Beading Bliss

More to follow!

After

Before

And ....

After!

These pictures were also taken in the Piazza, on the Cruise ship.  I wore it on our second formal night, which was on Thanksgiving.

So.... how did I fix it?

Well, I ripped out everything but the upper bodice, because that was already beaded.  Then I set about remaking the midriff section.  I used a raspberry thai silk for this and the ties and ruffle.  I hand-ruched the front midriff section and just made decorative ties for the back, they don't do anything. :-P  

I darted the bodice to fit.  Those gathers that were there previously did NOT work.

Then I cut the skirt up into a skirt from Simplicity 2580, once again.  I didn't have a lot of fabric, so it was a little short.  I added a silk ruffle on the bottom and beaded above it.

note to self:  Thai silk is amazing!!!!!!!  It is a dream to work with, and though it does fray, fraying in minimal.

No zipper!  just kidding.  It has a hidden side zipper.  I gotta say, that is the most difficult zipper I have ever done.

In my hair are matching combs.  I'll edit this later with detail pictures, but for now, voila!

SO much better than the before, eh?

Glittering Vermillion

For this dress I used Simplicity 2580 and a version of McCalls 5811.

The fabric is a shiny, sparkly, and very bright red sort of knit.  The top, or bodice is from the cowl part of the simplicity pattern and the bottom is almost a full circle skirt.  The skirt comes to just below the knee and the waist seam is an empire waist.  This picture was taken on the cruise where I wore it for a formal night.  

Accessories: Black shoes, black cami, black fashion belt, black coverup (It is sleeveless), black headband, and silver jewelry.

Sorry I didn't get a better picture. :-l