OMG I legit just made two dresses in two evenings and a day!
NO! I designed, drafted AND made two dresses in two evenings and a day! To be honest, I didn’t think I’d be able to participate in the challenge because of the time constraints surrounding the project, but here’s to all the non-existent haters who thought I couldn’t do it!
I knew it would be a tight squeeze, especially since I wasn’t with my sewing machine over the Christmas holidays and New Years. I lost so much sewing time and by the time I was reunited with my machine, I only had five days to complete these dresses.
Let the countdown begin.
Monday
On Monday the stress of drafting the pattern for my day dress took its toll and so I refused to do anything that evening and just stayed in bed contemplating the impossibility of making two dresses in so little time.
I’d now lost a day.
Tuesday
Do you guys believe in magic? Because I’m basically a magician now.
I sucked it up and got drafting! I managed to put together the whole day dress, minus the zip and hem. Then I drafted the pattern for the overlay top in ten minutes. WHAT?! Ten minutes?!! Yes, ten minutes and in less than an hour I’d basically finished the top, save for the sleeves. Crazy…
Wednesday
I already had an idea of what my day dress would look like, it had been etched in my brain for a while now and so choosing the right fabric came easy-ish, hence why I’d ordered it weeks beforehand. But the night dress, that one was a mystery. I had no preconceived idea of what it would be like. All I knew was that it would be black.
So, before work, I did some last minute fabric shopping and found some medium weight satin fabric that I really liked, and even though I purchased such a gorgeous fabric, I wasn’t able to find purchase in inspiration’s rocky walls and so I left with no idea of what would become of my fabric.
After work, I did some more work on my day dress, adding sleeves to my overlay top and then I began the draft for my night dress. I needed something quick and simple, with no darts, because darts take forever to sew, so I decided on gathers. That was step one. I didn’t want sleeves. That was step two. It had to look nice. That was step three. So I started making stuff up as the evening progressed.
I documented the drafting process on Instagram and by Wednesday bedtime, I had cut my pattern pieces out of my satin fabric! Yes Doja! Boss!
Thursday
This was when I put my magician skills into use again. I basically finished every little task I had planned for my dresses! Everything!
The top half of my night dress was still very impromptu and I decided to add neck tie strap things, which I cut out with the potential of it being too short, but there was no time! Just go with it! With the bodice complete, it was onto the skirt. But what to do?! I already had a circle skirt pattern that I drafted for my pinafore dress so I modified it for my sister’s waist circumference and just used that! No time! Go with it!
Needless to say, I finished every single bit of my dresses in two evenings and a day! I deserve a reward; someone buy me some brownies.
Friday
Casj chilling writing this blog post 😉
The dresses
My initial plan was to make one dress where pieces could be added or taken off, i.e. skirts, tops, etc, forming a new dress, but then that train of thought was getting too complex and I didn’t have the time to plan for and execute it.
I still didn’t want my two dresses to be disjointed. They needed to be coherent with each other to a degree and so I decided on two dresses with an interchangeable top and my goodness gracious me does it look amazing! My favourite combination is the night dress paired with the overlay top.
The overlay top
The overlay top had to work with both dresses and I knew using the same fabric as my day dress would be a good move. I adopted a backwards jacket style that was free to hang open, with minimal fastening constraints.
The addition of the overlay top to both dresses just took them to another level. It adds this sophistication that I wasn’t expecting and, dare I say it, without the overlay, the dresses wouldn’t look HALF as nice as they do!
The day dress
I wouldn’t say the day dress is my most favoured dress of the project but the fabric is definitely my most favourite fabric ever! I’m just going to dedicate a whole paragraph to the fabric because it’s basically the best. When it came to deciding the fabric, I wanted something that had a black base, so it could be paired effortlessly with the night dress, but also looked expensive. Sparkly and jacquard – that’s what I had in my mind and only God knows how long I searched before I found this! It’s so perfect! Exactly what I needed! The print, the texture and even the weight of it, so so perfect!
The style had to be very day-dress-esque and so a simple shift dress would do. The pattern wasn’t as inconceivable to draft as it had felt on Monday evening and the finished product is amazing, especially with the overlay top. The combination is very 2017 – young and modern, which is great because I was sewing it for my 14 year old sister.
The night dress
For something that I basically made up on the go, I really like it. On its own, it looks lovely, but paired with the overlay top, it basically looks so [insert 100 heart eyes emojis here].
Had I had the time, I would have gone for a more rigid fabric, gathered into a poofy, princess line dress. But oh well!
Pictures!
As usual, I’d love to know what you think! Which dress combination is your favourite? Feel free to leave your comments down below!
