Dia de los Muertos skeleton dress

Just one more summer dress for the month of June,  then I'll move on to some different things.  I made this dress for Fiestas de Santa Fe, the yearly celebration of the founding of Santa Fe, NM.

The inspiration was the celebratory skeleton fabric more than anything. The look of the dress has nothing to do with traditional fiesta attire,  I went with with a fitted princess line bodice that flares into a full skirt.  I made the pattern by hand,  as it's nice to have something fit just right.  I included in-seam side pockets because so many dresses don't have them, and I don't always carry a purse.

Fiesta Dress fix

Original Tunic

 My friend Dana is getting married at the end of July and I'm one of her many bridesmaids. Dana is from New Mexico like myself,  so the wedding theme is Mexican fiesta,  even though it will be taking place in Seattle.  All the bridesmaids will be wearing embroidered Mexican dresses in a rainbow of colors. I ordered mine here.  Even though it was a pueblo style blouse,  I checked the measurements and the one I ordered seemed long enough to be a dress.
 It arrived with none of the stated measurements accurate,  so it was too short to be dress.  I didn't want to deal with sending it back, so I altered it.  I knew I wouldn't be able to match the purple fabric perfectly,  so I chose a lighter shade of purple to accent the embroidered yoke and skirt.  Elastic in the back waistband gathers in the fabric and lets me still get it on by pulling it over my head.  I added a sash because I really like sashes.

Sea Life Dress

With summer in full swing, I've unpacked a lot of seasonal clothes that I haven't been able to wear in awhile. So here is another dress that I've made, and there are more coming.

I made this dress from my own pattern, it's basically a tent dress that I added an elastic waist to gather it in. My inspiration was 1950's kids beach play clothes and I wear it mainly as a beach cover up. The fabric is from Ikea children's sheets. If you haven't checked out Ikea Hackers, you should, it's awesome to see all the things that people have manipulated Ikea pieces into. I wouldn't call this dress a hack, fabric is fabric whether used in sheets or dresses.

 

 I'm a reluctant model that's why I keep fading myself into the background. At least I'm having some photoshop fun. One day I'll have a dress form that will do all the modelling for me.

Hey Berkeley and Oakland and San Francisco

If you live in the SF Bay area,  my plush patterns are now for sale at Stonemountain & Daughter Fabrics in Berkeley.  If you haven't been there already,  Stonemountain is an awesome fabric store with an amazing selection. Go check it out!

Color Swatch Dress

I picked up this awesome fabric at the East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse in Oakland awhile back and I knew it needed to be made into a dress. I think it was a color test sample for a printing company, as there were a bunch of fabric banners in the bin too.

I was looking for a design that had minimal pieces to preserve as much of the color swatch pattern but still give some shape. I don't have too many patterns in my vintage collection, I've pared down a lot since moving, but this one seemed like it would do the trick. While the lovely model on the pattern cover makes the dress appear form fitting, once I made mine the a-line was a little loose around the waist. I guess I have more hips than the model, so I added some waist darts in the front and back to bring it in a little more.

I love wearing this dress because it removes any need to make a decision of what color to wear,  I get to wear them all.