Lily Belle Dresses

In April, my sister-in-law, Amber, approached me with her idea.  She was a little disappointed seeing some of the girls' dresses for prom.  The girls and their moms told her, there are just no modest options out there.  And so they settle.  A lot of the "modest dress shops" have immodest dresses that they offer a jacket or shrug to use with the dress.  So Amber wanted to make a modest option.  She recruited my help for the sewing part.  It has been so fun to be able to take a dress and make it modest.  I have learned a lot about dresses...some are made great, others not so much.  It has kept me busy.  I have fixed over 85 dresses and have about 30 more to do.  I am very proud of Amber and her decision to sacrifice and to start this business.

So I thought I would share some pictures.

This is my set up.

A little music.

 My sewing machine that my parents gave me when I graduated from high school.  Twenty-one years old and still going strong!

And Molly.  

We named her Molly because she is a Molly Mormon who wants to help girls be modest!

A stash of fabric and patterns.

The copper piping in the ceiling works great for a rod.

But then Amber got me a real clothes rod.

These are some of the finished products.

 And Wes' pull-up bar also makes a great rod. 

 Molly before:

 And After! This one was taken with my phone, so not very good quality.

 We have learned some tricks along the way.

The first time we went to the fabric store we spent hours trying to match the fabric.  Sometimes we had success, sometimes not.

But we learned.  Some dresses are cuter short anyway!  So take the bottom off and use the fabric for a sleeve. 

 And some dresses look cuter as a small dress!  This one was a size 24 and I made it down to a 3. 

 Lucky match at the fabric store.

 The satin was a little darker so I made the belt the matching darker shade.

 A lucky match from cutting off another dress.

   Amber had a $5 dress miracle.  She was trying to collect dresses.  She had a bunch donated and she found some for $25-$40 and thought that was a pretty good deal.  One day she went to the mall and the dress shop was advertising $5 dresses.  She went in and they had signs on the prom dresses.  She asked to verify and they said yes.  So she started unloading the racks.  When she went to check out with 40 dresses, the cashier questioned it and called the regional manager.  He said it wasn't the prom dresses, but since they had told her yes, they would need to honor that price.  So she bought multiples of each dress so that I could cut one short and use the fabric to make sleeves for both the short and the long version.

This is a picture Amber sent from their photo shoot.  I did all but the pink one.

 Molly has become a part of our lives.  We were at the sports store and Erin says, "This is like Molly, but with arms!"

I am so thankful for the lessons that this project has taught me and my girls.  They know that dresses should be modest.  They know that there are modest dresses and they can go to Aunt Amber for one. They have picked out their favorites.  We'll see if it is still around and fits them when they are old enough to date!  They also know that if it isn't modest that "Mom can fix that!"  I am grateful for the talent to do so.  I am thankful for the opportunity to do this.  The money has been nice too.  I have been able to buy a bike, buy materials for a shed, put the girls in ice skating lessons, and pay other bills.  Thank you Amber for inviting me to go on this adventure with you.  

Check out her website for much better picture quality!

http://lilybelledresses.com/photo-gallery.html