This is such a bittersweet moment for me.  For those of you that have been reading my blog from the beginning, you all have witness my tiny baby girl grow up over the last 10 years.  I get emotional just flipping back through all of the previous post.  And now, my last little one attended her senior prom last night.

For those of you with daughters that have hit this chapter in their life, you know that picking the right prom dress is major.  You can't just grab something off of the clearance rack.  It has to suit her personality.  There are some girls that will want their big Cinderella moment.  Or some that want to look sexy.  And others that will take that moment to be as daring as allowed.  And then you have the ones where their mothers are trying to live vicariously through their daughters.  Since Mikaela is neither a princessy girl or one that will dress overtly sexy, she said that she wanted to look like Jessica Rabbit, have Veronica Lake-ish hair but with her on spin on it.  I thought "Modernized Old-Hollywood Glamour" and this is what we came up with.

I decided on Butterick 5182, view B.  The fabric is from Hancock Fabrics.  It's the BFF Prom Stretch Satin in Melon.  The hand of the fabric is very lightweight and drapes beautifully.  If you want to emulate a silk charmeuse look without the price tag and with fabric wider than 45"?  I recommend this one.  It worked perfectly for the fitted bias-cut style.

I cut the smallest size of the pattern, a size 6.  I had to remove about an inch and a half from the bodice down to the waist.  I had to add inches to the length of the skirt.  It does not account for heel height.  I added a total of 4 inches: one inch at the waist and right around knee level, I added three more.  There is no lengthening line marked.  How I did it was to add the length above where the skirt began to flare.

For the lining, I used a stretch mesh in the coordinating color.  

And for a bias-cut, I allowed the dress to hang for over 24 hours before I hemmed it.  It is important to allow a bias-cut garment to hang for the fabric to fully collapse by allowing gravity to have its effect.  If not, it will essentially grown and your hem will become wonky and uneven.   And for my hem, I fused it.  It created a great finish and also added weight so that the hem would hang perfectly to the ground.

Here is a closeup of her shoes and clutch.

Here a few pictures of Mikaela and her friends.

They all looked gorgeous and it was fun photographing half a dozen giggling teenage girls!

And my favorite group shot!  A take on Solange Knowles' Vogue wedding shot.