Thread: How to make a cabaret dress?

I would really like to make my own cabaret dress (for economical and customization purposes), but am not sure where to start. Does anyone have experience making a cabaret dress? Any good links or patterns out there?

I made the dress in my avatar photo from a stretchy glittery knit dress. I altered the neckline, added slits to the skirt and embellished with sequin appliques. I also made a bra and belt to wear with it. Do you know what style dress you like?

What is your sewing ability & how elaborate do you want to make it? Are you prepared to handle a lot of bra structure, beadwork, etc? Or do you want to do something relatively simple that could be worn with a decorated belt or bra/belt set?

Im going to echo what Lauren has said - what is your skill level? If you can make a pattern, sew & bead then the sky is the limit. I think that looking at different costumes to see how they are constructed helps a lot

I start with a sketch of what I want to do, gather up my supplies and start the pattern.
I use standard sewing carbon paper to transfer the beading pattern I have sketched onto the cut fabric pieces - when working with lycra costumes, I assemble the dress first, then I bead. I do this so I can get the fit correct as I hate ripping out beading...

Good luck with your project & post pictures once your finished :o)

Just wanted to add I never use commercial patterns - I make my own. If you do decide to go with a commercial pattern they tend to run big so keep that in mind

I'd probably start with a trip to the fabric store and thumb through the evening gown & bridesmaid section of the mainstream pattern books, such as McCalls, Simplicity, Butterick, etc. Whichever pattern brand you like best....

Look for patterns designed for stretchy fabrics, with a close-to-the-body fit.

Thanks, everyone! Basically, I design my costume (I've only done bra & belt or bra and skirt sets so far), and my mom does the sewing (she is excellent with a needle and thread, whereas I have the eye for design). I found inspiration for a dress when I picked up some large deep-V shaped fuschia and black sequin appliques (with beaded fringe at just the right places) that were on sale at the fabric store. I'm imagining a black and fuschia dress, with a black mesh bodice and sleeves. I have no experience with stretchy fabric, so that's my primary concern.

I just finished up my first dress this summer. Here’s a link to a picture of it. The picture is by Emeral Eye Photography. (I think I’m going to add more decoration to it later, but I’m done with it for now!)

It really wasn’t that difficult to make. I didn’t use a pattern, but I traced another costume I had and made adjustments so it would fit better than the original. Sewing with stretch fabric isn’t too tough either. I pin the pieces together like usual, and then I stretch it a little as I sew it so it has a little give later since I don’t have a fancy sewing machine. If I am worried about popping a stitch, I will sew over an area twice just in case.

See if you can get your hands on a costume that had beading on stretch fabric so you can see how to do it. Basically, you will have little arcs of beads coming off the fabric. The pattern for beading I used was: sequin, 4 beads, sequin, under the fabric, and repeat. I made the sequins overlap each other, so when put the dress on and the fabric stretched there was some give so the threads wouldn’t snap and the design wouldn’t look bad.

If you’ve made bedlahs before, this won’t be as bad in regards to decoration because you don’t have to cover the entire thing with beads and sequins! I’d sooner make another dress than another bedlah.

Ooh, that is beautiful! Thank you for sharing!

I think the simplest thing to start with would be an underbust beledi dress that could be worn with a bra and belt. L rose and Dahlal both offer them.

Or start with a pattern for a simple, sleek evening gown and add beadwork and 'tassels' of fringe around the hipline.

It just so happens that I'm in the process of making /beading a cab dress for a client right now, and actually had the forethought (for once!) to document the process a bit for future reference. I basically sketched out a bit of pattern based on her measurements (divided the measurements in half and, since it's stretchy, didn't add much extra for the seams).

Since I was going to stretch the fabric over a push-up bra, I just drew along the top of the bra with tailor's chalk, and then for the back of the dress drew along the top of the bra straps. Then I measured the length based on the length from top of bra line to ankle. Then I cut off the side straps of the bra and tacked the cups in.

Then I added two darts in the back for a closer fit, then sewed the side seams and a zipper up the back , and voila! Right now I'm working on draping some chiffon and beading.

It's surprisingly easy but also confusing, because you think it should be harder... ;p It does actually get more confusing when you start adding cutouts, etc, or want princess seams, but once you get the basic idea down it's not so bad.

I hope that helps!

Thank you so much for sharing! That is beautiful, thank you for posting pics!