Mixer Cover

Well after a month of blogging about dresses, I wanted to throw something different into the mix. I'm that person who likes to make people gifts for birthdays and such. Yes I'll probably end up being one of those ladies who give funny little gifts to her nieces and nephews (and even my own children) and they'll say "Thanks!" with a fake smile. Hopefully I can make trendy things they would like :) 

Anyways, I decided to make my sister a mixer cover for her KitchenAid mixer. She is baker and makes delicious cupcakes and goodies. Her kitchen and kitchen tools were all pink so I found some cute fabric and floral print to match it. And it is reversible with a batting in the middle, which was interesting trying to figure out how to put together.

The pink side has two pockets and a flower cutout (from the floral print) stitched on the large pocket. 

It also has some ribbon stitched on the edges of the pockets.

I did some outlining with embroidery floss on the flower for a more personal touch.

The floral side also has two pockets. I used a white bias tape on the edges of the pockets. I also made piping to put on the other edges of the cover.

I love this print and was really excited to use it for something. I think I have a good amount of it left. Enough for a dress? We'll see.

I really enjoyed making it for her. She loved it (unless she had that fake smile haha). I've wanted to make a cover for both my mom and brother so maybe this post will inspire me to make them.

~JV

Wedding Dress #2

Charlene of Unique Weddings and Events recently opened a new store in April and asked me to design and create another wedding dress to display for the grand opening. I was really excited about it but put it off until the last minute. So basically I had two weeks to design and make this dress. Looks like I pulled it off!

When I designed this dress, I took inspiration from the first wedding dress I created. It is a one shouldered gown with princess seams. The main difference is that the bodice hits at the waist and the ruffles start below the knee. But you can tell that they are definitely not the same dress.

Side view of the top.

I also created a belt to fit over the waist seam. It was my first attempt at hand beading so it is a little scarce, but I still like how it turned out. It snapped close in the back.

Charlene said she wanted a more avant garde look to this dress so I created an exaggerated shoulder detail that flows down the back of the dress. The top of the strap has interfacing in it to keep it stiff and help with the fullness. It was tricky to figure out how to put it all together, but I love working things out, playing with the fabric, and seeing the end result (especially after seeing the failed attempts)

The ruffles are a horizontal design with five tiers. It also has tulle underneath to make the ruffles pop more.

I absolutely love this dress and despite creating it in such a short period of time, I enjoyed every minute of making it.

I'm excited to see what the future holds with opportunities of creating more wedding dresses. I never thought that's what I would get into, but I'm not complaining. It's a lot of fun!!

~JV

Wedding Dress #1

I wanted to end the month of July and the Dresses of Summer with a bang. But I happened to miss the last day of July. No matter, I'll still post some of my favorite dresses.

This first is a wedding dress I designed for a friend who was doing a photo shoot downtown. Miranda Hopkins of Inner Circle Photography is my sister's best friend and a wonderful photographer. She wanted a custom wedding dress and came to me for it. I was very excited to design and create this gown.

It is a one shoulder gown with an empire waist. The skirt has a good number of ruffles cascading vertically down. It hits right at the hip. The bodice is a simple princess seamed style so it doesn't take away from the fullness of the skirt.

These are some of the accessories I created for the shoot. They all have hair clips on them but a couple were actually used as pins on the gown. They were fun to design and put together.

Here are some shots of me cutting a couple inches off the bottom so she didn't trip :)

  

The shoot was at a really interesting building called 4731 Gallery in downtown Detroit.

People thought there was an actual wedding going on.

Just a few photos of everyone fixing the model up to create the perfect shot.

Check out http://projectbride.com/2011/06/10/yellow-blue/ for a full look at the shoot. Gorgeous right?

(Yeah that's me as the bridesmaid)

Also check out Miranda's photography at http://innercirclephotography.com/

I really hope you enjoy this post because this was such a great experience for me. It has helped me network and get my freelance work off to a start. I actually met Charlene of Unique Weddings and Events through this shoot who has been giving me a lot of work.

Enjoy!!!

~JV

Dresses of Summer- Fashion Show

When I went to State I was part of a student organization called SADA, or Student Apparel Design Association. Every spring they would hold a fashion show for the students to showcase their work. I designed lines for 2008 and 2009. This dress is one I made for the first show. It is made from an old dress I found in my grandma's basement and went with the color scheme of my line. I wish I had a before picture of the dress to show how dated it was :)

Front

It's a simple design having a full gathered skirt and an empire waist with elastic. Its a olive green knit that was very comfortable.

It also had a scoop neck and short kimono-like sleeves.

Back

I will most definitely be showing the garments I made for the fashion show, so stay tuned!

~JV

Dresses of Summer- Graduation Dress

When I graduated from State, my parents threw a joint grad party for my youngest sister and me since she graduated from high school. I love to make new outfits for special occasions. So I picked out this pretty zigzag print to make a dress. It's from Simplicity 2694 and it's a pattern where you could mix and match different style elements. I basically just chose a dress they had designed already.

Front and Back

It's a basic A-line skirt with a sweetheart neckline and straps. Pretty simple, but that's what I usually do when working with a bold print.

Simplicity 2694 Center Dress

(Forgive the blurriness- I took it with my phone)

I'm actually in the middle of finishing a dress from this pattern that I cut out probably a year and a half ago. It's a mix of the different styles they give you. I should be done soon, so wait and see how that one turns out :)

~JV

Dresses of Summer- Luau #2

This dress was made from the same fabric as the luau dress I made for Hawaii. I actually made it for a friend's luau themed birthday party. The top is made from an old pink fitted t-shirt I hadn't worn in a while. It's a basic tank top with a gathered skirt that fit at the waist.

Front                                         Back

It's a simple dress but I think the floral print keeps it fun. I still have more of the fabric so we'll see what else I can come up with :)

~JV

Dresses of Summer- New Years Dress

I'm sure you can tell that this isn't really a dress you wear in the summer, but I really like this one so I wanted to incorporate it into July's dress blogs. This one is from Simplicity 2305. I love this purple fabric and I thought it was a great color for a fun New Years party.

Front

Back

The neckline "collar" was actually supposed to be a facing (goes on the inside and helps keep the seam flat) but it made the neck look strange. So I turned it to the outside and made it a wavy detail to the neck. The sleeves I made a little shorter and added stitching to create a cool texture.  

Simplicity 2305 View B by Cynthia Rowley

The skirts and purse are really cute so sometime in the future I'll make them. 

Just gotta find the fabric (which won't be too hard)

~JV