as these would probably retail for $500 or more, and really appreciates that I can knock off dresses for her. Bottom line—Happy, happy DD and mom.