Red Dragon Smocked Dress

One of my favorite little girls requested

a red dress with a dragon smocked onto it.

I searched and searched and had no success finding

a smock plate with a dragon,

nor one with Chinese lanterns.

She is the same age as my Ahnalin and both girls

love the strong girl warrior of Chinese legend

depicted in the Disney movie "Mulan".

We decided to let the movie influence my smocking.

As there is no pattern for this character,

I just started smocking free hand,

 to see how the little dragon

would arrive on the fabric. 

And he arrived full of personality!

 

 The Chinese lanterns were actually

a machine embroidery file that I purchased.

I had not machine embroidered on pleated fabric

before, but I think it worked well.

She requested her name to be embroidered on the skirt

in gold thread and Chinese style writing.

I hemmed the dress with my favorite growth tuck

hem treatment.

 

As she has a December birthday, she prefers

her dresses to have long sleeves and 

twirly skirts have been her preference as well.

 

Long sleeve cuffs with star button and 

candy cane corded piping. 

The angle of the picture is weird

and the piping is folding all wonky because 

I was holding with one hand and taking

the picture with my phone. 

I think I should have asked someone to 

take the photo for me!

This is the back of the dress.

I am now remembering why I never posted these

photos last year. 

I was thrilled with how the dress turned out,

be the photos were so awful.  

I think I need some photography help!

 

I have several other creations from the 

last year that I never shared.

I need to get busy and post them!

For today, I am making a blue raw silk

dress for India to wear to a gala this weekend.

I PROMISE I will post photos when I finish the dress.

Happy Sewing. 

 

Ahnalin Was A Flower Girl

Actually, both of my girls were in the wedding party.

The bride was a beautiful girl named Ashlee,

whom we have loved since she and India met

in the 7th grade.

India was honored to be Ashlee's Maid Of Honor

and she was so thrilled to be there for her.
Thankfully, I didn't have to make the bridesmaid
dresses for this wedding.

And Ahnalin was asked to be Ashlee's Flower Girl!

So this gave mama the opportunity 

to make a special dress for her to wear.

Ahnalin refuses to wear anything that scratches or itches

or is slippery or makes noise when she moves.

And the temperature was to be around 100 degrees

at the wedding.

So, that meant that I needed to make something 

that was comfortable for Ahnalin,

yet beautiful and "wedding appropriate".

I chose to make the bodice out

of one of Ahnalin's favorite styles.

As usual, I didn't use a pattern,

because I just measure her chest and 

waist and cut it out.

I had to made this dress in a short amount of time

(due to a crazy packed sewing schedule!)

and a very limited budget.

So, I grabbed my bolt of white Imperial Broadcloth

out of my stash, and started creating.

The vintage cotton lace had been in my stash 

for a while too.

I had purchased it about a year ago from 

a local crafting thrift store in Sebastopol

called"Legacy".

Ahnalin did not want a slip or any tulle

under her dress,

so I decided to make the skirt with an overskirt.

She wanted it to overlap like a tulip.

I added the lace at the hem as well.

Ahnalin felt that it made the dress

look more like a dress from

"Thoroughly Modern Millie".

She said she felt like a real bride in this dress.

I had these clear lacy buttons in my 

button jar just waiting for the perfect dress.

The bride had chosen silver accents

for the bridesmaids dresses she chose for her girls.

So the silver dots on the buttons were just right!

I also added sash carriers

so that the green ribbon 

would stay somewhat in place,

even with my active Ahnalin.

Ashlee had chosen silver shoes for herself

and her bridesmaids.

So I was very excited to find these

"Cinderella" shoes at the Disney Store

for a very reasonable price.

How very princess-like!

Ahnalin wanted me to take a picture with the 

lilies in our backyard.

Both of my girls looked lovely at the wedding

and had a wonderful time celebrating 

Ashlee and her new husband Jeremy.

Eventually, India tried to teach

Ahnalin a little line dancing.

But then Ahnalin got tired 

and asked if she could play games on my iPad

to chill out for a while.

The wedding was beautiful.

Ashlee and Jeremy are now "man and wife".

And we are back home in time

for school to start this week!

I am back to work sewing,

and have openings for customs again.

But tonight,

I must make a "First day of school" dress

for the little bridesmaid. 

Happy Sewing!

Sivje

Madison's Birthday Dress

Once again it is birthday time for

one of my favorite little fashionistas!

For the last 4 years,

a darling little girl named Madison

has requested a very special dress for her birthday.

Last year, when she was 6, Madison

requested an "Olivia" themed dress.

More pictures of this dress are HERE.

And when she was 5, 

Madison requested a Tinkerbell themed dress.

More photos of this dress are HERE.

And this was the very first dress I smocked

and constructed for Madison, 

when she was 4.

Each year, Madison chooses her theme,

color, and other details and then I get to create

a dream dress for her.

Madison's mommy sent me a picture of the

design that our little designer had chosen.

Because there are no smock plates 

(smocking stitch pattern)

for this kitty, 

I had to figure out a way to 

smock this design. 

