Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Flight of Fancy Feather Dresses


Here's another fun and whimsical order from Sally of Sallykate Photography for a shoot-out called Flight of Fancy! I made 3 dresses, the first of which was a very full skirted dress complete with overskirt and lace bustle.

I used Simplicity 1508 for the bodice (to which I added sleeves) and the basis for the overskirt.






I started with one row of feathers and ended up adding two more to get it as fluffy as I wanted.





 I thought it would be fun to line with a striped fabric!


Next was a dress with a skirt completely covered in feathers! This one obviously took the most amount of feathers, and I had a bit of a learning curve sewing them on! I ended up with a combination of machine and hand stitching. I also ended up with feathers EVERYWHERE, lol.

I used New Look 6388 for the bodice, and just extended the sleeve length a bit.







I decided to do buttons up the back, with elastic loops for the closure. It was finished off with a green sash.




The aftermath, lol...


I added a little bow to the front at the last minute!


And finally, the last dress had a green top (also using New Look 6388) with lace trim, lovely white skirt with tulle overlay and feather trim, and a black sash. I love the contrast of the white skirt with black feathers!








I got them shipped off way too last minute, but fortunately they arrived in time. And then my favorite part, here are some of the amazing pics from the shoot (which you wouldn't know by looking at the stunning models, but it was a very cold and very windy day)!

So much gorgeousness from Sallykate Photography!

Stunning image from Julie Peveto Photography!

Julie Peveto Photography
As luck would have it, as soon as I was done and able to start vacuuming, we realized we'd accidentally just thrown the bottom of the vacuum's canister away (and the trash had just been picked up)!! Lol! So I was stuck with feathers on the ground for a few days until we were able to order a replacement, but it was all worth it. ;-)


Friday, November 20, 2015

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Into the Woods Cinderella Dress

This project was so much fun! A friend of mine, Sally,  who is a photographer (check out her amazing work on her Facebook page here!) requested a dress fashioned after the gold Cinderella dress from Into the Woods for a whole shoot inspired by the movie! Here's what the original dress looked like:




This was actually my first attempt at a full on boned corset. It was a great experience, and gave me confidence that I could maybe make one for myself one day. I looked for a corset with a shape as close to the movie version as possible, and ended up deciding on Butterick 4254, a now out of print pattern that I totally lucked out on and got for free! The last pattern at the store happened to be the size I needed, and it was basically no longer in their system so they just threw it in my bag. Score! :-)


Making the corset was not that difficult, it was just tedious sewing all those boning channels! I did a lot of research and ended up getting cable ties at Home Depot to use for the boning. I numbered them as I went. It worked well, but boy were they hard to cut, especially the little pieces.




This was also my first time installing eyelets (or grommets), and once I figured it out (it took longer than it should have, lol) it went quickly.




And yes, I got to hand sew all that binding on...some of those tabs at the bottom were a challenge!



For the skirt, I just kind of made it up as I went along. It had a lining, and then gold lamé with a pick up for the skirt, and then a separate overskirt made of organza, with a bustle and train. (It was hard getting pics of these as it was too small to fit on any of my dress forms! So I did the best I could and improvised with a small pillow, lol.)





 
Finally, I trimmed the corset with some greenish tulle and gold netting around the neckline and shoulders.






I love making things for photographers, because I know I'm going to get to see amazing photos of whatever I've made!! This was certainly no exception, here is Sally's lovely daughter as Cinderella. :-) 
 
"Do you know what you wish? Are you certain what you wish is what you want?"


And a taste of some of the other amazing characters!




Isn't it just magical?? The shoot was a workshop where other photographers could come and shoot, so I got to see a few other photographer's work as well, which was so cool! I was really impressed by this one from Nicole Martin Photography, I love the profile with the bustle! 

Come, little birds, Down from the eaves, And the leaves, Over fields, Out of castles and ponds.. - Into The Woods

 I already have several more dresses for SallyKate Photography in the works, I know her photos are going to be amazing, can't wait!!