the masquerade ball

Now that you are viewing these pictures you'll see why I was hesitant.  The old camera was dying.  What a sad time to die.  It was really a difficult night for me knowing that my children were all gussied up and I was incapable of immortalizing the moment to the degree of quality that their attire warranted.  And yet.......... 

The memories are ours.  And although these images are like "looking through a glass darkly", the colors will always be vivid with crisp silhouettes in my mind.

I so wish I had pictures of grandma and granny at the table, helping 'their girls' pin, cut out, and sew their beautiful dresses.  But, sadly, as I stated before, the camera was dying.  

You can see the 'caller' up in the back.

Erin

For Erin's dress we used Simplicity M5444. 

She chose a dusky, sky blue cotton with a textured look and a touch more weight than just your typical quilting cotton for the main fabric, and a white, light cotton for the puffs in the sleeves.  This was purchased from WalMart very inexpensively.  

The trim (below the puffs) was wonderfully wide and came from grandma's stash.  We also knew when we purchased the pattern that we would use a lace tablecloth for the inset and grandma generously provided that too. 

Neither of these additions were called for by the pattern, but these are the details that I think make the dress.  

I can't seem to find Audrey's pattern but I'm sure it was Mccalls.  

She chose a mid-weight wine colored satin and elegant ivory trim.  We purchased this at Joann's using 40% off coupons.  

Once again we took many liberties with the recommendations and were thrilled with the results.  

Audrey's dress proved vexing at the trying on stage when we realized that the bodice was not going to close (this was before we had inserted the zipper).  To prove the old adage "two heads are better than one" (in our case three) we saved it beautifully.  

All in all I think we spent a total of about $45.00 for the two dresses combined.  Audrey's dress cost more than Erin's to make.  This total includes the one time purchase of 2 patterns that we paid $6.50 each for at WalMart.  

So, there you have it.  Ann, this is especially for you as you asked for details back in October and I only now put my brain to the task.

Punch and fresh air ..... dancing is allot of work.

Before you think that this is just a one time wear, rest assured that as soon as you make a ball gown you make the ball circuit.  We will be attending the Winter Ball, put on by Central Oregon Historic Balls at the end of this month.  I can't wait.  This time I have a new camera!

Dress them up, send them to school....................Oh yea, that's what's wrong, we never sent them to school!


Blessings,  Debbie