A little dress with a big ruffle

10.04.2010

A little dress with a big ruffle

Well, it's not really a ruffle.  But, I've been seeing so many of these fun dresses (love the natural waist!) with big ruffle-like collars... they're actually bias spirals sewn on without any gathering.  See?
From ModCloth:

 This fun one from Anthro a while back:

 These from Amanda Uprichard:

 And this adorable one from a promo shoot for the ABC Family series Pretty Little Liars (super random source of inspiration, I know...a guy I know from high school is in the show and I've been watching!).

Anyway, it's a super cute dress style and I love the natural waist!  I wanted to make something similar for myself, and knew I could; it's pretty simple, really.
I modified Simplicity 2497, one of my most-used (but not favorite) patterns.  I've had fit issues with this one before.  I modified it considerably already last fall, turning it into a tunic.  Here's the basic look:

Some of the Cynthia Rowley patterns are super cute, and more modern than a lot of the patterns you see.  So this was a good one to modify: basically, I didn't use the waistband and made an elastic casing out of the skirt piece instead, on the inside of the dress.  Instead of the bias binding around the neck and armholes, I used the spiral ruffle!
That's what I'm calling the collar and armhole ruffles... they're not really ruffles, since they're not gathered, but are instead cut on a sort of eternal bias, cut in a circle.  Here's some pics of how I cut them out:

I measured the circumference of the neck and armholes, and cut circles with those circumferences.  Now I see that I had cut them in smaller circles and sewn them together, I would have had more ruffling.  But, that's ok.  Here's how it turned out!

 Cute with a belt, too!

It's getting a little cool to wear too many times this fall, but we've had some hot days very recently, too.  It's a sheer-ish lightweight cotton that I got yards of once at Goodwill, and lined with some cheap navy lining.  Not as formal as the purple Pretty Little Liars dress, but more of a playdress for warm weather.  I may wear it when I go down to Florida at the end of the month!

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Update on the spray paint shoes

10.02.2010

Update on the spray paint shoes

Last week, before we took our (first round of) engagement photos (yay!! Can't wait to share them with you (here!)), I spray-painted a cheap pair of heels out of desperation and longing for colorful pumps.  You can read the story here, since they did go through several colors and revisions.

Some of you had tips and questions for me, thanks!!  About the success of the spray-paint job... well, it was partial.  No, they did not stain my feet!  Once the paint is dry it is about as dry as it comes, and does not scrape off at all--one of spray paint's best and worst qualities.  I just used regular ol' spray paint, Valspar brand for one of them, store brand in the red.  Then, I decided I wanted another color, so I bought some coral spray paint and painted them again.  They then had four coats of paint/primer on them, which may have contributed to the only problem that I encountered...

A little chipping.  They were great for the pictures, and I would totally do it again.  But now that I've worn them, they do show a few little signs of cracking and chipping.  See?

Just a few places where the white of the original shows through.  My first thought?  That primer did squat. If you try this at home, you can skip the primer.  I don't think it helped at all.

Also, I'm pretty sure this would have gone better on a shoe of a different material.  These things are cheap-o vinyl, and I think just about any other shoe type would work better.  Leather, even, if you got them cheaply and didn't mind painting them, or fabric.  Cheap fabric faux suede or anything with a nap might look weird, but canvas or twill would probably look fine.  And, you'll remember I have spray-painted leather shoes before, but then I covered the painted part in Mod Podge and glitter (see here).

More on the engagement pictures when I get them back from my photographer! (Update: see them here!)

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Awesome guest tutorial: Anthro-pretty necklace by Mary Ann

10.01.2010

Awesome guest tutorial: Anthro-pretty necklace by Mary Ann

I'm happy to present a great tutorial from a lovely blogger, Mary Ann of The Dapper Bun and Made by Mary Ann.  I stumbled across her blog a while ago and loved her tutorials so much!  Check out some of the fun things she's made...

Love the Christian Louboutin-inspired pumps with chiffon floofies she made:

 Plus some super cute headbands!

 Today I'm happy to share with you a tutorial for this lovely necklace...

Let's go to the tutorial!!

This necklace consists of velvet ribbon I recently purchased and little bits and pieces from a craft box that belonged to my grandmother.  I've gone through this box multiple times, but haven't found a use for any of the contents, until today! ;-)

Supplies
Ribbon (apprx. a yard or so, I used less)
Random bits of chain (I used old eye-glasses chains)
Random connector bits (I used these old brass filigree things)
Some jump rings
Pliers
Step 1
Gather supplies.

Step 2
The pearl chain was in bits and pieces, so I connected them together with pliers.

Step 3
Connect chains to filigree (I used old jump rings from leftover parts from that craft box).

Step 4
Loop ribbon onto other filigree.

Step 5
Tie other ends of ribbon onto the first filigree.

Step 6
I decided I wanted to add another filigree, so I undid the chain jump rings, and added on a new connector with another jump ring.

Step 7
I redid Step 3.

Step 8
Connect other ends of chain to other filigree, varying the lengths.

And that's it!  Made from all repurposed supplies, I didn't have to buy anything at the store!

Isn't it pretty?  I don't do much jewelry-making, myself, so I loved that Mary Ann made it look so easy and fun!
Do check out her fashion blog, The Dapper Bun, and some of her other tutorials!

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Fab new decor magazines!

9.30.2010

Fab new decor magazines!

I'm sure you've seen this around the blog world... but just the other week (Rue) and last month (Anthology), two great new magazines have come out!
Some of us are still mourning the loss of Domino, and of course Lonny Magazine online has helped with that void.  But it's so exciting to see some new design mags out there--such beautiful stuff, and all of the content online so you can view from the comfort of your desk chair.
Rue, started by two stylish friends, has a great quirky fun to it while maintaining high style and class.  Here are some great pics from the September issue:

And then there's Anthology.  It's a quarterly mag, available in print (with an online preview), based on narratives and quality writing about home décor, travel, design, entertaining, and culture.  Founded by another pair of talented women, each issue has a different theme.

So, if you have time for some ooh-ing and ahh-ing over lovely homes and decor ideas, check out Rue and the Anthology preview online.

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Spray-painted heels

9.29.2010

Spray-painted heels

We're taking our engagement pictures this week (yay!), and I've been longing for some super cute, colorful heels.  Of course, it's fall now, and all the stores have is black, brown, and some dark red.  I want turquoise, or yellow, or pink!  I think it's so fun for engagement shoots to have darling, sort of vintage-inspired, colorful shoes, especially for my personality!  I know the shoot isn't about fashion, but it sure helps, and I really think the cute shoes add spunky attitude to some of the shoots I've seen... here's one from Ruffled:

And Green Wedding Shoes:

I want cute shoes!

Recently, I gave up on buying the perfect shoe and thought I'd try spray-painting some shoes with a cute style.  I've spray-painted shoes before (here) but then put glitter and ModPodge on them, so this is a relatively new concept for me.  The shoes I found to try this out on aren't great, but it was worth a try... I got this pair of peep toe heels at Goodwill on sale for $2.50.  They're the Payless brand so I don't feel bad doing things to them.

Anyway, I took a couple cans of spray paint to them, over a coat of spray primer, to make them a fun color! Here's the before...

I tried the blue, but they looked too cartoon-ey, so I pulled out the classic red.

Pretty cool, eh?
They may crack with lots of wear, but for photos they should be just fine!  I'll keep you posted on how the pics go. =)

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