Viva Les May Fleurs

Heather is SEW ecstatic about her new flower girl dress!  She had butterflies in her stomach due to being honored to be a flower girl for the first time.

I snapped this photo inside our hotel room in Las Vegas. She is a flower girl for my cousin who was getting married that early evening.

I sewed Heather's dress using Butterick 4967.

Pattern Description: "Children's/Girl's Dress and Cummberbund:  Lined, sleeveless dress with tier variations and back zipper closing.  A, B:  mid-knee length with ribbon tie.  C:  evening length with contrast cummerbund and flower".  I sewed a view "C' for my daughter's flower girl gown. 

There are 6 tiers (each with a front and back) for view C: one top tier (just below the bodice), 4 middle tiers (the upper middle tier has pieces 9 and 10, the subsequent three  middle tiers have respectfully 12, 13, 14), and the low tier is made from piece number 15.  

Size: Girls' 6-7-8. I sewed an "8" which corresponds to my daughter's usual RTW size. However, I discovered that it fits more like a "10". But this is fine, since I was able to tie her ribbon (also purchased by the spool at JA's trims section) in a way that cinches the back.

Comparable tiered formal dresses

"Satin netting Wedding/Bridesmaid/Prom/Pageant Dress", from jaksflowergirldresses.com, $320

Here's how NOT to wear a tiered dress:

You are not on the right track, "Lady".  Tiers cannot be"worn this way"!

Double vision!

Just before the photo session with the wedding entourage, Heather gave herself one more check at the mirror. I thought this was would be an interesting photo op. 

Material: Baroque Satin from JA's on sale for $3.49/yard.  I used approximately 5 1/3 yards of the 6 yards that I purchased. For view "C" in a size 8, the pattern calls for 3 3/8" (45" width) and 4 3/8" (60"width) of fabric.  The lining requires 2 1/2 yards of fabric. 

Approximate total cost of dress:  $32.00

I used the same fabric to line the bodice and the skirt. 

Here is about 2/3 of a yard of bits and pieces of the baroque satin after I sewed the entire dress.

 Directions:

Although I relied extensively on the illustrations, the directions were sufficient and simple to follow.  I adapted the steps to the type of fabric and number of tiers that I was using. 

.
I reserved seven consecutive evenings to sew Heather's dress.

Evening One:
*Pinning and cutting the fabric (lots of cutting due to number of pieces!)
*Marking the placements of the tiers to the skirt stay

Evening Two:
*Sewing the front and back bodice with the lining,
*Sewing and lining the upper tier

Evening Three
*Sewing and hemming two middle tiers

Evening Four:
*Sewing and hemming the subsequent two middle tiers
*Pinning and sewing the first two layers of middle tiers to the skirt "stay"

Evening Five:
*Pinning and sewing the third layer of the middle tier to the skirt "stay"

Evening Six:
*Attach the skirt stay to the skirt lining along the upper edge
*Attach the upper bodice to the skirt
*Attach the invisible zipper, paying attention to the backs of the upper two tiers so that they don't get "caught" in the zipper.
Evening Seven:
*Attach the lowest middle tier, which ended up being the lowest tier, omitting pattern piece #15 (lowest tier of the skirt)

Challenges:

*Attaching two of the "middle tiers" to the skirt because one of them was a bit wide and the other a bit narrow as I attached each to the corresponding marking that encircled one level of the skirt. I strongly believe this is due to operator error, when I mistook one pattern piece for another which can very easily happen sewing into the wee hours of the morning.

*Hemming each tier

Favorite Features:

* Tiered style

* Although time and labor intensive, the dress is still straightforward to construct.

* Suitable for many occasions.

 

Wedding entourage in front of the hotel entrance at the JW Marriott in Las Vegas (outside the L.V. strip).  

 

Design Modifications/Alterations
* Instead of sewing 6 tiers as pictured on the pretty human model, I sewed 5, omitting the lowest tier.

*I lined the top tier. If I had more fabric, I would have lined all the tiers to eliminate the process  hemming a circular piece of fabric.

*If only hemming each tier was simple as a blink of the eye! After sewing the side seams of each tier (middle) and using a small zig zag stitch to finish the ends of each tier, I turned up, pressed, and pinned down a 3/8" hem, and topstitch very close to the edge. My iron has received quite a workout!

*I did a lot of edge finishing after staystitching the ends of the bodice, upper edges of the skirt and its lining, and the top of each tier due to the fraying nature of the fabric. 

* As mentioned earlier, I most likely mixed up one front for a middle tier with the back for another middle tier (the third and fourth levels of the tiers below the bodice)! I gathered slightly one of the middle tiers to get it to encircle nicely one level of the skirt, before the final pinning and stitching.   I did not have problem with two of the middle tiers.  For one of the other middle tiers whose circumference was smaller than the level to which it was to be attached, I had to slightly pleat somewhere along the skirt. 

* Added two front tucks/pleats at the lower edge of the front bodice.
*I used an invisible zipper for the back.

Return To Sewing, A-Dress Unknown...
I plan to make the two-tiered view "A" sometime very soon. Although view "C" is time and labor intensive, but it is still SEW worth it for making any young lady whom you adore feel like a princess for a day!

Heather on her way to the Waterfall Lagoon where the ceremony was to be held.

A little more conversation after the ceremony

Smileys Cy-r-us