Have you ever had a fabric that you just couldn’t cut into because it was so beautiful? This rayon stripe was that way for me. I’ve had it for more years than I intend to admit, but finally today I designed a tunic around it that I wanted more than the fabric sitting in my stash. I love the handkerchief hem and the solid black back. It turned out so well! And so very flattering!
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This used to be my favorite fall dress that did double time as a duster. But when I lost some weight it began to really hang on me, so I threw it in my fabric stash to figure out what to do with it at a later date. Well, I found it today and knew just what I wanted to do with it. I cut off the lower ruffle, which had some damage from the hemline sweeping the floor when it got too big for me. Then I removed the sleeves and tightened up the back. Now it can be worn in every season, with or without a shirt under it, and still look great. I’m so happy!
I found this fabric in a dress at the secondhand store. It’s so cute with ladies all over it dressed in colorful summer dresses. I brought it home and stewed over it for awhile until I figured out how best to work it for my own personal style. It took some intense measuring and fabric finagling, but the result was awesome! I especially love that I was able to keep the border from the dress in the finished tunic.
I got the bottom half of this tunic from a top on clearance at Maurice’s. The bodice was too revealing for my taste, but I loved the feel and look of the rayon fabric. So I matched the skirt body with some of my sage chiffon from my stash and made this summer top. It’s so pretty that I get compliments every time I wear it.
This Steampunk design is a favorite of mine for many reasons, one of which is that it’s just so flattering! It’s one of my own designs, adapted from a jacket look I saw on a website for Steampunk fashions. There doesn’t seem to be a fabric I can choose that doesn’t look great in this design. This fabric was a very nice jacket I found at my local secondhand store (my favorite place to shop!), but it was too snug for me to wear in its original style. So I took it apart and made this vest instead. I debated whether to leave the sleeves on it or not, but finally decided I’d get more wear out of it as a vest. I love how the lines of the back of the vest vee toward the waist, making a slenderizing silhouette.
I found this beautiful Oriental panel fabric while visiting my brother and his family in Arizona last fall. His daughter had some she was using to make a kimono, and I loved it. So when he took me by their local fabric store, I looked around and found it still there. Yea! I bought a batik at the same time to use for the bodice, but forgot about the dress idea once I got home -- until I was going through my project bins and saw the fabrics again. It took very little time to make the dress using my own design patterns. Since the panels weren’t quite long enough to support a bottom ruffle, I didn’t make it a maxi. But I think it worked out well as a serene and unique day dress.
I love time spent with my granddaughters! They are very creative fashionistas and always give me new ideas. Today we were snacking on pistachios, and they decided we should use the shells to make dresses. So we did! They turned out lovely and made us smile. This one is mine. Does it make you smile?
This is another rescue from my local secondhand clothing store. It was a total design disaster, which is probably why it ended up there instead of in someone’s wardrobe. But the fabric was fabulous! I brought it home, cut off the two layers of tangled fabric that comprised the unflattering skirt of the dress, and used some of the fabric to create a new and flattering tunic body. Now it’s so pretty it begs to be worn often!
My grandchildren watched me sewing while I was visiting, and then my granddaughter got an idea. She wanted to learn to sew too! Her younger brother also wanted to learn, so I took Lily with me to the local fabric store and got some fabric for them to begin. After they worked on their stitches for an afternoon, Lily was ready to try her hand at making her own Barbie dress from fabric. She designed it, I cut out the fabric pieces for her, and she sewed them all together. Didn’t she do wonderfully?
Here is the second tissue dress I made while designing with my granddaughter. I made it especially for her Tiana doll, since I loved her character in the Disney movie "Princess and the Frog." The camera didn't quite catch the exact shade of soft mint green in the tissue, but I was very happy with the finished dress. My granddaughter liked it too!
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Denise FeltI took this challenge in the hopes of expanding my creativity as an artist. Already I'm seeing art in a new light -- as something to do for fun and not just practicality! Archives
December 2015
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