How to Design Your Own Prom Gown
There are plenty of reasons you might want to design your own prom gown, from getting the chance to express your individual style to saving a little cash. If you're a beginning sewer, you'll probably want to hire a seamstress to execute your vision, but even a newbie designer can create the dress of her dreams by following these simple strategies.
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Instructions
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Flip through fashion and entertainment magazines to find styles you like. Tear out any pictures that appeal to you, whether it's a particular fabric that catches your eye or the length of a skirt that you really like.
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Sort through your pictures. Make one stack for fabrics you like, another stack for bodices, a stack for skirts and a stack for the waist.
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Use the stacks to come up with the design for your dress. It's perfectly OK to combine elements from different dresses into your dress---if you like the cap sleeves from one design and the draped neckline from another, for instance.
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Use the pictures as a guide to sketch your dress.
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Visit a seamstress or sewing store to get feedback on your sketch. You might need to make alterations for the dress to work; a professional can help you make changes that will maintain the look of your design.
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Sort through your fabric pictures for ideas, then head to your sewing store to look at fabric options. If you're not an experienced sewer, show one of the salespeople your sketch and ask for input on what fabrics would work well.
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Tips & Warnings
Consider bringing your sketch to a sewing store and looking for patterns that match your design. You'll probably need to combine several patterns to get the look you want, but viewing the patterns will help you better understand the construction of your dress. If you're sewing the dress yourself, finding patterns also means you won't have to make your own patterns.
If you're a new sewer, don't start with your prom dress. If you want to sew it yourself, enlist help from an experienced seamstress. Delicate evening dress materials tend to show sewing mistakes more than other fabrics.
