For those who think I'm a fraudster, cos I don't do any sewing, I'm about to be shaken out of the doldrums because I've offered to make a prom dress for my niece. The prom will inevitably be cancelled but hopefully it will happen a bit later so I'm going ahead. I'll be doing it remotely because she lives in Dorset.
This is the pattern she has chosen (view A with lace overlay). It's got princess seams which will help hugely with fitting. She has chosen a lovely deep turquoise satin. I have ordered samples of lace fabrics today (neither she nor her mum had thought about the difficulty of matching up colours). You never know how turquoise will be in the flesh, it's so variable. But I've also ordered some black samples and told her that it could look very classy with a black lace bodice overlay - I think she's convinced.
I've traced off the pattern pieces, because I had to do a lot of grading between sizes and made a toile of the bodice to send for my sister to do some fitting. Once I've got that right it should be pretty straightforward - I hope that's not famous last words.