I have never made anything super fancy before, but my brother got married a few weeks ago and Lucy wanted a really sparkly and twirly dress to wear to his wedding! I had so much fun creating this for Lucy and she LOVES it! She had so much fun twirling around at the wedding!
I used the Geranium Dress Pattern and the Geranium XP (the lengthened bodice is included with the XP as well as the modifications in cutting the bodice to use a zipper) for the bodice because I have made it several times in several sizes and it always fits perfectly!
For the skirt, I used a circle skirt for the lining and outer satin layer and a triple gathered circle for each of the 4 layers of tulle overlay. I always use the calculations from this tutorial to figure out circle skirts. For the tulle layer I used a circumference of 66 (Waist 22″ x 3). I cut the Tulle in whole circles so there were no seams. To attach it, I did have to cut a slit a few inches down right where the zipper is. I attached the gathered circle of tulle to the satin layer 3/8″ (seam allowance) in from the edge of the satin. For the satin and lining I just measured the edges of the bodice and used that as the circumference for the circle skirt. I cut the satin with no side seams so I had to subtract out 4 seam allowances fron that circumference (because the bodice measurements have 4 seam allowances on the side seams).
The Geranium XP has instructions to insert an invisible zipper, but I had to insert the zipper a little different because the sequins werent going to work with an invisible zipper. I used a regular zipper, basted the seams where the zipper goes together, wonder-taped the zipper in place on along the back of that basted seam, and topstitched on the zipper…super easy!
I am so pleased with the outcome and excited to make Lucy more fancy dresses in the future!
