craftgrrl | The great scam of prom (Reply)

Argh, I'm all frustrated now.

I originally thought I would buy a prom dress because though I can sew, I'm not that good at it and I didn't feel like tackling something as complicated (and as special) as a prom dress. I ordered one from Delia*s and when it arrived...

I realized it was a piece of junk.

The skirt was made of a few layers of lavender tulle with glitter and a layer of acetate (is that what that thin synthetic fabric is called?) underneath. So thin, in fact, that you could see my underwear right through the dress. I decided it WASN'T that difficult to make and that I'd return it and make my own for much much less (it cost $72, can you believe it?) The top I thought I'd keep, because I still don't feel up to making such a form-fitting thing. I'm scared. ;)

But while searching for fabric I realized it'd probably be easier to just start from scratch. I could have bought a pattern and just started sewing, but I ended up on EBay, with this tacky thing (and by tacky I mean it's so ugly it's gorgeous and omg I love it to bits).

So. Now I want to sew/knit/crochet/thrift some sort of shoulder covering so I don't freeze to death in that dress. What do you guys think would go well? I'm thinking a brightly colored cardigan of some sort - that or a nice crocheted shawl.

And what colors go with orange, anyway? I need to buy shoes and I'm clueless as to what color wouldn't clash horribly. :)

Anyone else had similar experiences? (not just the "Hey, I could make that" experience, but the "Hey, I could make this TEN TIMES BETTER FOR TEN TIMES LESS" experience ;)

And lastly, as long as I'm thinking about it - those of you who make your own clothes by sewing/knitting/etc - have you noticed yourselves mentally taking clothes apart? I was looking at my shirt today and I realized I was subconsciously trying to figure out exactly what shapes it was made of and how I could reconstruct it. Awesome. :)