Saturday, January 7, 2012

Every Color in the Box Dress





First of all I just want to say THANK YOU! to everybody for your kind kind words and supportive encouragement. I am honestly overwhelmed by all the love (if maybe slightly uncomfortable with all the attention...but so grateful nonetheless!)



When I decided to do this competition, I sort of told myself that I was just going to make whatever it was that had been floating around in my brain and not let myself be swayed by what I thought might be popular etc. Of course everything we do creatively is influenced by things we see so of course I absolutely draw inspiration that way, but I really kind of tried to unplug from looking at pinterest and other sewing and design blogs etc. so I could just tap into my own imagination and not be too influenced.



Anyway, I am just mentioning all this because there were points when I was making this dress where I honestly wondered if people would hate it (and maybe some of you do! And that's OK;)) and because it was coming so much from my gut I felt (feel) so emotionally involved in this dress. It's hard to know until it all comes together if its going to work or not and though I meant to get started sewing far in advance, with Christmas and lots of visitors etc. that just didn't happen.


(Avery was so not into this photo shoot)

So I really was sewing right up until the day before we posted, (Thank goodness I'd gathered all my supplies ahead of time.) and just wasn't sure if it'd all work out. So it just means an extra lot to me that so many of you like it! I really wasn't sure. I kind of thought it would be a -- love it or hate it-- kind of a look. Anyway, thanks for loving it. Or at least for loving me enough to pretend you do;)

Second, I was surprised that so many people thought at first that the scallops were part of the fabric. That never even occurred to me, and I should have probably done a better job explaining it.


Piecing those little buggers was far and away the thing that took the longest on this dress. But they were also the design element that I was most excited about and totally the jumping off point for me.


Anyway I am going to try to get a little tutorial together to show you just how I did it. I am so far behind in sewing though. Honestly I am basically just doing all the challenges in real time at this point. I meant to have at least a few done when we started but it didn't happen. Luckily (and because I know myself and sort of guessed this might happen) I spent a lot of time thinking, imagining, planning, and buying for potential looks ahead of time so if I can just get the fitting and sewing done I should be alright.



When I was following the past seasons I just kept thinking, "How are these girls getting all this sewing done and still maintaining the rest of their lives?" And after just one week in the competition I am still wondering that. Because I am not keeping the rest of my life together.


My house was a MESS all week. I am not a good multi-tasker. Even though I mostly only sew after my kids are in bed, I still felt like everything else was sliding. Most of the girls in this season sew all the time and post regularly on their blogs and I have so much respect for them! Really...I don't know how they do it.



Still, even with a messy house, I have to say I am really enjoying this whole process. It has been fun and good for my soul to dedicate some time to just doing something I love so.

And it makes it so much funner to have you guys following right along with me! Thank you for your support!

PS. Voting ends tonight if you'd still like to (and it's close!) And man I don't envy the judges. I think there is just so much creativity and really good sewing. So fun to see everybody's interpretations.


* Post Edit: I had an inquiry about the colors I used so I thought I'd list them for everyone in case you're interested. All materials for the dress were Kaffe Fassett's shot cottons in the following colors:
Cactus
Ginger
Sprout
Chartreuse
Forget Me Not
True Cobalt
Grape Shot Cotton Fabric
Pudding
Persimmon
Ecru
Thunder
Apricot
Ice
Galvanized

31 comments:

  1. Your dress is amazing! And I'm not pretending because I like you, because I don't even know you! But I just want to tell you congratulations on your piece! You are really talented! And I'm hoping Modcloth or someone sees your work so you can design some clothing for adults, too! :D

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  2. I voted for your dress, it was amazing! I just showed it to my daughter who's 3 and she wanted to take it off the computer and put it on. So excited to see more of your creations!

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  3. I love this dress! It's simultaneously retro and modern, sophisticated yet still little girly and formal but infinitely wearable. Congratulations and good luck for the remainder of the competition. I can't wait to see what else you come up with!

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  4. I voted for your dress because it was huge love for me. Your color scheme was fresh and novel and the design--amazing. But mostly I wanted to comment after this post to say, i like you for being real. I was one of those people who said just that--how is she that productive and what am I missing that I can't get my projects done. And while still amazing, it is nice to see that you are real. Can't wait to see what you churn up in the next weeks.

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  5. Btw...I don't think there's any way that anyone could put this together and still have a flawless house. I am one of those people who cannot put a project down until it's finished, so my family ends up eating crackers on a thread-covered table. Yikes! Way to go you for taking this on and being creative WITH kids. That's one thing that I'm not very good at doing lately.

