I came up with my
first dino dress last summer and have been meaning to make a T-Rex dress ever since, but things just keep coming along to distract me. Anyway, I finally just got the kick in the pants that I needed when a custom order came in last week through my Etsy shop for a pink T-Rex dress. Aha!
So, the early stage of sketching has been documented (below). I'm often asked if I use clip art for my appliques, and the answer is, "Nope." My handbag is loaded with pieces of paper on which I have sketched out designs and everything is always done in freehand by moi. After scoping out books, signage, the zoo, and wherever, I have an idea of how I want something to look. With the T-Rex, a fierce stance was needed that I could soften up by going with a super-girlie print. I use tracing paper so that I can keep parts of an image that I like and edit by sketching in new areas on the parts that don't work.
This T-Rex image was a little tricky for me because the tail was hard to get right, considering it had to be positioned on an A-line dress. Should the tail be up? Down made it look too droopy. As you can can see from the finished applique below, I went with a happy medium!
Here
she is in all of her hot pink glory. Photographing the dress was a whole other challenge that I will save for another post. Getting my little model to tolerate a thousand different angles, backgrounds, etc. is not easy, but she kept at it for me. Just don't ask me to reveal how many gummy bears I owed her when we were done!
We are very excited to give a peek of one of the new dresses that will be in my shop within a week for fall! Can you see the excitement on Caroline's face? This dress is made out of teal-colored jersey so it is supersoft and it has trim and a pumpkin applique is in a cotton print by Erin McMorris. I have at least 3 more similar dresses coming in organic orange, purple, and chocolate-colored jersey and they will be in slightly different styles. The comfy style of these dresses is perfect for playing and heading back to school on crisp fall days. What do you think?
This one below was really incredible because it had something that I have never seen in a pot before. Look closely...see it?
See it? No? Try this close up.
Although the weather has been toasty here in Seattle (well, maybe not today), I have had fleece on the brain. Combining my interest in using my blanket fleece for more projects and creating some fun products for boys led me down the path of critters and monsters. One of my favorite things is catching a glimpse of a kiddo rockin' a Halloween costume in April (or any other month for that matter), so I wanted to combo costumes with things that kids could wear every day, so here we go...
A fleece bear vest with little ears! I've got these made up in chocolate brown with prints that can be for boys and girls (fabric is on the ears and the fabric-covered buttons).
Last fall, I made Caroline an octopus poncho for Halloween. She loved it so much and we got so many compliments that she started wearing it all of the time. It was so easy to get on and off and it grew with her so well that I wanted to make more. These have been made up with supersoft fleece, organic T-shirt jersey liner and the eyes are lightly stuffed with eco-friendly bamboo fibers. As you can see below, they come in lots of colors.
Oh, and little Caroline is actually sporting a lime green frog vest that is perfect for boys and girls.
And here is Henry in a one-eyed monster vest! A girlie monster is on the way too.
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