Just like last year, 

I ended up smocking free hand.

Madison requested Hot Pink 

as the color of her dress but left 

the rest of the design up to me.

I loved the contrast of the black 

outline in the design,

so I chose to use black for her name

and for the rick rack as well.

And like last year, 

I sewed a row of tulle to

the attached petticoat

to add a little bit of fluff to the skirt!

And I found the most fabulous

hot pink sparkly buttons to match the fabric

just perfectly!

And of course,

because we all know of my passion for rick rack,

I had to add some to the skirt......

 And the sleeve cuffs.

And, 

of course,

because the attached petticoat

is sewn to the lining of the bodice,

there are no scratchy seams visible.

(The color is wonky in this photo!)

And it had to have a

Sivjegoose label too!

While the measurements

are customized to Madison's actual more petite size,

I chose to put a size 7 tag

inside because this is for Madison's 7th birthday!

I can't wait to see pictures of the birthday

girl in her dress!!

Her mama told me that Madison is considering

being a dress designer when she grows up.

I think she will do a marvelous job!

Happy Birthday darling girl!

 

Dueling Rapunzels

Once again, 

my princesses have chosen

to dress up as the same character 

for Halloween.

Do you remember when they both

wanted to be Alice in Wonderland?

You can see more pictures

of those costumes HERE.

But this year,

they both wanted to be Rapunzel.

Now, you will notice, 

in the above photo, 

that neither girl is wearing 

an enormous blond wig.

Well, India made one for herself.

It was beautiful!

But it wouldn't stay on her head.

So, she is holding it on in these pictures.

Oh, and I finally took these photos

yesterday, after both girls had

worn their costumes several times.

Yeah, bad photos.

I have to say,

these costumes frustrated me!

I made each girl's costume differently,

based on their preferences.

India, with her love of corsets,

got a boned and very structured

bodice for her top.

I used McCalls 4107 and added sleeves and a front panel,

as well as lace, to make her top.

I had to re-cut the bodice because the original was much too low.

India's daddy would have put her up in Rapunzel's tower

before letting her out of the house

in the original low cut bodice!

We found every single fabric

for these costumes in the Red Tag

area in Joann's Fabrics. 

And they were all 50% off the Red Tag

price when we bought them.

Nothing was over $3.00 a yard.

The fabric for India's skirt and upper sleeves

was a polyester crepe.

I really struggled with the colors and fabrics

for these costumes, because I wanted

them to really look like Rapunzel's in 

the "Tangled" movie.

That wasn't going to happen for us,

so the bargain bin worked fine!

I was rather obsessive

about the sleeves.

I liked how they were close-fitted

and appeared to be knit.

So I found this nylon tricot knit

for $1.00 a yard and it worked perfectly!
I drafted the sleeves to fit 

the armscyes and then then cut the lower

sleeve to India's specifications.

 

I used a gorgeous polyester and metallic

tapestry brocade for India's bodice.

This is actually the back side 

as it showed more of the purple

and pink colors and was less glitzy.

This is an awful picture,

but India painted on the skirt designs

with paint pens. 

I tried to machine embroider the designs

on the skirt, but it didn't work out.

But I think her designs were lovely.

I used Butterick 5421 for the skirt, 

but I cut the skirt larger,

so I could add pleats, and 

added a waistband.

I was not thrilled with how badly

the crepe wrinkled, 

but then, I had to remind myself 

that these were costumes 

and my girl was happy with the result.

For Ahnalin's costume,

I used Simplicity 2065

But, as usual, I made alterations.

First of all, I cut a size 4 around

and a size 7 in length.

The pattern called for organza for

the lower sleeve, and the overskirt.

Well, as above, I preferred the look of

the knit sleeve, so I used the tricot.

And Ahnalin absolutely refused

to allow anything "itchy" in her costume,

so there was no organza or tulle

allowed anywhere near her.

And, she reminded me, 

that the "Real Rapunzel" didn't have

a poufy skirt!

She had a "swingy skirt". 

We found this great embroidered border

lace yardage in the clearance section for $2.00

a yard, and it was relatively soft.

So we nabbed the last 2 yards they had.

This is actually pretty different from the
"Real Rapunzel" dress, but she liked 

the sequins and it saved me some

time, so we went with it!

And besides that, it twirled well.

I loved the pale lilac sparkle satin

I used for the underskirt.

It had a tiny bit of lycra in it so it 

draped very nicely. 

$2.00 a yard was nice too!

The lace was something that I have had in 

my stash since high school!

I think I have actually used the last of it now,

but it was perfect!

Did I mention that I am crazy about these sleeves?

Aw yes, the Classic Ahnalin pose!

Aw....food dye in Halloween candy!

Thankfully she is not affected by blue!

Most of her candy was thrown out

due to her issues with corn syrup 

and red food dye. 

But she was livin' it up with the blue!

Oh, and a note about the lack of

a long blond wig......

she refused.

She said a wig would make the costume

"too obvious". 

Heehee!!!

I wish this wasn't fuzzy, 

because my dueling Rapunzels were

so cute together.