For the past month, Prom has been top of mind for juniors and seniors. While many splurged on dresses and accessories, a handful of creative and talented students spent their nights crafting their own looks from scratch. They sewed dresses, painted elaborate manicures, and did their own hair for the dance this past Friday at San Francisco City Hall.

Zoe Gostyla

Senior Zoe Gostyla spent over 10 hours over the past two months working on her outfit: a floor-length gold satin dress with beading along the neckline. 

She taught herself to sew during the pandemic and has been making her own clothes ever since. 

“During COVID, I found a sewing machine in our garage. My mom didn’t know how to use it, but she had it from her mom. I figured it out,” she said. “I got really ambitious with my first project. It was awful, but over the past five years, I’ve kept at it and I’ve gotten a lot better.”

Since then, Gostyla has created dozens of pieces: tops, dresses, bags, and skirts, largely from recycled fabrics. 

This project was particularly ambitious. “I usually just kind of free-ball it, but satin was such a tricky fabric so I used a pattern for the first time,” Gostyla said. The difficulty of the project required Gostyla to try new sewing methods, including French seams and cutting and sewing on the “bias” or diagonal grain of the fabric. 

 “It started with looking on Pinterest, then I found a YouTube video and a pattern, and I altered it to be a long dress because it was originally short. Then, I took my measurements, cut out pieces, and built the pattern with pieces of paper,” she said.

Gostyla spent $45 total on fabric and materials. 

“I pinned it together, tried it on, and then fixed it a few times to fit my waist. Then I decided that it needed some ‘zhuzh.’ After I made the straps and put it together, I embroidered some beads.”

Maeve Miller

Senior Maeve Miller* spent over 15 hours on her sky blue satin prom dress with a cowl neck. 

She, too, has been sewing for fun for multiple years, learning through YouTube tutorials and trial and error.

“I started sophomore year, when I decided to make my own homecoming dress. I didn’t have a sewing machine, so I made the dress by hand. Then I got a sewing machine for Christmas, and I’ve been sewing since then. I made my homecoming dress this year, and I started making my prom dress last year,” Miller said.

“I make bags, I have a pair of pants I’ve made, and I’ve made other dresses and button-down shirts. One year for Christmas, I made all of my family members reversible bucket hats,” she said.

“Teaching myself was actually not that difficult. Pretty much all the resources are out there to teach yourself to sew. Obviously, making something yourself is more stressful, but you can make exactly what you want, and I like that it’s so customizable,” she said.

Miller started her dress by using a pattern she had from a previous year and added new details.

“I did the lace-up back because that’s easier than tailoring it to fit. The dress is cut on the bias, which is a lot more difficult to work with,” she said. To avoid warping the fabric, Miller sewed around all of the seams before stitching the pattern pieces together.”

Miller spent $40 on fabric for her dress.

Lila Mahadevan

Junior Lila Mahadevan painted her own nails for prom, as well as five other classmates’, as part of her small business Lila’s Lovely Nails. 

She started designing her own nails during COVID, but started taking it more seriously in the last few months. 

“I got a bunch of gel stuff for Christmas, and I did a few designs on myself. A few of my friends asked me to do it for them, and I did. Then people were like, ‘Oh my gosh, you should make an Instagram account to show all of your stuff!’” she said.

For the five students she painted nails for, Mahadevan used a mix of gel French tips, press-ons with gold detailing, and chrome extensions, ranging from 45 minutes to three hours for each set. For her own nails, she painted almond shapes with gold french tips to match her dress.

Over the past few months, Mahadevan has collected an inventory of supplies that she uses for each set. 

“There’s nail dehydrator and nail primer, which is important to get the oils off your skin or off your nail, and then make sure the extensions or the gel stick. I also got a range of colors when I realized I wanted to start doing it on more people. Then there’s nail files, a nail buffer tool, and a bunch of brushes, and chrome powders,” she said.

She plans to continue doing nails into her senior year and for prom next year. “I do nails after I do my homework at night, and then I wake up early in the morning and finish. It seems like a lot, but it’s therapeutic for me,” she said.

*Maeve Miller is a journalist for the M-A Chronicle.