I completed my formal dress design. The bodice came from a commercial pattern. The skirt I draped. The cummerbund is an adaptation of a men's accessory pattern. Finally, I thought the neckline needed to be more special, so I created the ruffle.
How to make the ruffle
I cut strips of leftover knit lace and pieced them into a long strip. Leaving the edges raw, I made a line of machine basting down the middle of the strip, lengthwise. I gathered the strip, pinned it to the neckline, and hand stitched along the basted line. This is the result:
Finally, here is the back view:
