Blueberry Punkin'

I thought I would share a project I never posted on the blog. 

I made this little dress as an entry for Project Run & Play but then anded up making a different one.

It was made from a white bedsheet that I dip dyed purple. Then I hand stamped some gold flowers onto it with sponges.

The pattern I made myself.

I have been going through all of my posts from 2012 to do a recap on all of my projects made this year when I found these photos.

They bring back memories of late summer for me.

A nice respite to the recent cold days of winter.

Can't you almost just feel the sunshine?

Pin It

White Sheet Challenge : Purple Pumpkin

This week's challenge on Project Run & Play was to use a plain white sheet and make something with it.

Oh before I go any further I have to invite you over there to vote for your favorite kids design.

And if you decide to vote for me, thank you in advance...

I can't wait to see what the other contestants come up with myself. They are all so good...

After making a black outfit last week and a muted dusky pink one with black trim previously, this week I knew I had to make something colorful and fun for Genevieve and for me. 

Her favorite color is purple and I loved the idea of purple up against our giant pumpkins in the garden. Purple and orange are complimentary colors.

I'm getting ready for Halloween early !

 I dyed each piece of the dress separately before I sewed them together to create this ombre type effect. I used the same color but concentrated it in less water to get the darker colors at the hem. I actually painted the dye on in different concentrations to give it a striped effect. I mixed some purple and royal blue RIT dye together to create this shade of bluish purple.  This was the second dress I made. The first one is at the end of the post. I am still on the fence about which one I like more! The kerchief was made the first go round and has some gold painted flowers on it.

The dress is a high low style and I made the pattern from a maxi dress pattern I created this summer. The high low effect is more apparent in the first dress I made. 

I made a lot of mistakes on that first dress with the dye job so I made this one and added a ruffle to the bottom and made the skirt fuller.

Gigi loves to twirl around in it and the purple color is just right for fall. Since we don't get much cool weather here in California until late November I know she will wear this little dress a lot during the warm days to come!

Now here is my first version below. On this one I hand painted some gold flowers onto the dress. 

Pin It

Project Run & Play Week 2 Entry: Channeling Chanel

Below is my Project Run & Play entry this week.

Stop on over and see what all of the other entries are and don't forget to vote while you are over there!

This post will be up all weekend so I won't be running my usual link party until while I am participating in the competition.

Wish me luck!

Todays' Lesson in Fashion Icons For Tots 101?

Coco Chanel, The Grande Dame of fashion....

Gabrielle or Coco Chanel was not only one of the best designers in fashion history and a true original, but she was also one of the coolest chicks around during her time. Look, there she is smoking a cigarette with the great artist Salvador Dali before he started wearing his giant mustache!

She knew everyone and lived luxuriously in her penthouse out the Ritz hotel in Paris into well into her nineties.

With all of the talk in the fashion world of Karl Lagefeld's new book, The Little Black Jacket, an homage to Ms. Coco Chanel,  I thought I might make my own little black jacket for the toddler set here in Sew Country! I studied the construction of the Chanel jacket and applied some of the methods I learned to this little jacket, which is made from some metallic textured boucle fabric I found in the thrift shop and have had sitting in my stash. It is lined in the same pink fabric as the blouse and quilted together on the inside, with an attached fringe trim on the outside and lined patch pockets. And of course some fancy gold and black buttons to finish it. 

The on trend bow tie blouse is made from cotton sateen and has an attached collar/tie and a knit waistband to avoid it riding up and to make it more comfy. It also has puffed sleeves which I love for little girls, trimmed with black bias trim . I made the pants from some soft and stretchy black denim and tapered them to make them slim fitting. The inset panels are the same boucle fabric as the jacket, there is an elastic waistband, and there are little tabs on the bottoms of the pants to give them a more authentic, equestrian look. I drafted all of the patterns from the outfit with the help of my new pattern book, Metric Pattern Cutting For Children. I also made the beret at the last minute and the ceramic hairclip. The flower was a pin which I pried the pin part off of, then I glued it to one of my flat head bobby pins and I traced a dinner plate to make the beret. Gigi will not keep a clip in her hair or a hat on her head unless I bribe her with lollipops which I did plenty of in this shoot.

She is now ready to attend the Polo match in this ensemble. Santa Barbara here we come!

Pin It

La Vie En Rose: Making Gigi's Dress

Well, the first week of Project Run & Play is over and I managed to squeak through.

I have been keeping a photo diary of some of the steps I took to design my dresses.

Inspirations.....

Sister, 1915

You can find these photos on my Pinterest boards

I wanted to design something that reminded me of an early twentieth century child.

Some of my designing process or what I remembered to photograph......

Above is the dress before I made a new, flared sleeve the skirt straight.

Have a nice week!

Pin It

Project Run & Play Week One

 Stopping by from Project Run & Play?

Below are some more pictures of my designs for this week's first challenge.

A remix of a bias strip technique tutorial from No Big Dill.

If you haven't gone over to Project Run & Play then please stop by here to vote for your favorite designs!
They are all so pretty.

I won't give a long explanation of all my work involved here but stop by next week for some tutorials and a peek into the making of these patterns.

OK, maybe just a short explanation...

I made the patterns myself and sewed the dresses from a combination of silk charmeuse, silk shantung, and cotton voile.

I threw the silks in the washer and dryer to distress, shrink, and soften them. This technique also makes the silk washable because I can't remember the last time I went to the dry cleaner!

 I was trying to go for a vintage 1920's feel.

What would Madeline wear on her day out?

The colors look a little muted but I love the combination of the soft dusky pink and black.

 Here is my double layer Peter Pan collar.

The strips are a combination of washed silk charmeuse, silk shantung, and cotton voile.

I made the tie from a bias strip of black silk charmeuse.

The dressabove was made by sewing two fabric layers together, turning them on the bias and cutting strips in the top layer.

I made the pin hair clips too.

The neckline is bias strip roses.

Don't forget to stop by and vote!

Pin It