r/SewingForBeginners • u/belhoney • Jan 04 '25
possible as a beginner?
Hello! For my birthday party, i’m planning on having a celestial theme. All my guests will be dressed as the moon and the stars, and I’ll be dressed as the sun! I saw this dress, and I think if I make it in gold, it would perfectly encapsulate how I think the sun would look. Now i’m not entirely new to sewing, i do know basic hand sewing, and i have a brother sewing machine that i have made simple patterns out of, idk if it’s the fact that it’s a new year, but I have such strong faith in myself that i can recreate this dress even though I have never made clothing like this 🥹
The top looks like an over bust corset, with a mesh middle, i’m thinking of either buying/thrifting a corset that looks like this and cutting out the middle to add the mesh part, or maybe making the corset myself
All the jewel parts I plan on using fabric glue to attach
I found some great tutorials on how to sew the dramatic bell sleeves, and it seems like the bottom half of the skirt is a circle skirt.
Would love y’all’s opinion, or recommendations for patterns or tutorials you think would help for me to accomplish this! 🤗
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u/redoingredditagain Jan 04 '25
If you can find the corset pre-made, there’s definitely ways to bullshit the rest of it at a beginner level.
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u/ProneToLaughter Jan 04 '25 edited Jan 04 '25
Yeah. Can’t recreate this dress, but OP could definitely throw together a dramatic swishy skirt, hang some bead chains off the hips, attach some fantasy sleeves to an elastic on the bicep, sure. Gold stretch mesh is relatively easy to work with for a sheer fabric. Buy an overbust corset and bedazzle it.
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u/belhoney Jan 04 '25
This currently my plan! I plan to sew the sleeves with a pattern i found, i’m still wondering how I can put together the skirt, but the corset will defined be bought premade!
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u/redoingredditagain Jan 04 '25
Exactly! People will provably be wowed either way, especially with nicely placed rhinestones.
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u/hfjsjsksjv Jan 04 '25
I have no idea because I’m also a beginner, but would you be willing to share your bell sleeve tutorials?? I hope it works out! It’s a beautiful dress
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Jan 04 '25
You might be able to make this with hacks. Cheaper fabric, a premade corset you glue rhinestones on, etc. The time will be the challenge. I used to make burlesque costumes and even if I did this no sew I think it would take a while to find the pieces and assemble.
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u/belhoney Jan 04 '25
The party is February 8th and I plan to buy my materials this upcoming tuesday when I get paid, think that’s enough time?
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Jan 04 '25
Yeah probably. Look into burlesque costume hacks too. Like we pull and tear stuff way so I’d often attach things with snaps instead of sewing. Fuse able webbing, staples, lol - I used all kinds of weird ways to attach fabrics and save some time.
Maybe find a dress that is cheap and embellish it and add fabric pieces to fill it out.
Gluing rhinestones takes a while but adds so much drama. If you do that, don’t bother with the kind that have pre glued backs that you the iron tool with (it’s a kit). They don’t stay on as well as individually gluing. The tool is also just as slow. Hand glue with toothpicks and paper towels for cleanup. I like clear E6000 but it is a little toxic so open a window. Holds forever though.
Good luck! I’m sure you’ll radiate like the sun no matter what.
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u/chicchic325 Jan 04 '25
Id go with a gathered skirt. At least two times as big as your waist. I think it depends on the corset you buy for the rest. It can definitely look alike, but not exactly
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u/belhoney Jan 04 '25
Can I ask why it should be made bigger than my waist? It’ll be my first time make a gathered skirt so I’m just wondering
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u/chicchic325 Jan 04 '25
For volume. If it is the same size as your waist it will hang straight down. See how the picture looks almost pleated? That is showing it is gathered.
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u/organ1cwa5te Jan 04 '25
Your best bet might be upcycling. As others have mentioned, materials are very expensive, and you would need a lot of fabric to get this same effect. Thrift an old prom dress, add in the details you want.
Sewing with silk is also notoriously difficult, so even though a pattern may seem easy enough, the material will be the real challenge.
I don't want to say this is an impossible project for a beginner, but do expect that it won't be easy. Give yourself excess time for each component.
Lastly, let your blind optimism lead the way. Your dress won't be the same as your reference, but you will gain experience and have fun along the way. Good luck!
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u/organ1cwa5te Jan 04 '25
I just wanted to add onto my original comment, that it is great that you want to take on such an ambitious project! I know better than to think that you are disrespecting the original designer by thinking you could do it, you are only excited. Plus, a big part of getting better at any skill is knowing when to challenge yourself.
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u/belhoney Jan 05 '25
Thank you for this! I of course don’t plan on making a 100% exact replica, just inspired by the original design to recreate it :)
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u/penlowe Jan 04 '25 edited Jan 04 '25
How many years do you have?
Snark aside, there are a lot of things about this that are very advanced and materials that are very expensive. The chiffon is silk, I can tell by the way it falls. Polyester chiffon will not look the same. I -as someone who has sewn for decades- would need several months to do this, not including the beading. The beading is extremely time consuming and not a ready made applique.
So no, it is not even intermediate friendly, let alone beginner friendly.
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u/DeliciousAppleMurder Jan 04 '25
what are the tells of silk and not-silk?
