Final Touches

 I decided to add a little fabric to the deep V neck making it a little more "movement" friendly (pinned in this picture), as this dress is for a wedding, and, yes, I will be dancing...

The hemline was giving me a headache trying to make it look the way I wanted so I did a little research on how to make a "flounced hem" and decided ultimately that this added much needed length without compromising the lines and silhouette of the dress - I think it actually added character and style!

(back view) 

I'm so pleased with my zipper!!!  $30 zipper foot was worth every penny!

 Posing here with my nude heels on.

 Different lighting (playing with my crappy camera) helps to show the folds and bodice details.

I'm not quite finished with the peacock feather detail, but it's going to look amazing...

Hand Beaded Details

Beaded dress strap

 This is not a very good picture, but I added bead clusters to the nude strap of my bridesmaid dress. 

 close up

 The dress is hemmed and almost finished

 I think I want to do something about the way it kicks out slightly on the left with all the gathers...

But I don't really know how to fix this besides holding it like in the picture above.

Beaded peacock feather detail 

 First I drew out a pattern and stitched it to the netting I'm using as a backing.

 Then I  added iron on interfacing to the "eye" of the peacock feather where most of the beading will be for a little support.

So far this is what I've got.  It is much more sparkly in person.  I may do just the center of the feather on the netting and interfacing and then attach it to the dress and add the feather "whisps" straight onto the dress fabric.

This is all new to me and it's hard to find beading tutorials online for adding beaded details to a dress, so I'm kinda making it up as I go along...

Finally a new painting!

Collage, mixed-media Doggie Portrait.  

Repo, Austin's dog.

I started by collecting items that reminded me of Repo for the background.  His name is collaged into the background along with a puzzle piece, a chinese watch dog, a dragonfly, and a few hand made (years ago) paper leaves.  I painted the background first and then started painting Repo's face, layer by layer.  The leaves and dragonfly are actually the last layer applied on top of the painting with collage glue.

close up

A Bridesmaid Again...

Making my own bridesmaid dress:

 pattern chosen...

 Navy fabric bought, then cut out pattern (I hate this part...)

 Starting to sew!
  Right shoulder gather detail.

 I love my trusty sewing machine!

 Bodice done, checking for fit.

 No zipper yet, holding it together to check fit again.

 Ok, zipper in... Looking good.

Still need to hem and I am working on some hand beaded detailing for the left shoulder strap and possibly at waist.

more to come soon...

Vintage Inspired Sundress

With this dress from Pinup Couture being my inspiration and a bit out of my budget, I decided to make my own yellow roses sundress.

Cynthia Rowley dress pattern:

This pattern was fairly simple to put together, and I'm super pleased with the results.  I love the fitted bodice and full skirt.  There are two black beaded buttons at the waist that are kinda hard to make out with all the pattern on the dress.  It's definitely a little different from my inspiration dress but ultimately more wearable.

 (These pictures were taken in Spring when it was still too cold in WA to wear a dress without tights.)

This dress looks great with a little black cardigan (I wear my fav Betsey Johnson skull cardigan with it).  Also, it would look super cute with a crinoline for added fullness in the skirt.  I think I'll be adding a black crinoline to my wish list!