The crazy sequin lockdown dress

I think I have corona-fever. Not the actual corona virus itself - thank goodness for that - but a weird form of cabinesque fever, induced by corona enforced restrictions, curfews and general worries and malaise. Because that is the only reason why I can fathom that my addled brain thought it would be a genius idea to make a crazy sequinned dress in the middle of a frigging global pandemic!

To be sure, opportunities to wear this piece of sequinned goodness are few and far between at this point in history. But who cares - making it cheered me up no end, and since all the fabric was already in my stash it was economical to boot! And when we are all working on reduced incomes, I'll take all the penny saving sewing I can get!

I made this using McCalls 7752 for the bodice, and my trusty old Vogue 8184 for the skirt. I am so happy with how this turned out - the fit on the bodice is perfect, and the straight skirt is perfect for showing off these long sequins! 

The sequinned skirt has a skirt lining underneath it. To sew the sequin fabric, I unpicked any sequins that lay in my seam allowance. Yes, it was a laborious job, but worth it to get nice flat seams, and ensuring the sequins next to the seam lay flat. If the sequins had have been shorter, I may have considered just running over them with my machine, but they are really quite long so I decided to Do Things Properly! The sequinned fabric is from Mood Fabrics - I had a bit of a splurge with my birthday money, and treated myself! I'm so glad I did... these are the most glamorous sequins I have ever seen, and in the perfect shade of green to boot! Long time readers will know how much I love my green. Seriously, there was never any chance of me resisting these!

I finished the dress off with a grosgrain ribbon - it adds a nice touch, and hides the weird gap between the backing tulle of the sequins and the bodice. The bodice was fully interfaced with Whisperweft, and is boned on the sides - I love boning my bodices now! It takes a wee bit more effort, but bodices look sooooo much better with that structure hidden inside. 

So I think this is my new favourite dress... I have plans for a few more in a similar vein!

Project Details:

Pattern: Bodice was McCalls 7752, and skirt was Vogue 8184

Fabric: Emerald green sequins from Mood Fabrics, textured viscose for bodice from Draper's Fabrics

Notions: 35cm invisible zipper, Whisperweft interfacing, boning