The Tipsy Thimble

It’s not as difficult as it seems… I promise!

I’ll do the hard part… figuring out how to translate your ideas into patterns and making them fit your body. What you need to do is come up with the general look you are going for. Do you want a short skirt, a long draped classic skirt, or maybe even a big, poofy princess skirt? Sleeves? Strapless? Once you have an idea on that, break out the magazines!

Look for details that you like. Here’s where the fun part comes in. Let’s say you like the V-shaped neckline on a dress that Nicole Kidman wore to a movie premiere, but you hate the color and the sleeves on that dress. So, cut out a picture of the dress showing the neckline and tape that to a piece of paper. Then, find a color you do like. How about the blue on the last dress Halle Berry wore? Let’s say it’s a great color, but the skirt on that dress is not at all what you are looking for. Fine… Cut out the blue dress and tape it down, too. Then look for a picture of the skirt style you are looking for. Get the idea here? You can bring in as many details that you want. You can plan it down to the last detail, or just have a general idea and we’ll fill in the rest of it together.

If you have the awesome talent of being able to draw: Use it, sister! Draw out the dress you want, putting your details together how you want them. I can translate this into a pattern and you’ll see your art come to life! If you can’t draw well, it’s ok… If you want to try to draw your dress, feel free. As long as you can explain to me what I’m looking at, it’ll work. (Trust me, I’ve have costume ideas chicken-scratched onto bar napkins that turned out to be amazing costumes that made the clients gush with joy!)

Once you have your cutouts and drawings in front of you, try and imagine what your dress will look like with all of those details completed. Yes, I’m telling you to sit and daydream for a few minutes. See yourself in the dress, walking around, showing up to prom (or your wedding) looking radiant in the dress that YOU designed. This sounds silly, but this is an important step! You won’t be able to explain to me what you want if you haven’t figured it out. It’s ok if some of the details are fuzzy, we can iron all that out together. But, at least know some of the basic stuff mentioned in the first paragraph.

Try and do these steps over a couple of days, or maybe even weeks. What you absolutely love one day may not be so lovely to you a few days later. After you figure out what you think you want, leave it alone for a few days, the come back to it and make sure it’s still what you want. If it is, great! Give me a call and set up and appointment for a consultation. We’ll go over your design, do some measurements, and discuss fabrics and costs. You will get an estimate at that time, and if you’re ready to go for it, we’ll plan out how long it will take, and when you’ll need to come in for test fittings. For more info, read about the ordering process.