Searching from store to store, junior Keily Conchas was looking for the right prom dress. Unable to find one, she decided to make her own. Incorporating fabrics like tulle and chiffon, Conchas was able to bring her idea to life in the form of a light blue, fairy like dress covered in tulle fabric and flowers.

Junior Keily Conchas made her own prom dress over the course of about a month and a half using various materials and her own sewing expertise.

For Conchas, the decision to make her own prom dress was one fueled by a want to properly express herself.

“I just wanted something that kind of displayed my personality specifically,” Conchas said.

Conchas grew up learning how to sew and watching her family members sew and create clothing. She described it as being like “common sense” to her, in regards to getting measurements and the actual sewing of the dress. She also says her background and interest in art helped make the design aspect a lot easier as it helped her to better envision the layout of the dress, making the process a lot easier.

“It’s just the process that takes long, it’s not really the design that (is) time consuming,” Conchas said.

Junior Shelbi Stivers had also planned to make her own dress for prom, but due to having a late start was forced to put that to the wayside until next Spring. She says that her motivation behind deciding to make her own dress was more of the fit and style, saying that since many people don’t have the same body shape it is harder to find a good fitting dress. This led her to try and learn how to sew her own dress by watching youtube videos, taking measurements, creating a design and getting fabric.

“When you make it yourself, you make it how you want it,” Stivers said. “Nobody else really makes it the same. Nobody else is going to have the same dress, and it saves a lot of money.”

Conchas plans to debut her dress at Prom tomorrow May 12, and hopes that it will inspire many people to pursue this alternative option to buying their outfits for Prom.

“If you have the time and you (know how) to sew properly and how to figure out all (of) your measurements, then I say go for it and just look up how to do it,” Conchas said. “It’s definitely really cool to see my dress come together and be able to wear it for a special day.”