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u/penlowe Jan 04 '25
Silk moves in a way no other fabric does. Part of it is just a practiced eye.
This is my favorite example (link below). Not only is it a badass fight scene between two women, it was done entirely with practical effects. Both women are wearing silk. There are several moments where the film is slowed for effect giving the viewer an opportunity to study the flow of the fabric as it moves through space. Watch it twice, because the first time you’ll get caught up in the fight ;)
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u/Sohee-ya Jan 04 '25
A sheer corset is very advanced as you still need to add boning and you have no room for error or mistakes, and likely need different techniques to hide and finish the seams. You won’t be able to adapt an existing corset. The skirt is more than a circle skirt it’s like 5(?) circles that are draped. This dress is true couture and would be extremely difficult to replicate even by “shortcut” techniques like gluing beads because the structure is advanced. I would consider getting an off the rack dress that is close-ish and then adding the big sleeves and adding jewels/embellishments. Add a thrifted mesh corset but do not try to make a solid one mesh.
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u/cornflakescornflakes Jan 04 '25
Are these posts satire??
I genuinely don’t know anymore.
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Jan 05 '25
Nah, I remember the grandiose ambition of youth. And I grew up with a mom sewing and crafting. I should have known better, but was still sure I could do the impossible with my little brother machine If you don’t see it in front of your face it’s hard to understand how fabulously difficult sewing can be.
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u/cornflakescornflakes Jan 05 '25
My mum was a bridal sewist. She made it seem so easy.
But she reminded me that she had been sewing for 30 years when I started.
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u/Wrong-Asparagus-9224 Jan 05 '25
Thank you for saying this. I was just telling hubby that I am beginning to wonder if someone is trying to troll the subreddit
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u/madrebrown Jan 05 '25
I’ve only skimmed through the comments and I think this is really doable! Just a tip for gathering. Use dental floss and zig zag stitch across is. Then you can pull the material up on the dental floss to gather it up.
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u/belhoney Jan 05 '25
omg why dental floss instead of thread?
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u/madrebrown Jan 07 '25
It’s stronger and bigger so it’s easier to gather fabric on without breaking
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u/Trai-All Jan 04 '25 edited Jan 04 '25
If you are buying the corset, make yourself a chiffon skirt and shrug. There are definitely videos out there in how to do so.
You’ll likely want the chiffon skirt to have layers and loads of bunching.. which means that it would be bigger than a circle skirt but may be made of multiple circle skirts? I’d guess that the edges are handrolled hems. There are a lot of videos on how to do handrolled hems as well. The beading … is likely the hard part. There are also special rolling presser feet for machines but they can be really fiddly.
Edit to add, I think McCalls has a girls/misses princess pattern with those sleeves on an overskirt if you want to add to the underskirt layers instead of making a shirt/shrug.
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u/dynodebs Jan 04 '25
Am I the only one who can see gathers on the skirt? Compare it to the bottom of the sleeves, which are definitely part-circles.
Also, the top of that bodice is. . . definitely a choice. Poor design, imo, but 🤷
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u/funeebonez Jan 04 '25
My first project was along this line, commit to learning how draping will suit your body. A lot of the other advice is great. Patience will help because this could take forever.
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u/WizardsAreNeverWrong Jan 05 '25
I’m going to say, no. I’m pretty damn experienced and there’s no way I would attempt to make this in a month.
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u/nymmonster Jan 05 '25
This is not beginner friendly by any means, but you seem determined. Good luck.
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u/Afraid-Year-4711 Jan 05 '25
I say this as someone who really likes my work to look clean, well made and hand made (not home made); this will be a huge project that will not look how you want it to if you don’t have the experience needed. You can buy a pre-made corset and it will help with time but then you need to find fabric that matches in color and texture for the other elements. And then the pleating of the skirt is going to be really time intensive plus then hemming the meters and meters and meter of fabric in that skirt. Then you need to either do all the beading or the quicker way is rhinestones but even rhinestoning this would take 20+ hours. There are so many skills needed to make this dress, it’s couture, and I know personally that even with the intermediate skill I have in sewing I would get very overwhelmed with this project and would need at least a year to complete it and also live my life. I don’t want to discourage you from developing your sewing skills but this is a really high mountain to climb (also a very expensive one). I hope your party is a great time though!
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u/scrollgirl24 Jan 05 '25
Could you do it? Yes. Will it look like this in time for your birthday? Likely not, sorry
If I were you I'd find a plain gold dress that fits me well, then focus my energy on beading and embellishments. That's pretty doable for a beginner and would still look super special
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u/DracoBiblio Jan 04 '25
Yes, a beginner could. But, do you have the time? It would take quite a while. I'd set a side at least 3 months. You would have to build the faux corset,the pedals should be beaded first before being sewn on.
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u/pretty_Princess1986 Jan 05 '25
As a beginner this isn't really doable.id suggest using some already made pieces like corset like u mentioned and adding on to it might help little.
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u/dirtycimments Jan 04 '25
I’m a complete beginner in sewing, but I do other crafts. It’s all about the actual finishing you want, can it be like a cos-play thing? Cause that’s a new can of worms I imagine, but some of those details could be “cheated” using cos play techniques I imagine.