Alice’s Tea Party Princess Dress

Here it is my third round entry for SYTYCS hosted by Ashley from MommyByDayCrafterByNight. This contest has been so much fun and really pushed me to do things I’ve had in my head for a while. I hope you will all vote for me so that I can make it into the TOP 3; the last round of the competition. Voting for this round starts on Wednesday January 18, 2012 at 8:00 am EST and ends on Thursday at 8:00 pm EST.This is Alice’s Tea Party Princess Dress. I originally wanted to make this for her 3rd birthday, but my previous attempts ended in a mass of shredded muslin and frustration. A while back I described the dress I wanted to make for Alice to my friend Mercy and asked her to sketch it out. She is an amazingly talented artist. She whipped up a couple of sketches in no time and they were all beautiful.
I combined Mercy’s vision with my own evolving view point, which was inspired by Alice’s dress from Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. If you know me at all, you know I’m a sucker for Tim Burton films and the always appealing Johnny Depp.
I’ve also been aching to try my hand at an eyelet corset because I love the look so much more than the easy peasy loop method. I spent a ton of time trying to decide what fabric I should use, but had no doubts when I saw Shabby Chic Treasures in purple. I mean, I can’t tell you how much I love this collection of fabric. I stalked all the online sites waiting for someone to restock.
Now, I wish I had some sort of tutorial to post for all of those reading, but this competition moves very quickly and there just isn’t time for that at the moment. I spent all of my spare time last week sewing, gathering, ripping seams, sewing, running to the store for trim and more needles, ripping seams, sewing, taking photos, editing photos and writing up the dreaded blog post. I fair much better with a needle and thread than I do with html, even in its simplest form.

So, hang in there and I will do my very best to come up with some tips and tricks on setting eyelets. In the mean time, I will also get to work on perfecting and writing the next princess dress pattern and tutorial.
Love it? Please vist my Facebook and Etsy shop for more or contact me at TenderfeetStitches@gmail.com

Lady Pepperell Re Purpose

I made it into roud 3!!!! Thank you to everyone who voted for me! This is my round two entry for So You Think You Can Sew hosted by Ashley from MommyByDay CrafterByNight Voting begins Wednesday January 11, 2012 at 8:00 am EST and ends Thursday at 8:00pm EST. I hope you will vote for me as the competition is seriously talented! The three contestants with the lowest number of votes will be cut and the top six will move to round three!

This week our challenge was to re purpose something. I was in a bit of a panic as I've found it difficult to find interesting things out here in the wild west. When I lived back east there always seemed to be something interesting lying around.

A while back, I purchased a vintage Lady Pepperell flat sheet from an Etsy seller. I fell in love with it but I was waiting for inspiration to hit me before I went to hacking away. Through my panic and a few bad attempts at re purposing some old dresses, I started imagining a bustle skirt and thought the sheet would be perfect. So, I set to creating with my fingers crossed.

When I was halfway through with the skirt I saw an old bed skirt and thought I should make an appropriate top to go with the skirt. It was a fun pink satin bed skirt with a tulle overlay.

I spent the better part of a day messing with the straps trying to create something fun and unique. When it came time to add the ruffles to the top and the butt bustle, I pulled out an old blue pillowcase to add a bit more color. I tossed in some older stock lace I had sitting around and made up one of those little roses from my last round project and voila I was content. I had to move the furniture around in my son's room, so that I could use the walls as a back drop for the photography. I got really lucky too, with the setting sun coming in through the window at a decent angle. I did have to edit the top of Garrett's precious, fuzzy head out of one of the pictures, but I'm just glad he got to help me out. Eventually, I will find the time and energy to put this dress on my daughter, Alice and get a few timeless photographs. In the mean time, I hope you all enjoy it and that it may inspire you to rummage for old fibers and create something original.

If you like what you see and love to sew or want to learn be sure you swing by my shop and take a look around!

A Walk in the Clouds

First off go vote for your favorite round one contestant for SYTYCS (me I hope)
I love the outdoors. I grew up taking adventure hikes through the woods with my sister, riding my horse and helping my dad build things in the yard. I loved mowing the lawn because it smelled so sweet and the sun felt great on my face, though it helped a great deal that we had a riding lawn mower. We use to boat on the Gulf of Mexico, putt down the river in search of manatee and swim the day away in fresh springs. Before I had my children, I covered the state of Arizona, by car and by boat. From desert valley floors to alpine peaks, canyon lakes and party coves it’s an amazing and diverse state.
Now that I have two small children it is hard to get out into nature and even harder getting out into nature and relaxing. As a result I spend a bit more time inside or in a more comfortable environment for both me and my kids. I’ve found that when it comes to decorating my home I want nothing more than to bring the outdoors indoors. I cling to earth tones and natural woods, oaks, greens, blues, creams and on occasion a little golden yellow, red and orange. For the master bedroom I wanted to recreate the Arizona sky. We have a large set of windows that let in a ton of light, which is wonderful when I’m not trying to sleep. I have always wanted fluffy white curtains with a lovely shade to block out the light but keep the sky alive.
After 25 yards of fabric and a lot of time on a step ladder I’m really happy to share what I was able to create. This project was larger than I expected it to be and it took a lot of “sleeping on it” to obtain the end results. This is really my first serious endeavor into curtains, drapes and the like. I used my experience designing clothing for my shop to help me along the way. This is also my first round entry for the So You Think You Can Sew contest hosted by MommyByDayCrafterByNight. I’m flattered to be a part of this contest and can only hope, cross my fingers and make a few wishes that I can get past round one. If you love what you see, please take a moment to check out her blog and vote for me! Voting will be open for round one on January 4th & 5th 2012.
Continue reading for a quick and easy rose flower tutorial, just like the roses seen on my curtains.

To make this rose you will need:

*A strip of lining fabric 5" x 44"

*Your sewing machine

*Thread

*Hot glue and glue gun


Step 1: Cut your strip of fabric. I like lining fabric because it is light weight, has a nice sheen and is inexpensive.

Step 2: Fold your strip in half by bringing the two long edges together, right side out. Offset the short end by about 1" and sew a continuous gathering stitch down the long side where the raw edges meet.


Step 3: Gather your piece to 22" or half the original length. Secure and evenly distribute your gather.

Step 4: Start at one short end and roll you fabric tightly about 10 times. Be sure you glue occasionally to hold the flower together.

Step 5: Begin loosely wrapping the rest of your strip around the center. Pay attention to the shape as you go and glue to secure.

Step six: Finish off at the end of your strip by tucking the exposed part out of sight. You may want to add a little glue to the bottom of the rose to help secure its shape.



Please let me know if you have any questions! Thanks for stopping by my blog.
~Amanda~
TenderfeetStitches@gmail.com