Friday, May 11, 2012

curiouser and curiouser

two years of planning, narrowed down to a furious 24 hours of sewing time.

okay, i lie. but you know i’m a liar. i can’t be trusted. the truth is, 1 time two years ago a thought briefly crossed my mind. i blogged it.

then i didn’t do it, and i didn’t really think about it much.

it took this week’s project run and play theme of “movie inspired” to finally push me to be able to cross another dress off my list of “movie dresses i’d like to make someday”.
and because i’m nothing if not a Grade-A Champion Procrastinator i waited until wednesday to start sewing.

what? it’s like my own personal project runway challenge. when i don’t win i have guinevere kiss my cheeks euro-style and say “auf weidersen”. a girl can dream, right? i’ll be honest. the hardest part is creating all the drama and tension by myself. i have to side-eye elliot and accuse her of trying to steal my designs. let’s face it—reality tv loves a good hissy fit, and i aim to please.

anyway--

it’s done. and prepare yourself for PHOTO OVERLOAD…OAD…OAD…OAD (that echoes in a dramatic and slightly nerve-wracking way) because this dress?

HARDEST.

THING.

EVER.

PERIOD.

.

ready?

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it’s not JUST that this was a difficult set of fabrics to work with—pale blue chiffon (slippery slippery) layered over a richer blue taffeta (more slippery slippery).

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it’s not JUST that the construction of this bodice—which i self-drafted—contained piping, princess seams, an illusion neckline, lace, pintucks, faux rolled hems, smocking, front snap closure with a faux placket and eleven carefully hand-sewn buttons (HA! remember, i’m a liar! those buttons are glued baby. but the rest is true.)

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it’s not JUST that the skirt was made of six different sections, plus a waistband, with the bottom tier edged by a hand-drawn design to mimic the embroidery of the original (seriously—2 1/2 hours to do it with a fabric marker! and i used the templates so generously provided HERE. she DID embroider her version of the dress—and it took her seven months. SEVEN. i can almost make a baby in that time.)

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and it’s certainly not JUST that across all versions of “alice” there’s a few constants—one being her hair. and so there was a very specific look we were aiming for from head to toe for this alice.

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no. it wasn’t JUST any of those things—it was ALL OF THEM. and more. are there things i’d do differently? yes. am i going to do it again? nope. am i in love with the final result?

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AB

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SO

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LUTE

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LY

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PERIOD. ;)

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19 comments:

  1. I'm in love with it, too! Love all the pictures! And holy cow, you crack me up! Can we be blog friends?? :)

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    Replies
    1. glad to know someone finds me funny :)
      boom. done. I officially pronounce us "blog friends".

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  2. uh, wow, lady, the flounciness of that dress would be completely awesome on it's own if it wasn't the fastest darn gorgeous knockoff I've ever seen! Brilliant to not stitch it by hand, I'm pretty sure kids outgrow most things in seven months anyways and wouldn't that be a kick in the pants? This is just gorgeous and I love it and you deserve like a mani-pedi with all those sexy canadian Ryans serving you beverages.

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    1. haha!! sounds like a just reward to me! I like the way you think :)

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  3. this is so awesome and your daughter is the perfect alice! love that you did the more modern version - that film was pure eye candy to me. pinning!!!

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    1. I know!!! it was hard to even pick just one dress to recreate! I so badly want to do the red queen....mostly because I'm dying to do that heart shaped lipstick on somebody ;)

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  4. It's soooo gorgeous!! And these photos are perfectly styled. I love it so much!

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    1. thanks! once I dressed her I realized how much she truly IS like Alice. it fits her to a 't'. :)

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  5. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh, oh my GOSH!!
    ...
    Did you hear that? You left me speechless.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This is beautiful. I think it's better than the "official" entries this week. Well done.

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    Replies
    1. haha! thanks--but did you see annie???? ;)

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  7. So incredibly beautiful!!!! I cannot believe you did it in 24 hours. Just stunning. I agree with Melissa, better than the official entries!

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  8. This is gorgeous. The amount of detailing (glue or no glue) is amazing given your timeframe. And she looks the part down to her hairstyle and gloved hands. (did you make those? They look familiar).
    Anyway, awesome job as usual!
    Hehe "side-eye elliot"

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    Replies
    1. nope--the gloves are funny actually! i got them at children's place for $1 almost 2 years ago--"in case" i ever got around to making an alice dress. and SOME HOW i managed to not only hold on to them all this time, but even be able to find them when the time came! ;) thanks!

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  9. Dude. This is craziness!

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  10. I just drooled on my computer! That dress is absolute deliciousness - eye candy of the highest caliber! Your creativity stuns me. Well done!!

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    Replies
    1. hehehe...i have a different post about drooling on your computer... ;)
      thanks!

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  11. This is amazing. You make me wonder about the things I'd like to do and end up setting aside.
    Congrats on another amazing project :D

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    Replies
    1. thanks mia! how's the blogging going? i thought of you when i was writing about all my fiddling with my blog!!

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