Ball gown

As I mentioned in my previous entry, I've been working on quite a few projects over the last few months; the most successful one being this ball gown which I made with my great grandmother (and she surely is the reason why it turned out so well).

Since it is tradition here in Germany to organize a big ball to celebrate graduating high school, I knew in advance that I'd need a fitting dress for the occasion. Usually these kind of dresses start at around ~100€, with the price going up exponentially with increasing quality.
As I pondered on what kind of dress I wanted, I realized that I wasn't ready or even able to pay that kind of money for a nice gown. And it is then that I remembered that I have a great grandmother who used to professionally make wedding gowns - this was the perfect opportunity!
So I asked her whether she would like to work on this with me and she was so kind to agree, emphasizing, however, that she only did it because I was the one who asked. She stressed that this will be the last gown she will ever make. 

So, to begin I had to figure out what kind of design I'd like. Clueless at first, I immediately headed to Pinterest in the search of inspiration. And I was not disappointed. I found a bunch of gorgeous dresses, each prettier and more elegant than the last.
It was hard to decide, but in the end I found a dress which I immediately loved so much, that I ended up using it as the main inspiration for my design.

While the dress in the picture was mainly made out of tulle, we decided to go with mousseline since it is more durable and does not crease. 

So I went to the shop and got some tissue in the color that I liked (which was dark red of course, my favorite!) along with a few buttons for the sleeves. 

Immediately we got to work, and I would visit her for a few hours everyday so that we could sew together. Our workflow was mostly composed of her cutting and preparing the pieces of fabric and me doing the sewing. 

I certainly learned a lot during the two weeks we worked on the dress, but the most important part, as cheesy as it sounds, was all the time I got to spend with my great grandmother. Just sitting next to her in silence everyday, completely focused on the dress we were making together was an odd contrast to the usual sensory overstimulation we are exposed to everyday. Even now as I am writing this entry, I am listening to music in the background. Those moments of total silence and concentration have become very rare, which is a bummer since it is a wonderful experience. 

We would try on the dress from time to time to check if it fit right

 

Everyday at 5pm we would take a small break to enjoy a madeleine together

After two weeks of hard work the dress was finally finished, and I even made myself a choker and a small shawl to go along with it. It was the proudest I had been in a long while and I was extremely thankful to my great grandmother, not only to have made that dress with me and to have taught me so much, but also for spending such a wonderful summer together with me, that I shall forever remember fondly.