I was invited to an October wedding and knew I wanted to make a fun and autumnal dress for the occasion. I saw the gorgeous dress that actress Quinta Brunson wore on her Jimmy Kimmel appearance following the 2022 Emmys, and was inspired to make a version for myself. The dress was a relatively simple design: a sheer embellished fabric over a simple A-line mini dress, with long bell sleeves made from the same sheer fabric (unlined). The sleeve and dress hems both feature feather trims.
I picked out two patterns already in my stash to achieve this look, both from Helen’s Closet Patterns. The Ashton Top, which is a swingy tank, and the Gilbert Top, which has a long bell sleeve option. I bought the sleeve expansion pack for the Ashton Top to be able to get the right shape for the armscye.
I added the Gilbert bell sleeve piece to the shoulder shape from the Ashton sleeve expansion, and added the sleeve expansion pieces to my Ashton bodice pieces. I then added paper to the bodice pieces, and cut following the lines of the Ashton top to lengthen it to a mini-dress (I added about 11 inches).
I used a black poly crepe for my underlining on the dress body, and a velvet burnout for the sleeves and dress overlay. I sewed underlining and overlay together, treating them as one fabric for the darts and side seams (for which I used French seams). I did a simple double fold hem on the dress and sleeves, then hand-tacked ostrich feather trim to both hems. All materials were from Joann!
In all, this was a simple dress to make with a big result – I was comfortable all evening and got many compliments. It took me about 3 hours to adjust my pattern pieces and cut fabric, and about 3 hours to sew everything up, including the hand stitched trim. I love having a fancy dress that slips on over my head, and that I can style so easily with sheer black tights and black heels.
Hannah Q. 