Orange & Green, Long Sleeves on Long Dresses

* Hi there. For this week's post, I am featuring 2 long sleeve dresses I recently made for 2 ladies in my church; RCCG Love Assembly (@rccgloveassembly).

The first one (orange) was for Mrs. K to wear to our Mother's Day (5/10) service. She wanted something fitting, long sleeves and a fishtail silhouette.
Every year, the mothers (Virtuous Women) pick a fabric and they all show up in coordinating outfits.
You can just feel the love and oneness. Also, all the married women and mothers (including visitors) go home with a gift every year.

The second one (green) was for Ms. G to wear to her nephew's baby dedication (5/17). She had been away in school and gave me her fabric with only 3 days to make the dress (time crunch!!!).
I'm so happy it fit her perfectly the first time and she told me she loves it soooo much.

** Enjoy the pictures and videos below.
*** Find us on Facebook (Zichie Designs) and Instagram (@zichie_designs and @e_fazion) or email (zichiedesigns[at]gmail.com).

Orange Dress

Virtuous Women

Green Dress

The Making 

(Before the sleeves and sneak peak on the inside)

Dancing

The best part for me was seeing them dancing and looking at home in their dresses.

Thank you ladies for the support.

Special Request: Crop Top and Maxi Skirt

    * Ms. Ju sent Zi a picture of her style inspiration: she wanted me to make an off-shoulder crop top and a puffy maxi skirt in African print fabric. This was for an African Tradition and Culture event at her school last month. To achieve the 'puffy' look, I made a petticoat to be worn under the skirt.
  ** Enjoy the pictures below :).
*** Check us out on Instagram @zichie_designs.

Custom Order - Sight Unseen

* Miss W placed her order with a phone call, 2 emails and a skirt (along with the outfit fabric) sent to me through a friend. This is the first time I ever made a custom order without actually seeing the client and it fit!!!
Normally, I ask my clients to come in for a fitting when I am about 80% done with their outfits so you can imagine my concern when Miss W called and said she won't be able to make it into town (Chester, PA from New York) as planned. I was a bit concerned but with one shot to get this right, I re-checked all her measurements, sent her pictures of the progress and made changes as she suggested over text messages.
** After she received the outfit, she sent me a message saying "Thank you. It fit perfectly and I got a lot of compliments'. Phew! Thank God :) and I mean that sincerely.
*** In retrospect, the lighting could have been better ...

1st Email: Picture of the Style of the Top (Minus the Peplum) She Wanted from Clairnadine

(2nd email had her measurements)

Shopping for Contrasting Fabric

(went with the 2nd one)

1st Picture of the New Skirt with the Sample Skirt

2nd Picture: She Said Make It Shorter

Final Looks: Long Skirt and Short(er) Skirt

Baby Blue Sunshine: Hi-Lo Lace Top and Skirt

* For this week, I want to showcase Zi's latest creation: this lace top and skirt set made for a special little lady. Zi has become the go-to gal for lace hi-low skirts; remember the white one in this post? She has also made one in pink and this one in blue. The blue set is a good-bye gift as the little princess and her queen were moving to Texas ... we'll miss them.
* Check us out on Instgram: @zichie_designs and @e_fazion

Enjoy the pictures below.

Special Request: Crop Top & Open Back Dress

I usually add new posts on Wednesdays but this week has been busy and I let it slide one day. I apologize. Hope you still enjoy the post. :)

    * In the past, I've helped Ms. NT with a number of alterations to pants, skirts, tops and a blazer. Recently, she asked me to make her a long-sleeve crop top and an open back dress similar to the ones here, here and here. Hurrah!!! She gave me a very lovely yellow and red fabric and yes, I was really particular about how I matched up the pattern across the different pieces of the outfits.
  ** Enjoy the pictures below.
*** Check us out on Instagram @zichie_designs.

Crop Top

Ready for Fitting

Final

Closure is an upside-down invisible zipper at the back.

Dress

Ready for Fitting

Final

Closure is a matching covered button at the top of the open back and an invisible zipper at the bottom.

Brown faux leather was added as the sides of the bodice and the strip at the hem. 

The Making of Ms. P's Shift Dress

    * Last week, I made a loose fitting shift dress for Ms. P. This is the first time I've not really had to worry about perfect fit in the bust, waist and hips and that gave me more time to document the process. So here it is; my diary of making Ms. P's Shift Dress.
  ** Check out the 'Hers' page for other designs.
*** Check us out on Instagram @zichie_designs.

To begin with, I took Ms. P's measurements and later on, she sent me a dress similar to what she wanted.

I used the See & Sew pattern above as a starting point.

I created a pattern from the dress using the See & Sew pattern and made alterations to better suit Ms. P's needs.

These are the pattern pieces for the bodice. The print fabric is lovely and my priority was to keep the fabric pattern aligned in the final product.

 Bodice pattern pieces attached at the shoulders.

 Bodice pieces lined and raw edges finished.

  Sleeve pieces lined and raw edges finished.

All pieces put together - here's the front of the dress.

Here's the back of the dress with an invisible zipper.

I added some contrasting fabric in the slit. 

A little something extra from the back view, eh?