Kahuku Prom 2015

Only had about a week from the end of the play to Prom but I managed to squeeze a few dresses in.  I did one custom dress, 5 dress alterations, a shrug, and 2 sets of suit slacks.  Here's a few pictures.

Beautiful Talianne loved her dress so much last year she asked me to make another.  She brought me her design ideas and I custom drafted the pattern for her and made her the dress of her dreams.  She looked stunning in the black and gold lace gown.

These lovely girls found their dresses in Chinatown and just needed a few adjustments.  The sister in blue wanted a shrug and a little taken in from the sides and the sister in red wanted some sleevelets.

I couldn't leave out my son! We purchased his suit at Nordstroms Rack and really lucked out. It was a great price and fit him pretty much right off the rack, only required a simple hem.

Beautiful Nu'u

I was honored to work with Kahuku's homecoming queen this year.  She didn't have much notice but fortunately she already had a good idea of what she liked. This custom full length princess seamed formal has a lace overlay, scalloped neckline and cap sleeves.

Prom Alterations and a Custom Dress

I've been very busy this week spitting out Prom dress alterations and a custom dress. I have sure enjoyed working with these girls and hope they enjoy their special night.

Miss Kaitoku had modesty sleevelets added and the hem adjusted.

A Young Man's First Suit

This should really be titled My Young Man's First Suit. This is my son Heath. Last week he purchased his first suit to wear to prom. He decided he'd rather spend his hard earned $250 on a new suit rather than waste $100 on a one night tux rental. Smart kid. He plans to wear his new suit to church on a regular basis and he's hoping that he'll be able to wear it on his mission. He will be heading out for that in about a year.

This is him at home before alterations. We intentionally bought this suit just slightly too big so he had room to grow into it a bit. We measured him for a 40, which would have fit him like a glove. We bought him a 42 Regular, which still fit him beautifully. The length was perfect, the sleeves were perfect, only the body of the suit needed to come in. I took that in through the center back seam.The slacks didn't need much work either. I took in the waist 4 inches and tapered that through the seat. I hemmed the slacks with a basic, handstitched tapered hem.

The suit was purchased from Nordstrom's Rack and was on clearance. It is a Steel Grey Calvin Klein.

The details: He purchased the shirt and tie also from Nordstroms Rack. I made him this beautiful vest  to match his date's dark pink sequined dress. The vest has a full back, is fully lined and has hand made covered buttons. His very favorite part of the whole ensemble though was his pink pocket square, also made by me.

Kahuku Prom

Taylor

Taylor purchased her dress online through Amazon. I added over the shoulder and full back--with keyhole at center back--modesty sleevelets. I also took in 6 inches! through center back. Lastly, I steamed the dress to get out all the packaging wrinkles (the dress arrived in nothing more than a plastic bubble wrap envelope). The dress was very long for her but to avoid having to hem it she wore 4 inch heels. Wow! Doesn't she look beautiful.

 Aleena

Aleena found her dress at Ross and wanted to add some simple cap sleeves. The only material should could find that was close to matching was netting. I made her cap sleeves out of three layers of netting with the middle layer being a sparkly glittery netting that really made the dress and Aleena shine. 

Tiare

Tiare also ordered her dress online. It fit her beautifully with the exception of the hem. I took it up 4 inches through the waist. We chose to do the hem through the waist because the dye in the skirt is graduated and we wanted to retain as much dark on the bottom of the skirt as possible. At her request I also added some simple over the shoulder gathered modesty sleevelets. What a lovely young lady!

I have a few more prom dresses coming up for next months Kamehameha Prom. Stay tuned . . .

Prom Dress Alterations

Prom Dress orders have been coming in like wildfire this week. I've been adjusting hems, taking in side seams and adding modesty panels and sleeves for these young ladies. I will be meeting them over at the temple for pictures on Thursday and will post pics then. I'm so excited! They all look so beautiful!

Prom Alterations

I had the honor of altering this lovely dress for Kahuku Senior Tatiana.  This was a last minute alteration--she came to me on Monday night and the prom was on Friday. She had ordered the dress from China for a mere $109, unfortunately it arrived three sizes too big! The alterations I did took 9 hours to complete and cost her an additional $137. Here's what I did:

• I took in the sides through the armpit, this of course includes also taking in the lining--which means I took in four side seams not two. 
• Minor adjustments to the built in bra and corset.
• I redistributed the extra fabric taken in on the sides to the gathered waist from just before the side seams all the way around to the back zipper. This was also done to the lining.
• I shortened the sleeves through the back and added a hidden shoulder strap under the beaded sleeves. The straps added extra support so the weight of the beads wouldn't stretch the sleeves and make them flop off her shoulders.
• I added additional beadwork as designed by the client to the sleeves including pearls and Swarovski crystals provided by the client. This took fully half of the alteration time.
• I took up the hem on the chiffon over dress, the satin under dress and the polyester lining and used horsehair braid on the hem for added structure to the hemline.  I tapered the new hemline to the existing train.
• I made a simple hidden hook bustle to accommodate dancing.

The end result was a beautiful dress on a beautiful girl.  Hope she had fun!