A 17-year-old girl named Ciara Gan made a ball gown dress for herself for her graduation celebration in the Philippines. This self-made designer sewed, designed, and painted her dress with the help of her mother and YouTube tutorials. Ciara shared, "For the whole of March, my mom and I made (and) sewed each panel of the skirt one by one."
She added, "It took me about a whole month to make the whole thing." And to paint flowers on the dress took five days. But, she believes the challenge was completely worth it. "The whole process was so rewarding afterward because I was able to wear one of my creations," she said. Moreover, now that she has surprised her classmates and eventually, the whole world.
On social media, this amazingly talented artist's work has attracted the hearts of thousands. Ciara initially hired someone to design her dress for her graduation ball, unfortunately, she didn't like the dress and decided to do it herself. According to Today, she told: "My mom and I are best friends. We work on DIY projects together all the time." It was her mother who encouraged her to make the dress as they love challenges.
Speaking with BuzzFeed News Ciara informed: "Because I love to try new things, I thought why not? It was my last big event for school and I had about a month of graduation practices, so I’d be able to focus more on making my gown without worrying about schoolwork." The work began with a simple miniature concept model. And the mother-daughter duo bought 13 yards of fabric, boning, crinoline max Swarovski crystals.
Beginning with the sewing process by stitching each panel of the gown. And when the dress was ready, Ciara beautifully painted flowers onto the gown with acrylic paint which took her five days. The design was inspired by the things that make Ciara happy.
According to BuzzFeed News, she described, "As nerdy as it may sound, I chose emerald green because I'm an avid Potterhead and a proud Slytherin." Whereas, the orange tiger lilies were inspired by the book Tiger Lily by Jodi Lynn Anderson which reflects her colorful personality. "I love the vibrancy of loud colors like orange and green — they speak more about who I am," she explained.
She kept the dress a complete secret from her friends and classmates. And when she walked in at the graduation ball in her handmade dress, everyone stood amazed. Ciara shared that she learned everything from YouTube. Surprisingly, this is only her second sewing work. The first time was prom during her junior year, where she had to redo her dress's full skirt in two days and glue over 200 crystals on it.
People were stunned to see this 17-year-old's artistic work when she shared photos of the dress on Twitter. The dress created so much impression that some people made fan art of the dress. She expressed, "I still really can't believe it. When the numbers increase I realize that so many people have seen my gown." She even started receiving requests for art commissions, which she really appreciates.
Ciara tweeted that she's now open to requests for various types of art," I could really use the extra money for my 5-month summer," she added.
However, she only accepts local commissions. With great experience, she is now excited to work on more sewing projects.
However, she hasn't planned to go to fashion school. She plans to focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). "I know I have a lot more to learn and I’d like to grab every opportunity I can," she said.