The Day and Night Dress Challenge
I love taking part in these community projects, I definitely wouldn’t advise last minute, supersonic sewing but I’m grateful either way for taking part. Thanks so much to Elizabeth for inviting me to participate!
The challenge started last Sunday and this whole week other amazing bloggers have been steadily revealing their own dresses, the schedule is as follows:
Follow DAY AND NIGHT DRESS CHALLENGE BLOG TOUR SCHEDULE:
Sunday, Jan 8th: Elizabeth of Elizabeth Made This, Brittany of Brittany J Jones
Monday, Jan 9th: Maria of How Good is That?, Tonya of Sew So Petite
Tuesday, Jan 10th: Je’Tua of Robertswife, Meg of Cookin’ and Craftin’, Melanie of Its Melanie Darling
Wednesday, Jan 11th: Linda of Elle Gee Makes, Tee of Maggie Elaine
Thursday, Jan 12th: Bianca of Thanks I Made Them, Daniela of On the Cutting Floor
Friday, Jan 13th: Melissa of Mahlicadesigns, Rachel of Sew Redy, Renata of Runnningnstyle, Sonja of Sewing ala Carte
Saturday, Jan 14th: Doja of Elewa blog, Judith of Judith Dee’s World, Tanya of Mrs. Hughes
Don’t forget to enter your day and night looks into the community challenge for a chance to win prizes from these wonderful sponsors:
You can enter your projects here. Only projects that are entered through the linkup will be eligible for voting.
The linkup is available from Sunday, January 8th until Saturday, January 28th.
Voting will be available on the entry page from January 29th-February 4th. After all of the sponsors have been notified, the winners will be announced.
Awesome work on designing both dresses!
Thanks Judith! I think we should both give ourselves a pat on the back for successfully completing the challenge 🙂
Not only are you a magician, you are a GENIUS! I am so impressed with your drafting and these dresses are killer! AND adding a mix-and-match element? You are a sewing goddess!
Well, I don’t like to boast but… Haha! I think I’m just a very fortunate person. I do stuff and it somehow works 🙂
Needless to say, I’m never sewing to an impending deadline again! Thanks for visiting too! I appreciate it!!
I second that 😊
Congratulations on your engagement!! And amazing job on these two dresses! I can’t believe how fast you created them and that they’re self-drafted… you’re so talented!
Thanks so much! I think adrenaline must have contributed to these dresses in some way!
Well done! I love both dress. Your skills and focus as a designer shows. I look forward to your future projects.
Thanks so much Renata! I really appreciate your comment 🙂
Congratulations again, and you are a magician, nay a superhero. In fact, I think that should be your next draft–a cosplay of your superhero self. You had such a cool concept, and I’m so glad you could realize it even if it morphed shape along the way. Everything just fell into place so beautifully. The little overlay makes this whole project, and you picked about the prettiest fabric ever. You definitely have the eye of a designer! Thanks for all of your hard work! I’m so glad you could be a part of this challenge!
I was literally just discussing with my fiance how I should go into cosplay! But my superhero self would be amazing! It’ll give me a good excuse to work with spandex and mess things up again, or rather, try out all those handy tips you gave me!
I really surprised myself, on that Monday evening I was so close to emailing you that I just couldn’t do it, but then I remembered my face on your little collage of participants and you’d already included me in the schedule, I didn’t want to disappoint. I’m really glad I pulled through! The quality of that black dress is pretty questionable but oh well! I did it and that’s what counts I guess!!
I’m glad that you made it too!
Amazing skills Doja! I love the easiness of both designs. Very well done 🙂
Thank you! And right back at you!
Beautiful and unique makes. Drafting and making them on such short notice is amazing. Bringing the fabric of the day dress was very clever and makes your entry for this challenge one of a kind.
Thanks so much! One of a kind is what I’m always aiming for 🙂 I’m happy to know I actually achieved it!!
I love both dresses! Your design concept and the final dresses are so inspiration. That day dress fabric is gorgeous…where’d you find it? I love the overlay jacket and the fit and flare shape of that night dress. And you did it all in such a short amount of time. Well done!
Thanks so much Linda! I found the fabric at a UK store called the textile centre, they have some nice stuff there. I think we both deserve a reward for a challenge well done 🙂
Such talent! And that floral fabric is divine! Your sister looks so beautiful in them, too. It’s hard to choose which look is my favorite as I love them both.
Haha thanks on her behalf! I’m still yet to tell her about all the complements shes gotten but she did do a good job modelling for me! Thanks Tanya!
Beautiful! I love both dresses. You are very talented and to think you completed both within the deadline. Now you can exhale. Job well done.
Haha I did more than exhale. I sat down with a glass of whiskey and chilled. Thanks so much 🙂