Kaylee's Green Sequin Gown + Tutorial

Here is Kaylee in her green sequin gown for prom. Just look at all those sequins! This is such a sleek and fabulous gown.

This was a basic alteration of taking in the sides except a few challenges – a zipper on the side and fixing wrinkles that formed as I was pinning and taking in the gown. I took in equal amounts on both sides and when I got to top of the dress, I could no longer pin due to the zipper, workings and excess fabric. I just pinched how much and wrote down the measurements. The rest of the pins going downward just naturally fell into place. I includes a before pic below of Kaylee at a fashion show wearing this gown. It was just a little loose causing the gown to wiggle its way downward. We just needed to tighten up those sides a little to secure it.

In this lengthy post of 57 pictures, I’m going to show you the alteration process of removing many stitches on several pieces and parts and putting them back together. I also had to remove the zipper, make the alteration on one side, and replace the zipper. This gown took a little time but turned out fitting terrific on Kaylee.

I’ve learned so much working with sequin fabric. I think many people wonder how it handles when you sew and how in the world do you press it with an iron?? It behaves just like any knit fabric and the needle sews right through it. You should stitch at a slow to medium speed as the needle passes through. As far as pressing it, you just use a press cloth to protect the sequins from melting. When you cut sequin fabric, I would not use your regular scissors for fabric, just use another pair because the sequins may chip the blades. Also be prepared to clean up a sequin mess and watch out for flying sequins in your eyes! These are just a few things I learned along the way.

Here is a before shot of Kaylee at a fashion show. The gown had a loose fit, but could definitely be fixed by taking in the sides.

Here's the right side pinned up.

Left side pinned up. The left side is where the zipper is. I could not pin towards the top because I had so much material and zipper workings gathered in one spot. I just pinched the top area with my fingers and logged in the measurement.

As I pinned the sides, horizontal lines were forming at the waist. To fix this, I pinned excess sequin fabric and lining at the back top only. I pinned up until the lines disappeared.

Front right side pinned up.

Front left side pinned up.

Here's the back top of the gown with my safety pins marked.

I inserted additional pins where the first ones were. I then released my first set of pins.

There is another lining with boning underneath also.

These hanger loops will have to be removed and sewn back on.

I start removing stitches between the lining and the zipper with a razor blade.

Taking measurements from the zipper, this is how far it has to be moved.

Removing more stitches between the sequin fabric and the zipper.

Removing stitches from the foundation lining from the outer lining.

Removed top piping trim from the sequin fabric and lining.

Removed additional stitching which held together the sequin fabric and lining.

I do this every time when I do gown alterations, and I do get technical. I draw a quick diagram as reference. It's kind of like a work instruction for myself with visuals, distances and measurements.

Here's my diagram in action. This is one of the sides all pinned and marked up.

I like to use a regular pencil for light fabrics. I find it works exceptionally well.

Here is the back top which I have pinned and marked for stitching across.

The sequin fabric and lining need to stay together as one. I stitched together underneath where I'm about to cut.

Piece is cut.

Sewing one of the sides.

Here's the tricky part where the sequin fabric is not sewn to the lining. It's near the hip area. There's a part where it stops and I have to continue sewing separately on the sequin fabric and lining.