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  6. Hi ,
    Your dress is fantastic! Been following the contest all the way from India . I was torn between voting for you and the Mommy and me dress , but my mother pointed out how much better yours was and I voted for you. And yes , I thought those scallops were part of the fabric , you did such an amazingly neat job - that's a compliment to your sewing skills. Looking forward to your tutorial so that I can sew it for my five year old. Congratulations on winning the first round !

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  7. This dress is absolutely amazing! I can't wait for the tutorial. Thank you so much for sharing - and inspiring!

    Allyson
    http://cupcakescandycanes.blogspot.com

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  8. Your tutorial over at Project Run and Play was great! I'm going to be using that technique sometime soon! Your babies are gorgeous!

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  9. I found you because of Project Run & Play. Thanks so much for sharing your beautiful dress along with being honest about your dish pile up. Its nice to know that I'm not the only one who gets behind on everything else when I'm trying to get a project done!

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  10. Your dress is awesome! I have to say that my daughter B (2.5yrs) saw the pics of your dress & said "Me wear cool dress!" so I will be making her your version shortly. Thank you. PS. found you through Project Run & Play

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  11. Congratulations your dress is AMAZING!

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  12. I adore this dress. As the mom of four boys I don't get to do a lot of this sort of sewing but I'm thinking of trying adapt it as a skirt for myself-- I'll tell everyone that it was your idea. :D

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  13. This dress is just GORGEOUS! I love love it. What a beautiful style you have. Thanks too for the great tutorial. Fabulous technique for creating a tiny hem on an applique.

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  14. completely amazing. i want 10 of these dresses. BEAUTIFUL.

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  15. this is amazing. and i love your dirty dishes in the sink. real life! you should be proud of yourself - this dress is so beautiful. i was wondering if you would be able to list the names of the colors you used. like you don't have anything else to do, right!!! :) i just adore them so much and i want to make a quilt inspired by them. i am doing my best to guess at the colors as i make an online fabric order...but a list would be great!

    keep up the awesome work - i can't wait to see what else you create!

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  16. Oh wow! That's a keeper, lady! Well done nad thank you for sharing. I'm all about the appliqué.

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  17. Beautiful!! I saw this dress on pintrest, I had to find out about it. Very GORGEOUS! Your daughter is so very adorable. I must say that you are so right about the whole sewing/crafting/homemaker thing. It is tough to get everything, and to keep everything in your household straight. I have been wondering how some people manage to stay bloging everyday, and keep house. After I started making and selling merchandise on etsy.com, I soon realized that it's the men in our life that appreciate the mess on the dinning room table, and the pile of laundry, and sometimes dirty dishes in the sink. Our husbands realize that we are doing things that we have a passion for, and not just wasting time online and not cleaning up, lol. Well, my husband at least. Great blog, thank you so much for sharing and giving me some great inspiration! Blessings to you and yours. :)

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  18. Beautiful dress Danielle, your daughter is so beautiful.

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  19. I came here from Project Run and Play, love the "Little Man Tuck" shirt. :) I will have a new nephew in a few months and I'm needing inspiration for clothes for him.
    I just had to comment and say that I'm in love with your sink. It's so huge! And that's about how my sink looks now, although I don't have anything crafty to show for it.

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  20. this is the the most original, adorable thing I have seen in a really long time! I am in love!!

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  21. Beautiful! Beautiful! Beautifull!

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  22. thank you for the colors :) i had so many of them wrong, so you are a dear to share. if only kaffe would come out with a color card! thanks again - looking forward to your next creations.

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  23. I'm OBSESSED with this dress! Do you take orders?? I'd LOVE to get one for my two year old!

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  24. Sorry, forgot to leave my email address, info@totshotboutique.com.

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  25. Your style is sophisticated and artistic. Thank you.

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  26. I must say that is one of the most beautiful and elegant little girl dresses I have ever seen. Incredible!

    Blessings,
    Shelley

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  27. Congratulations to you! Don't worry about the messy house, guess its alright especially if sewing makes you happy.

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  28. this is amazing!!!! i can't even put enough exclamation points on the end of that sentence. seriously, that must have taken some time, but it was worth it.

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  29. soo cute -definitely lookin foreward to it !!!!

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  30. I saw this dress on Pinterest and had to follow the rabbit trail back to your blog. Kudos for (1)sewing at all with kids, (2) thinking of and actually executing a project (with or without kids), (3) coming up with something unique and so amazing, and (4) being honest that you weren't sewing and keeping it all together (it gives the rest of us hope). This is such a cool dress...I really want one in my size! :) So glad I found it and got to see it! I'm feeling inspired!

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