Military Dad Makes Daughter's Prom Dress: It's Camo


This is the cutest thing you'll read all day.

When David Herron's 17-year-old daughter couldn't find the prom dress of her dreams, he did what any resourceful dad would do: He sat down and made her one from scratch.

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The Marshfield, Wisconsin native's teen daughter Mariah had been frustrated because she couldn't find an affordable dress made from camouflage fabric. "My daughter loves to hunt and fish and be outdoors and she really wanted a camo prom dress," Herron told Yahoo! Shine. "We looked online and everything was so expensive. So I suggested that we go to a fabric store to look at patterns. At that point, I wasn't thinking that I would sew the dress; I just figured that we knew a few people who could if we asked them to."

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A former military man, Herron had learned how to sew his stripes and hem his own uniforms. But making a prom dress? Totally new territory. “Mariah wanted a dress with a corseted back but the woman at the fabric store said that would be too complicated and gave us suggestions for what we could do," said Herron. "At that point, I decided to take on the challenge. My next thought was: 'Oh God, what have I done?'" But determined to make his daughter happy, he paid $97 for the material.

At home, Herron turned the family room into a sewing shop. One table served as the fabric station, another for the sewing machine. And he logged in hours studying the camo fabric and sewing instructions. "My wife would periodically ask, 'Do you need help? We should probably call a professional' but I'm a perfectionist and wanted to do it myself," says Herron. "A few weeks in, she pulled me aside and said, 'Mariah's getting nervous.' I think everyone was."

Six weeks later, the result were in: A strapless, black satin gown made from Snow White Camouflage fabric with a white underlayer and covered with black tulle. The top of the dress is lined with a thin black ruffle and a black satin bow is fastened to the back of the dress. The waist is lined with shotgun shells. Herron topped off the look with brown and white boots which he bought for his daughter.

Mariah recently debuted her winter white camo dress to attend the Marshfield High School Junior Prom. “She loves it. She even asked if I’d make her wedding dress,” Herron said. "We'll see."

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