Dior Animal Print Wrap Dress

 I love this outfit!
 

 

When I first started sewing for Gene in 2003, I looked everywhere for pictures of vintage fashions.  I found this outfit in a library book.  This outfit is from Christian Dior's 1952-1953 Profile Line.  I knew I had to make it.

 

 

My attempt to recreate the original photo.  If only I had a set of stairs for my dolls.

 In 2005 I made this ensemble.

 

It turned out OK.

 

 

 

Years later, I came across this photo in a L' OFFICIEL magazine.  I took a better look at the other photo of this outfit and noticed that the dress looked like a wrap dress.

 

 

In my version, the skirt edge has more of a diagonal to it than Dior's does.  I straightened that line a little for the pattern.

 I had enough of the original fabric to make a couple of dresses with my new pattern.

 I succeeded in washing out Gene's face again.

 I tried this dress on all my different 16" dolls.

The dress doesn't overlap as much in the front on Brenda Starr as it does for Gene, but it works.  I have added alterations to the pattern so the dress will fit the Tonner/Tyler dolls better.

 The alterations should also work for the Franklin Mint Grace Kelly dolls.

 The 16" Fashion Teen Poppy Parker doll looks great in this outfit too.

Of course while I was finishing up the animal print dresses, I started wondering how this pattern would look in a cotton print.  I added a different collar and omitted the sleeves.  I reduced the diagonal line on the skirt for this version too.

 It turned out great!  I love showing how versatile my patterns can be.

Even though the dress looks awesome on all the other dolls, including Gene, Madra owns this look.

To purchase this pattern click here.

"Funny Face" Wedding Dress

 

One of my favorite outfits from one of my favorite movies!

I am almost done finishing up the many outfits I started last year.  Just in time to start sewing for Sandra Stillwell's convention in August.

I first made this dress way back in 2006.  I think my sewing and photography skills have improved since then.

I used the same pattern that I made back then, but I refined the fit of the bodice.

Hubert de Givenchy designed Audrey Hepburn's costumes for this film.  One of my favorite things about Givenchy is many of his designs are so simple, yet so elegant.  I love the hooded veil on this dress.

My tulle is a lot stiffer than the lace that Givenchy used.

I love this picture because it shows how the veil is attached to the dress on the neckline.

I wanted to make the veil detachable, so my veil is attached to the dress by a hook.

I wanted more styling options for the people who buy this outfit.  I think this dress would look great with different kinds of veils, hats, or bows.

Here are some more shots from "Funny Face".

 Brenda Starr makes a beautiful bride.

 As does the 16" Fashion Teen Poppy Parker.

Love this backdrop!

 Here is Oona in a dress with 3 layers of tulle.

 White Orchid's dress has 2 layers of tulle.  Oona's dress is a little poofier than the other one.

The pattern for this dress is very versatile.  This dress is made of a beautiful lace that I bought for a great price off of eBay.  I plan on making this pattern up again using some cottons.  I will post them as soon as I can.

Pattern coming soon!

Givenchy Dot Dress

 

 

When I first saw this fashion while archiving photos that I like from the l'Officiel magazines, I knew it was going to become an obsession.  A dress made out of two different sized dots!  What's not to love?  It also looked very Audrey Hepburn to me, even though I have never seen a photo of her wearing a dress like this.  This is not surprising though, because this is a Hubert Givenchy design circa 1955.  Givenchy was Audrey's favorite designer.

I also found this photo in the same magazine and it became a mission to find the fabrics and figure out how to make that skirt.  My ideal would have been crisp silk dotted taffetas made by the same manufacturer.  Of course that was impossible, so I ended up using two different cotton fabrics made by two different companies.

 

Oh and by the way, doesn't the model look like Audrey Hepburn?

 

 

 

This is what I came up with.

 

 

I tried to make the skirt look like the original, but it was hard for me to tell how it was made exactly in the photo.  In my first attempt I made a princess line bodice and extend the center front of the bodice the length of the dress.  When I attached the full skirt to the center front panel it just looked wrong.  After several attempts, I decided to make a separate underskirt and have the full overskirt open in the front to show the underskirt.

 

 

I then attempted to recreate the two photos.

 

 

 

 

 

This is how I actually took the photo, I flipped it later.

 

My model is the JAMIEshow J'Adore Gene doll.  One of these days I will get around to writing a post about these fabulous dolls.  I love the wig caps and the "gloves" no more oven mitts!

 

 

J'Adore and Trent

 

Can you tell I J'Adore her?

 

 

This is White Orchid in a red wig cap restyled by me. 

The blue Delft-like print dress is the same bodice as the Givenchy dot dress with a regular skirt.

Hat is borrowed from this ensemble.

This backdrop makes it look like she is on a Mediterranean holiday.

I have had a lot of problems with the lighting while photographing my JAMIEshow Genes.  They are made of resin, and literally glow on their own.  Adding light while photographing them was washing them out.  In these photos I didn't use any extra lighting and I am happier with the results.  I still need to work on my photography though.

I added extra light to this photo of Poppy Parker, and I am not exactly happy with the results.

These dresses look great on the 16" Fashion Teen Poppy Parkers.

 

I made a different bodice to fit the Tonner sized dolls.

 

To buy this pattern click here.