December Dress

Here we are at the end of the line for this year long Dress-up Project.
I went round and round with a design for December but everything I thought of, I'd have to buy material. Since I pledged not to buy new supplies this year I had to come up with something else.


I decided on PINK for my Holiday formal dress. I love this color! The fabric is so soft and shimmery too.  


One design I had considered was the classic little black dress, perfect Holiday party wear, but I didn't have and plain black fabric. Yes I could have went the paper route and painted a little black dress but that wouldn't have been the same!

I'd also given some thought to my imagined bridesmaid dresses for a Christmas wedding. As a young girl sitting in Church at Christmas I loved the tree in the corner and the sea of poinsettia plants around the pulpit and communion stands. I could picture the whole wedding.  Keep in mind this was the 80's so I had wanted a black velvet long sleeve top with a  layered tartan shirt and a wide gold sash with a bow in the back. Of course both the sash and tartan would be a bit shimmery and the skirt would have had some body to it so it would have a nice bell shape.

Well...little girl dreams change as we grow up and so do the styles..thank goodness. We had a spring wedding in Vegas! Elopement is SO much easier!!

Here's one last look at all the dresses in the wardrobe.

Go check out the rest of the December Dresses at the Alice and Camilla blog.
Special thanks to Margaret for coming up with this fun project!!

November Dress

This month I decided to go a little more traditional for the Dress-up Project.

An evening gown with lace shawl.

I was totally in love with this fabric and just had to use it for something. There happened to be a nice scallop in the pattern so I used it to my advantage. I simply cut along it for an interesting hem.  I added the lace underskirt for that little extra kick.

This was a no sew dress since I put away my sewing machine and have vowed not to take it back out until I finish some other projects. Hot glue works wonders!!

Of course, then yesterday I get a call from a friend asking if I'd hem her son's hockey jerseys. I'll be doing those by hand today since the stitching will have to be removed in the spring before turning them back in. All I can say is EWW...nasty sweaty boys hockey jersey's worn year after year by different kids. BLECH! But I digress...

For November Margaret asked that we also show the wardrobes we've completed for the dresses. I went ahead and did that a while ago but here's a little shot of what it looks like inside today.



Take a moment and stop by the Alice and Camilla blog to see the rest of the November dresses and wardrobes.

October Dress

So here I am...a week past the October deadline for the Dress-up Project...  But on the bright side...it IS still October!!

Since I seem to be doing nothing but raking leaves lately, this seemed like the natural choice for October.  The bodice of the dress if cut from suede scraps. The skirt is made from a pack of silk leaves. Hot glue holds the whole works together.  Feels very woodland nymph-ish to me.  I even had to give a light spray of spray adhesive with a sprinkle of glitter for this one.

Hop on over to Margaret's Alice and Camilla Blog to check out the other wonderful October Dresses!!  You won't be sorry that you did!

September Dress

Last month some of my visitors from the Dress-up Project thought the idea of recreating my flag twirler uniform was a good idea. Funny because it was just something I thought on a whim ...not a really great plan in my head. So, I dug out the picture and gave it a whirl...or maybe that should be a twirl.

Most high school mascots are named for birds or tough, scary animals. Or maybe warriors.
Not us...
We were the Skippers. Yeah...I know...
Oh, watch out!!  Here come those big, bad  Skippers!  It was a nautical thing that was much more relevant about 50 or so years prior. Although I'm sure it was chosen as an elitist thing. Bunch of snobs....but I digress.




Anyway...we had a sailor theme for our uniforms. I did manage the sailor collar but didn't even attempt to make a sailor hat or the white gloves.



I'm  pretty happy with the result.



 

What do you think compared to the real deal...?

Never mind the "woodsy-the-owl glasses".  Good grief...keep in mind it was the 80's after all.

Make sure to visit the Alice and Camilla blog to see the rest of the September dresses.


                                                                     Homecoming 1988

Wardrobe transformation

I finally got around to making this little cabinet into a wardrobe for my Dress Up Project dresses.
I may still play around with distressing the brown. It was going to be more of a dry brush look but I got little heavy handed and had to go with it.

The little dresses look so cute on the little hangers.

August Dress

Wowsers...August snuck up on me. I had to quickly whip up this dress so I wouldn't fall behind the rest of the Dress-up project participants.

I call it the Summer of Love sundress.
The fabric was scavenged from a pair of pants my son wore many, many years ago. I had fun drawing on the fabric with markers before sewing. 

