DIY Black Sparkly Gown

The inspiration behind this DIY black sparkly gown came from the 1.5 yards of the lurex remnant knit itself. I had purchased this discounted fabric end of December last year and waited impatiently all year to get started on this project.

And of course, the 1.5 yards did not stop me from making a full blown gown! So here we go!

I draped the fabric on myself in front of the mirror and came up with the below design: a one shoulder bodice with a gathered shoulder seam, high-waisted low high skirt and a draped detail on the side. It was perfect and I was optimistic I could squeeze this out of the 1.5 yards (spoiler: I was a bit short!)

For the bodice, I traced from my personal basic blocks that we created at Fashion school. The bodice blocks are my true size (blessings!), which we honed over multiple fitting sessions during the semester. I slashed through the shoulder seam to create the gathers and closed off the opposite armhole dart. (This pattern looks a bit messy but I don’t like wasting so I use up scrap papers as much as I can.)

For the back bodice, I planned to do a mirror design of the front bodice without the gathers, but ended up with not enough fabric. So I created a cross band to join that of the front shoulder and sewed it up to a narrow back piece. Not exactly what I originally envisioned for the back, but I was happy to make it work!

As for the skirt, I did not create a pattern. I simply draped the fabric (which wasn’t much) around my waist, marked the side seam on my left with a chalk (only one side seam), and cut around any excess around the slit. I used up most of the fabric at this point but luckily ended up with just enough for the draped detail.

For the draped side fabric, I had to make it work with what I was left with. So I cut the below shape with the top left angled length being the anchor, which was gathered and sewn to the waist. I actually hand sewed it to the skirt right in front of the mirror, with the placement of the gathered section starting at about 0.5″ away from the left side seam towards the back. That way it still hid the side seam but did not fully cover the slit.

Finally, I sewed up the bodice to the skirt and created a channel for an elastic.

Overall, I was very happy how similar to my sketch this gown turned out. There is always this wonderful sense of accomplishment when I see my sketches coming to life. So as a ritual, I created the side-by-side comparison! You can see the rest of my sketch-to-reality photos here. They bless my eyes and I hope they do yours too! Just so fabulous.

Although the back bodice design was not 100% my choice, it has started to grow on me! I am thankful that I was able to pull this gown off using this little fabric (and waste none!). Another important takeaway from this project was my confidence in draping the fabric on myself and trusting the process without making a pattern. This was the first time I had taken such risk while being short on fabric (!) and it wasn’t scary at all. I feel even more bold now to take on the same approach next time (but hopefully I will have a dressform by then!).

I hope you guys enjoyed this midnight sky glamorous gown of mine. I don’t think anyone can ever go wrong with a black sparkly gown and a red lipstick. So if you have been unsure about what to make for the holiday season, l hope to have inspired you!

As always, let me know in the comments what you think of this gown. Would love to hear your thoughts!

Much love,

Ava