I’m lucky if I can sew a loose button on my coat, let alone a proper stitch. If I tried to make something wearable, I’d probably end up looking like I’d been mauled by a wild animal. So it’s natural that I admire people who can design and sew their own clothes.
A girl’s graduation gown has recently gone viral on social media. It’s a lovely hand-painted gown that she designed, sewed, and – dare I say it – hand-painted all by herself!
When you see the beautiful creation, you’ll be even more impressed to learn that 17-year-old Ciara Gan started the project with no sewing experience and relied heavily on YouTube videos for guidance.
Ciara did admit to working with her mother on occasion. But it paid off in the end, as she created a gown worthy of a real-life fairytale.
Ciara said, “For the entire month of March, my mom and I made (and) sewed each panel of the skirt one by one.” It took me about a month to complete the project.”
Ciara took five days to complete the hand-painted flowers. However, the adolescent stated that they were worth the effort.
“The whole process was so rewarding afterwards because I was able to wear one of my own creations,” she says.
When she wore her gown to her graduation in the Philippines, she not only wowed her classmates, but she also wowed the rest of the world after she posted her gown on social media, where it captured thousands of hearts.
Ciara said that she originally hired someone to design it for her, but she wasn’t pleased with the results. That’s when she decided to take on the job herself, and the already talented artist was able to put her own spin on it.
Ciara’s mother was the one who encouraged the teen to try making the dress herself, and the two of them worked on it together because they “loved the challenge.”
Ciara said “My mom and I are best friends.” We are constantly working on DIY projects together.”
“Because I love to try new things, I thought why not?” she added for Buzzfeed News. It was my final big school event, and I had about a month of graduation practices ahead of me, so I could focus more on making my gown without worrying about schoolwork.”
Ciara’s design began with the simple idea of a miniature model. Ciara and her mother then went shopping for supplies, purchasing 13 yards of fabric, crinoline, boning, and Swarovski crystals.
Then they got to work on the dress, sewing each panel of the skirt separately. When they completed the gown, Ciara began the real fun, meticulously painting the flowers on the skirt with acrylic paint.
It took her five days to complete the painting process.
If you’re wondering where the inspiration for the dress came from, it was inspired by things that make Ciara happy.
“As nerdy as it may sound,” she said. I went with emerald green because I’m a huge Harry Potter fan and a proud Slytherin.
The flowers on the gown are orange tiger lilies, which were inspired by the novel “Tiger Lily” by Jodi Lynn Anderson. They are also meant to reflect Ciara’s vibrant personality
“I avoided basic roses and dainty florals because, while lovely, they don’t reflect my personality.” “I like the vibrancy of bright colors like orange and green because they speak more about who I am,” she said.
Ciara purposefully kept her gown a complete secret, so when she arrived at her graduation ball in it, her classmates were astounded by her talent in hand-making her gown
“When I first arrived at the event location, my one classmate took a double take to make sure what he was seeing was correct!” she explained. ‘I thought it was printed!’ he said.
She said that she learned everything by watching YouTube tutorials. Even so, it was only her second sewing project.
“The last time was prom during my junior year, where I had to redo my dress’s whole skirt in two days and stick over 200 crystals on it!” she said.
Ciara’s dress post on Twitter has nearly 400,000 likes, as people are astounded by her artistic talent for someone so young. Some have even gone so far as to create fan art of the gown.SHE Media
“I still can’t believe it,” she said in an interview with Buzzfeed News. “As the numbers grow, I realize how many people have seen my gown.”
The teen is now receiving commission requests, which she greatly appreciates.
She has stated on Twitter that she is currently accepting requests for various types of art.
“I could really use the extra money for my 5-month summer,” she admitted.
For the time being, she is only accepting local commissions in the Philippines, so international orders may have to wait.
She’s excited to make more sewing projects now that she’s had so much fun making her dress. Surprisingly, she has no intention of attending fashion school. Ciara graduated from high school with a STEM emphasis (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and intends to pursue a career in science.
“I know I have a lot more to learn, and I’d like to take advantage of every opportunity,” she said.
It’s clear that she’s just getting started in life, and the world is her oyster. We wish this graduate the best of luck in life and can’t wait to see where her designs take her.
