I don't know what I'd do without my little inspiration girl! Whenever I'm stumped with an idea, she always comes through with one. Today's dress is an example. We were enjoying a fun snack of sunflower seeds and hazelnuts and I mentioned that I hadn't yet come up with a dress for the day. She was right on top of things and suggested our snack! And doesn't it make an adorable dress?
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Remember that romper pattern? I used it to make this gorgeous fairy outfit for my first granddaughter. I made it from marbled cotton, marbled and ruched chiffon, and some lovely collaged fabric that I designed myself from fabric scraps. I entered it in a contest with Today's Creative Home Arts magazine, and it won honorable mention! BTW, my granddaughter loved it too!
My granddaughter suggested that I make a dress from her favorite stuffed animals after first creating a dress of her own. It was the first time I'd played with stuffed animals in many years, but I accepted the challenge and made this dress. It boasts a square neckline, short sleeves, and a full skirt. The colorful inchworm makes a really cute belt, don't you think?
This dress was featured in the 2010 Fashion Show, but the black vest is a new addition. I made it today to wear with my fall outfits. It goes really well with this dress, so I wore it for our animal print photo shoot. I made it of knit so that it would be form-fitting and used my favorite black and gold flower buttons for the front. The dress is made with a soft animal print block microfiber bodice and a crinkle cotton skirt of wide animal print stripes. A tie at the waist cinches it perfectly. Aren't I a wild thing? *grin*
My granddaughters have lovely medieval gowns their mother made for them to dress up in, so I made them each a fur cape to wear over them. The fake fur I used looks and feels like real fur, so the capes really look nice. I lined them with cream taffeta and gave them a delicate filigree hook closure at the collar. The capes were a big hit!
As I was working on my other project, I ran across this photo of my very first baby outfit. I made this romper for my eldest granddaughter as a baby. I used an adorable bunny print in summer weight cotton. She looked so cute in it! Seeing this snapshot brought back all the fun I had sewing this design for her. I went on to use this romper pattern for several other outfits for her. She made them all look good!
I just realized today that I hadn't yet done a Hershey's kisses dress! Well, I had to fix that immediately! I'm not really big on silver, mostly because I prefer gold. So I made the empire bodice of this gown from Rollos, which isn't precisely cheating since they're a Hershey's product too. I thought the dress turned out very Napoleonic . And tasty! *grin*
Here's a blast from the past. Doing work on another project of mine, I got to access my daughter's treasure trove of handmade Barbie clothes from her childhood for a photo shoot. Among her Barbie dresses was this cream negligee I made for her one Christmas. The gown is of linen with a lace wrap bodice and straps, and the robe is of seersucker with pearl and lace accents. I was so surprised to see it again after all these years! I remember the hours I spent sewing it by hand for her and how excited she was to open it that Christmas morning. Looking at it and recalling all the joy, I suddenly wish my granddaughters were older so I could make intricate Barbie dresses for them too! But there will be time enough for that, I'm sure. In the meantime, this trip down memory lane has made me smile. It's nice to share it with all of you! *grin*
This was my favorite dress from the 2011 Fashion Show. I loved designing it, making it, wearing it, and seeing it on my model in the show. The fabric for the dress was a marbly olive and black semi-sheer knit which my daughter said was hideous -- until she saw the finished dress. Then she loved it and marveled that it turned out so great! The vest is made from several different heavy decorator cottons and trimmed with black. Nine different antique gold buttons march down the center of the vest. In showing it off for today's dress, I played with it in Picnik using the Ortonish style. It gives the photo a real steampunk time travel look!
I wondered how this top would look as a dress, and now I know. It looks angelic! My youngest granddaughter makes it very Victorian and very much her own with my antique hat and a fancy belt. She loves hats and always looks fabulous in them, so she was bound to carry off this style with perfect panache!
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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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