Communion dress………would you make it?!

Well you may remember back in our January Blog, I mentioned that I might decide to make Alannah’s communion dress instead of searching high and low for a petite dress!   Well yes, you guessed it, we decided to make The Dress!!

The start of a new year and the pressure was on!  Sure you must make clothes all the time, I hear you say!  Eh, no, not at all!  I have made a few little dresses for Alannah and one maxi dress for myself, however, other than that I’ve been kept quite busy with Bag-making… Thank you all kindly! 😉

So we decided on a style of dress and it was time to just jump right into dressmaker mode and make it! !  Well ….you got to start somewhere right! 😉

While researching for communion dress ideas and patterns, (you’ll see my communion Pinterest board here!!)  I couldn’t help but notice the lack of patterns and blogs on girls party dresses, flower girl dresses or communion dresses.  It was impossible to find a dress pattern anywhere. With very little to go with online, it was time to call in the family…. My grandmother (dressmaker), her sister (pattern maker), along with my aunt (dressmaker)!!!   Well I needed some guidance and encouragement along the way!  🙂

We drew up a pattern using one of my cousins communion dresses as a guide, making sizing adjustments as necessary.  Once we had the pattern, I made up a toile to ensure that the pattern would sew up well and was the correct size for our Alannah!

So it was time to get started on the Dress!  We went for a very simple design as Alannah is very petite and didn’t want too much fuss. We choose a beautiful beaded lace from Hickeys and themed it with a crisp white satin. The initial plan was to go with a small hoop under the skirt but Alannah preferred a simple tulle layering under the dress with no hoop.

The dress had a full length zip at the back.  I made satin covered buttons and added them along the zip line. I did manage to find this great blog on tips for sewing on buttons even from Sew for Dough!  We completed the back of the dress with a satin bow with tails (however we only managed to get 1 photo of the back of the dress! )

Using the left over lace, I took the beading off the lace to use on the bow and tails.  I also used the same beads to hand sew along the edging of the bolero.  I had a small piece of the lace scallop over and I used this to make the front of Alannah’s communion bag so that it matched the front of her dress perfectly.

I am delighted with the first attempt at making an occasion dress.  Alannah was thrilled that her dress was specially made for her.  I would love to have shared some more blogs, patterns and tips on communion dress making, however it seems to be a very well kept secret ;).  If you are thinking of making a dress for your little girl, I would suggest going out to the shops first, try on lots of different styles before deciding.  Know that the style you have in mind will suit and then design your dress using that knowledge.  We changed our design a number of times before deciding on the final shape.

Do not panic, if you’ve made any kind of dress before, you can do this!  Always remember……

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