A Dress For My Mom

I've been meaning to make this dress for my mom for a while now, but I'm really glad that now is when I did make it because they have something very special coming up, and she will have something special to wear! 

To start at the beginning, my mom bought this pattern and the fabric and trimmings about 3 years ago. She cut out the pattern and started sewing some on the bodice, but then set it aside and never got back to it :o(. 

About a year ago I was over at my parents' house looking for some sewing supplies and mom gave me a bag with her cut-up pattern and said maybe one day I would have time to make it or do something else with all the fabric. She looked so sad! It was a pretty crazy time over there because they were getting ready to go to the Ukraine and adopt 4 siblings to add to our family. There were already 5 kids, my Grandma and my parents, and their house is big enough for them, but trying to make room for 4 more was not easy! All that to say I wanted mom to have her dress. So they've been home for about 8 months now and are going for the final part of the adoption process here next month. You can read their amazing journey HERE. So earlier this week I thought it was time to pull everything out and get started, and when I was about half way done with the dress I called mom to come for a fitting :o). She had no idea what she would need to be fitted for, because she didn't remember giving me the pieces and pattern. I was glad she was so surprised, and very glad now that it's done, and that it fits PERFECTLY!

Maybe I can get her to pose for a few pictures later, but here's what I have now.

    

I'm so happy I got the zipper to look this nice!

I used the special stitch on the machine to do the hem.

Not sure the right name for that stitch but I think it made it look really finished.

I also added some lining so Mom wouldn't have to worry about sharing more than she wanted to with people :o)

I ALWAYS line everything! Maybe it's just me, but I'm always worried that I'll end up standing in a sunny spot where everyone can see right through my dress, and I won't know, and no one will tell me.

So I just line everything as much as possible :o)

Who likes my dress form?

I plan on making a duct tape dress or body form this weekend so I will have something a little more accurate to hang things on while sewing.

But this actually works ok for right now.

Here it is in action. It really did help for pinning the hem to have the dress hanging the way it would on a person, not just laying it flat and trying to get it straight.

I think the dress is all 3 of the variations put together. The sleeves on the left, the trim in the middle and the trim at the bottom on the right.

Glad you like it Mom!