Gold sequin mini dress

Hi everyone! Hope you’re having a lovely holiday break.

If you have been following me for a while, you know gold is my favourite colour/tone! Earlier this season, I made a stunning ruched waist gold gown, which was also so loved on Instagram! If you haven’t seen it yet, you should totally check it out here. Following that make, I wanted to make another gold dress, this time a mini one and in sequin!

Fabric:

I found this beautiful Milly Reflective Gold Paillette Sequins on Beige Stretch Jersey from Mood Fabrics, and purchased it right away. I posted an unboxing video on my Instagram that you can check out. It was so glamorous in person and I was impressed with the quality of the fabric. It reflects light and gleams like no other sequin I have seen. It is also opaque and comfortable from the wrong side so I didn’t have to line it. The one thing that I didn’t expect was the weight of the fabric, as it was quite heavier than I thought. When purchasing, I didn’t pay much attention to the weight but it is listed as 557 GSM on the website. It is completely suitable for short dresses, skirts, blouses or accent pieces. Just not so much for a gown, especially one with a train. Just keep that in mind if you are interested to use a long continuous yardage from it.

Design process:

With a sequin fabric, I knew I had to opt for a simple design with not many pattern pieces. So I designed a simple fitted front dress and a fabulous open back with a grosgrain ribbon detail, inspired by the look below. I also opted for bishop sleeves to showcase the fluid drape of the fabric.

Sewing process:

I used my basic bodice, skirt and sleeve blocks from Fashion school as a starting point. The front of the dress and the back skirt were quite straightforward. For the back bodice, I measured and cut the pieces on a muslin before I finalized the pattern to get the fit right. This type of back design tends to gape a bit if the fit is not snug, so I took my time to get that right. As mentioned earlier, I opted out of lining the dress. Instead, I lined the neckline and back bodice edges with a wide ribbon band as shown below. Looking back, I could have skipped this step and just sew the folded edge, but it may have not looked as crisp.

As for the sleeves, I drew lines parallel to the grainline, then slit and opened them up by about 1.5″-2″. Next, I traced on a new paper to create the bishop sleeve pattern. The cuffs were approximately 3″ long.

Sequin removal from seam allowances:

There was a long process of fabric preparation where I removed the sequins from the seam allowance before sewing the pieces together. This sequin fabric was quite heavy and the sequins are thick and stacked, so it was a necessary step, especially when sewing the gathered cuffs (there was no way any needle could go through all those layers). This step took so much time, however, not all sequin fabrics require this process. Previously, I sewed up a sequin gown (to be shared soon via an announcement!), where the fabric was light and the sequins where laid out flat, not overlapping. So I sewed right through them with no problem. This time around I still ended up with 2-3 broken heavy duty/jean needles from the sequins snuck on the seam allowance.

I’d also like to give a shoutout to my first sequin dress, where the sequins were glued (as opposed to sewn) and I have included all details on how to prep your fabric (using a warm ironing method) here in my post

Sequin sewing tips:

If you haven’t sewn with sequin, here are the main things you should know, based on my experience:

1. Test a small piece of fabric with your sewing machine. You may or may not need to remove sequins from your seam allowances. Some sequin fabrics are quite light and you will be fine sewing through the fabric (see tip #5). Others like mine are dense with overlapping sequins and require the fabric prep for a smooth process. I know there are different opinions on this topic, but it just boils down to what works best for you.

2. For eye safety, wear glasses to protect against the projectiles! That goes for both the sewing process (needle breaking) and the cutting step (sequins flying, especially if you are cutting on the right side). It was not comfortable for me to wear sunglasses but I rather be safe than have any eye incident! 

3. Do not use your good scissors when cutting the fabric and certainly don’t use the serger.

4. Cut your fabric as though it has a nap (i.e., lay all your pattern pieces in the same direction) to ensure all the sequins are travelling in the same direction.

5. Use a thicker universal needle or a leather/Jean needle to pierce through the dense fabric.

6. Pick a simple design for your garment. Most sequin fabrics do not show the details (e.g., pleats, darts, etc), so go for a minimalist design and opt for as few pattern pieces as possible.

7. Be mentally prepared that the overall sewing process is quite messy! As a neat freak, I vacuumed at the end of every sewing session and I am still finding sequins around. 

8. This might be an obvious one, but do not iron the fabric as the heat can damage the sequins. You seldom need to iron a sequin fabric, but if you do, try pressing on the wrong side of the fabric with low heat.

I hope this post was helpful to those of you who have been on the fence about making a sequin dress. In my experience, sewing with sequin is not difficult at all, rather it is time consuming and requires so much of patience. I always say that one really needs to be in a good emotional state in life to tackle a sequin sewing project! It’s tedious but the end results are absolutely worth it. That is exactly the reason that despite all the troubles, I will never stop sewing with this fabric. There is quite nothing glamorous as sequin, in my opinion!

With all that being said, I now have a beautiful New Year ready dress in my wardrobe! Let me know what you think of this sequin fabric, the dress and whether or not you are going to add a sequin garment to your project list!

I’d like to sign off here by thanking you all for your love and support this past year. I feel blessed to be a part of this wonderful sewing community and be inspired by so many of you. Wishing you all a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

Much love,

Ava