Merry Christmas

Grace Kelly’s Black Print Dress

Sharing another commission with you all.

This is the dress that Grace Kelly wore when she met her future husband Prince Rainier III in 1955.

My client sent me a photo of his fabric with a photo of the original dress. I wasn’t sure about his fabric choice at first. It was an almost perfect match for Grace’s original dress, but the scale of the print was too big for a doll in my opinion.

Photo by Richard Burrows

I regret that I neglected to take better pictures of the finished outfits before I sent them.

Luckily for me, Richard sent me some photos of the dress on an actual Grace Kelly doll. We were both very happy with how the dress turned out and Grace looks beautiful in it. Sometimes a larger print can work for doll clothes.

Photo by Richard Burrows

Photo by Richard Burrows

Photo by Richard Burrows

Photo by Richard Burrows

I have decided that I need to start looking for a Grace Kelly doll for myself.

Photo by Richard Burrows

Photo by Richard Burrows

I plan on making more Grace Kelly dresses and I’m always looking for the fabrics to make them.

Jean Patou

I’m procrastinating a trip to the post office, so I decided to share some pretty for your enjoyment.

I have a thing for red suits and I think Jean Patou did too. I don’t know much about the designer yet, but I have a growing file of his work.

These are from L’ Officiel, you can find the archives of this wonderful magazine here. Man I wish I could read French sometimes!

circa 1955

Circa 1955

circa 1956

circa 1957

circa 1957

Which one is your favorite? I can’t decide, though I am drawn to both the red with the leopard fur ensembles.

Marceline

I don’t have any new work to show you right now, but I am working on a commission and planning on finishing up several patterns to sell very soon. I went into my archives and found many photos that haven’t made it on my blog yet, so I decided to share these photos of Marceline.

In Violet’s “Evening Sunrise”

I really like this dress with her coloring. She has been wearing this cocktail dress since August of 2010.

She also looks beautiful in “Oh La La”.

I defiantly need to get her to model more.

Something New to Obsess About

I am always looking for new things to want/need. A week or so ago on The Studio Commissary, someone posted some photographs of her dolls using some super awesome backdrops. So of course I visited the online store and now I need many of these backdrops. I need these stairs, a few interior castle shots, a balcony, a couple of rustic European streets, and more. I will be ordering soon. So excited!

Better Photos of My Work

As mentioned in my previous post, photographing my dolls and outfits is not my favorite thing. I would rather be sewing, so I decided to link you to another awesome blog. Dave has bought a number of outfits from me and his photos make them look fabulous!

Autumn in Paris

Oh my gosh!  Two posts in one day!  I can’t believe my awesomeness!

This post is about photography, one of the many things that I need to work on, along with not buying more  fabric, and making better use of my time.

I blame the incredible Rebecca’s blog for my new obsession; buying large posters for use as backdrops.  She can also be blamed for my recent purchase of all four Grace Kelly Barbies, even though I don’t really collect that size of fashion doll anymore.  Sigh, I am so weak.

 

I found this poster titled “Autumn in Paris” at Michael's a few months ago, I love it.  I need to figure out how to blend the ground with the poster, but at least Ivy is standing by herself in this picture.

I hate to always crop off her feet.

This one is not so good.

I love the close-ups of the doll with the poster.

This is “Symphony in G Minor” with a new body wearing an outfit I made years ago to go with the hat from one of the Ashton Drake’s hat and purse sets.

More close-ups

 

Now I need to go mop a sticky floor.

Little Foxes

Sharing another commission

My obsession with classic movies is mostly focused on movies starring Grace Kelly, Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe, and Lana Turner.  When I was asked to make this gown from the film “Little Foxes” staring Bette Davis, I was rather ignorant of the subject.

I still haven’t seen the whole movie, but I need to see if Netflix has it or something.

The gown is made of a really nice velvet.  A   bustle was requested, which stumped me for a while.  I ended up making a detachable bustle/train.  I am still stumped about how to make a bustle.

I had bought the beaded trim years ago with no purpose in mind, except that I liked it.  I was delighted to find it in my lace stash, I love how it worked out.

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The tulle wrap is also detachable.

This gown is already sold and I am out of beaded trim (wish I had bought more).

The End

It’s a Long Story

Years ago, when I started my obsession about sewing for Gene, I was searching the internet and I came across a set of paper dolls on eBay.

I believe this is a Debora Paget paper doll.

I fell instantly in love with the green dot coat ensemble. I wanted to make it so bad!

Later, I discovered another doll designer had made the same outfit in green and white. I was kinda bummed, but then I saw this picture.

Modes Royale Spring/Summer 1953

I decided I would make it too. It took me a while to find the green dot, and I ended up using two different dots, but I love how it turned out.

Here is Madra with the other dot.

I used 17 buttons to make each outfit. I may have wiped out one online store’s stock twice to make all of them.

The umbrella is made with a kabob skewer and a bead painted white.

This ensemble is sold out.