I was going to make a mini replica of my flag twirler outfit from high school but decided that would be just too difficult to figure out on the fly. Maybe I'll make it for October...like homecoming. My junior year when I was a flag twirler was my best year of high school...so many good memories. Hard to believe my 20yr reunion was just last week! Although, I skipped it. :)

Don't forget to check out all the other August Dresses over at the Alice and Camilla blog.

July Dress

Well, lookie here...I'm right on time with my July dress for the Dress-up Project!

When I think July, I think Independence Day, hot & sunny days,  picnics and time with family.  What would a fashionable girl wear for that? A Patriotic sundress, of course.

Head on over to the Alice and Camilla blog to see the rest of the July dresses.

June Dress

It's still June and my dress is complete!  Now I'm all caught up with the other gals in the Dress-up Project.

I wanted a very full skirt for this one. I drew a circle with a dinner plate on a shirt that I had already scavenged the sleeves off for wine bottle gift bags.  It took some tricky sewing to get the skirt attached to the top. But, of course, the black lace trim covers my poor sewing job.

Be sure to hop on over to the Alice and Camilla blog to check out the other June dresses.

May Dress

I'm almost there!! One more dress and I'll be caught up with the rest of the Dress-up Project participants.

This dress I wanted to be kind of sassy. Maybe prom dress like.
First I adhered a scrap hand dyed fabric from my stash to the cereal box form.
Next I got out a couple silk flower arrangements likely from the 80's or early 90's judging by the color. I pulled them apart and stapled the folded flowers in layers to form the skirt flounces.
The pearl and lace ribbon was used to cover the staples. See you'd have never known my secret had I not spilled the beans!!

My only issue with the dress is how to hang it in my yet to be finished wardrobe. I do have a small clothes pin that can work in a pinch. I was considering fish line...then it would be like those plastic strap things that sometimes come on woman's clothing.
Regardless of how I hang it...I love it.
Sassy, flirty but in a youthful, more innocent way.

Be sure to check out the other May Dresses over at the Alice and Camilla Blog.

April Dress

Check out my latest dress for the Dress-up Project.

I mostly used recycled materials for this one. The  "fabric" of the dress is the paper my boy and I made last summer. I cut out a front and back then sprayed them with the one bottle of Glimmer Mists I own. :)

I stamped across the dress lightly with a script stamp and distress ink for extra interest. I "stuffed" the dress with some tissue to give it a bit of dimension before gluing it together.

The fringe bottom was created by folding little pieces of cut tablcloth.

The necklace was a pierced earring. All I had to do was take off the post and ta-da...necklace.

Make sure and stop by the Alice and Camilla blog to check out all the other April dresses!

March Dress

I'm getting closer to being caught up with the rest of the Dress-up Project folks from the Alice and Camila blog.

I decided to use sheet music for the base of the dress. I did a quick wash of green craft paint and decided I liked the color.

Next came the necklace which set the tone for the dress. Gold flowers. The necklace is made of old earring parts.

Want to see more...check out the other March dresses.

Feburary Dress

I decided to add a bit more fabric to this dress. It reminds me of one of my favorite Barbie doll dresses from the 70's. Well, at least the long straight skirt part. Sorry for the poor photo...it's been raining here for days. I can't get any decent natural light!!

Be sure to check out the other creations from my fellow Dress-up 2010 participants at the Alice and Camilla blog.

January Dress

I figured I'd better start at the beginning of the year and work my way forward in order to properly catch up with Margaret and the rest of the group at Alice and Camilla.

This dress is fitting for a Winter Carnival Princess. I even decided to give her a snowflake medallion to wear. The mesh apron was made from a garlic bulb bag from Trader Joe's. I've saved some red and purple as well. It's a fun material to use!

My daughter says the dress looks a lot like Cinderella's. I can see that too but that was not my intention.

A New Project

A few of the blogs I frequent have been participating in a special project this year called Dress Up Challenge 2010.  After seeing the unique take on this project from so many participants I wished I had joined.  Someone said..."well why don't you...you can catch up." Yet I still was reluctant.

My latest trip to the thrift store changed my mind. When I saw this small cupboard I knew it was there for a reason... I needed to transform it into a wardrobe for the dresses.

It doesn't look like much now but that is about to change. I've removed the tiny hooks and wood cross pieces from the inside. Next I'm going to give both the outside and inside a makeover. Lastly I'll install a closet rod for the dresses to hang from.

I'm very excited about this new project and look forward to sharing my progress.