Hey guys! If you hadn't seen me at all today, I was wearing my wonderful dress that I have been working on these past few months for my art assignment. Many in the band and those who have worked on musical this year will recognize it because I've been lugging it around all day from place to place (on & off the infamous duct tape dress form of mine) and so I'm just happy to say that it's finished! The first few pictures are with the shawl that I had decided to use so that the dress doesn't look so naked on the top (and so I don't get cold while wearing it...).
All of the pictures that you see here have been taken by my fantastic friend Heather and have been awkwardly modeled (I feel bad for saying modeled because I'm not a model) me.
Originally, the shawl that you see me wearing was supposed to be worn over the head like a hood (like in the attempt that you see above), but because I never got around to it and later decided against it, I had opted out of it. Although something that I did do that I had originally planned to do was sewing in a bra! I had dyed a very simple, white elastic, strapless bra into the top portion of the dress so that it was not only easier to keep in place, but to provide me with ease so that I don't have to worry about rummaging through my wardrobe to find a strapless bra to wear with the dress.
If you hadn't heard me explain it in person, the dress that you're seeing right now is my latest art assignment that I have completed. My wonderful art teacher and I had discussed the project beforehand and we decided that I was going to make a dress instead of a lamp using a wet felting technique. But for all of you who are interested in seeing a lamp this year, have no fear! Kaili had made the most stunning jellyfish lamp that you will soon be able to see here and there are still pictures of Karsima's from last year that you can see here.
Both the purple fabric that you see on top and the grey fabric that you see above have been felted down to various silk fabrics. Before felting, like I have shown in previous posts, I had dyed the silks in a RIT dye.
I had done the same with the blue lace, the strap that goes around my neck, and the blue silk that you see near the bottom half of the dress. After, I had taken various shades of purple and blue, along with the wool roving colors that my art teacher had gave her intermediate & advanced 3-D art class as a gift, and arranged them to create a look that I liked for my fabric before spending hours felting them down.
Although you can't really see it unless you see the dress in person (but even then some of them have faded due to the abuse it has gone through as it was being transported from place to place), the organza and tulle had been dyed. The reason behind their added color is because they had been dyed and retained the colors of the dyed silks and the wool roving that was being felted down together. Fun fact, the tulle and organza aren't just varying shades of purple and blue (if you were wondering about the grey, it didn't leave a dye) but there were also shades of oranges, reds, and yellows!
Kaili, Daphne, and Bianca had gave me their tulle and organza that they had used to felt their assignments. Remembering that just makes me especially fond and happy about how the dress turned out in the end. Without their contribution, I wouldn't have gotten the look that you see here (Even though I look incredibly awkward,,,I'm sorry,,,).
The dress has a TON of embellishments too. The blue, grey, and purple flowers that you can see alternating around in the picture above, on the neckline of the dress, on the side of the dress where the blue silks are sewn down, and on the bottom portion of the grey skirt that my sister had purchased at Joann's.
Near the waistline.
The flowers and beading above and to the bottom of the skirt (not pictured) were added in order to create a zigzag throughout the dress to flow a little better.
Flowers and beading at the silk's start.
Flowers at the front by the neckline.
The dress's beading and the black centerpiece (which was really a charm for bracelets) had also been purchased from Joann's and sewn in at a later date.
Also, from the picture that you can see above, I had used a free motion sewing technique (but I tag it as free motion quilting) to get that whimsical embroidered look throughout the top portion of the piece. But because silk is a rather hard fabric to use as it's more flimsy than it is stiff, I had used interfacing all over to make it a little easier to work with.
The lace that you see above was originally a white doily that I had found in one of the lace containers in the classroom that I had used in order to add in the blue so that it evened out the blue on the sides with the rest of the dress.
Here's the dress without the shawl on! The strap goes around the neck and had been wet felted after dyed with the RIT dye. Some of the wool roving had been gifted to me also by the talented Kaili who loves to drum card roving colors together for when she uses the spinning wheel to create her own beautiful yarn.
Around the dress, like the flowers and the beads, you can find black buttons sewn around the waistline. This is to create a nice flow throughout the dress, leading up to the button up lace-like closure in the back of the dress.
The above picture wasn't supposed to happen, but it's true-r to the colors that you can see in the dress. Also, the buttons and how they aren't aligned properly isn't a sewing issue, it's my fault as I had quickly laced up the dress in the morning and didn't think to check it before I had taken the pictures....
I had gotten the lace up using the buttons idea from my art teacher who had helped me decide on a closure for the dress so that it's fitted better to my body. I had gone to Walmart one day after school and I had purchased some faux suede cords and decided on using the black one. I had also decided to sew in some beads into the back by the buttons, five on each side, to flow the beads throughout.
Although something that I don't particularly like about the dress, but I enjoy it because I like to make fun of it, is the poof in the back. I like wearing the shawl as it covers that and makes it less noticeable. Also, all of the fabrics that you see here are silk, rayon, tulle, organza, and that one flow-y fabric with the butterflies on it that wasn't labeled (or maybe I just didn't pay attention to it...?) that I had gotten out of the donated tubs of specialty fabrics that my art teacher had provided me with.
Lastly, here's the beading in the bottom half of the dress! Throughout the dress, on the bottom parts of the tulle and organza, I had decided to do some beading along the edges so that it looked a little more elegant and decorative.
And that concludes this post! Thank you to everyone who had helped me create this dress! I am incredibly thankful to everyone who had donated and given me the materials to use for this amazing dress. I am incredibly thankful to Heather for taking these stunning photos of the dress and somehow making me look appealing. I am incredibly thankful to everyone who has been wishing me luck and complimenting me on my dress and how it turned out in the end. I am incredibly thankful for so, so, so much from all of you. I could have never done something as amazing as this if it wasn't for the help and wishes from the people around me.
I hope that I will be able to continue to go beyond my limits and my expectations and I hope that all of you will be around to watch me as I improve little by little each and every day.
I'll be back to edit this post later so that I can leave a link to see this dress and what my art teacher has to say about it on her blog!
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