PHOTO Military father sews camo prom dress for daughter

America’s military is the finest trained fighting force in the world. But even veteran David Herron would tell you there’s just no manual for raising a teenage daughter. It’s a daily challenge for sure, but recently some of Mr. Herron’s learned skills from his time in the service paid off as he managed to save the day for his 17-year-old princess’ prom dress problem.

The Marshfield, Wisconsin native’s daughter, Mariah, had a specific type of dress in mind and she couldn’t find one that was affordable. Girl wanted a camouflage dress to reflect her love of the outdoors. Herron told Yahoo! Shine:

“My daughter loves to hunt and fish and be outdoors and she really wanted a camo prom dress. 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.”

Dad had learned how to hem his uniforms and sew his stripes but with this challenge he feared he might have been a little out of his league.

“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. At that point, I decided to take on the challenge. My next thought was: ‘Oh God, what have I done?'”

To see additional great photos of Mariah’s dress as well as a video news report we encourage you to check out the original report via marshieldnewsherald.

He set up a sewing station in his home and over 6 weeks worked on his project. His wife would offer help and Mariah started getting concerned as the weeks passed. Fear not ladies, dad emerged from his hero quest with a… “Strapless, black satin gown made from Snow White Camouflage fabric with a white underlayer, 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 adored the labor of love so much she told her dad she wanted him to one day make her wedding dress. “We’ll see,” Herron replied.

Thanks to David Herron for his service and for being one heck of a great dad!

Photo: Casey Lake / News-Herald Media