How I Made My Own Australian Citizenship Ceremony Dress from Scratch

A lot of things happened last year that I haven’t blog, been busy living my quiet life being on the crafty upcycling zone, and I kinda like it. But this one is something I would love to share with you, and hope to inspire many, especially you, who love sustainable fashion, colors, and other things related to living here in Australia.

One of the greatest milestones of my life is becoming a full-pledged Australian citizen!

To this day, I still couldn’t believe I finally feel belonged to this land that I have come to love and respect. The people I met, from being just acquiantances turn to valuable friends, to building a new life with my family, everything is because of them… they made my transition to a new life easier, and here I am full of gratitude!

What would be a better way to commemorate this great milestone than by creating my own Australian Citizenship dress!

I’ve read several citizenship ceremony posts on various social media, and it is awesome to see that there are growing number of new Australians proudly donning their motherland’s traditional clothing, and I reckon it is totally cool!

To show how proud I am of being a new generation of Australians, I decided to create my own citizenship dress using the materials I already have in my studio.

Using the old duvet cover that I’ve been saving for a couple of years, I was so excited to turn this material into a dress. The gradient pink color reminds me of the beautiful Pink Lake Hutt Lagoon in Western Australia, and how intriguing to learn how this local algae becomes an important component in producing global production of natural food coloring.

September (my citizenship month) is the beginning of the Australian spring season; thus, it is fitting to wear something comfortable, with lots of color inspired by many local gardens.

Using several cotton fabrics with various prints and colors, I created heaps of yoyo flowers in various sizes and hand-stitched them all into the dress. The yoyo flowers remind me of the wild blooms along the Kalbarri National Park in Western Australia.

The idea of using the yoyo flower pattern is something that I remember from my 4th-grade sewing class, and since then, making them has given me so much joy. My Australian family helped me to fulfill my dream and desire to be more creative in fashion and design, freely expressing my thoughts and feelings through fashion.

I used the kaftan pattern because I always find them quite regal in a sense. The free-flowing fabric swaying as you walk is very uplifting, IMHO. No wonder I made several kaftan-inspired dresses recently, and they are very comfortable and practical.

I started this project in November 2024, making heaps of yoyo flowers while watching tons of Netflix shows, listening to podcasts, or while roadtripping with my husband. Everything is made from scratch, hand-embroidering the dress, and I am living it!

I can say that I made a good impression during that ceremony!

My husband said I look like a princess in this dress, and I'm happy with the result. On the dress, I also embroidered the important dates related to this milestone, starting from the date I first set foot here in Australia, to the date I got my permanent residency, the day I had my citizenship exam in Melbourne, up to the day I pledged my loyalty to Australia and its people.

Every stitches are intentional, the design is truly mindful.

I also paired the dress with this coquette-inspired crochet bag that I made months prior.

Watch my TikTok video here:

@blair.villanueva How I made my Australian Citizenship Ceremony Dress all from scratch which I started since November 2024. I'm glad I made this dress, making one of my best creations. #australiancitizenship #sustainablefashion #imadeit #dopaminedressing #australia ♬ som original - golden