Entry #42

Second Outfit Entry

18 Inch Stitch

18inchstitch.blogspot.com

DESIGN AND CONCEPT: 

Addy in Wonderland

The original story of Alice in Wonderland was written by Lewis Carroll in 1865. This has been a favorite story for many generations. My second entry is a modern outfit inspired by the book and movies of Alice in Wonderland.

For starters, I definitely wanted to make a very full skirt made even fuller by a lacy petticoat as seen in Disney's animated version of Alice in Wonderland. She has a LOT of poof going on in that movie. I also wanted to bring some white into the outfit as seen with the animated Alice's apron.  To accomplish this I choose to make a skirt rather than a full dress and then paired that blue skirt with a white t-shirt. And of course the skirt had to be blue!  Light blue has been used time and time again for different renditions of Alice.  It has become the character's trademark in a way.

Then I chose to incorporate some black into the outfit (black vest) as a nod towards Tim Burton's live action version of Alice in Wonderland.  His movie is a much darker version plus he loves to incorporate contrasting black and white stripes into his projects.

And although this is a modern piece, I also pulled influence from popular fashions from when the book was first introduced to the public, 1865. Skirts were at their fullest around 1860 with layer upon layer beneath it to add dimension. (poof was a must!)

 Growth tucks were used in Children's fashion. Note: growth tucks are folds of fabric in a skirt which could be let down as a child grew, giving a garment more wear. American Girl Addy's Blue dress is a prime example. The horizontal lines created by growth tucks, running around the base of a dress, inspired me to add ribbon around the base in its place.  The ribbon is a visual mimic or "play" on the imagery of the growth tucks. 

Progress

Many of the pieces I made were either preexisting patterns from liberty jane that I made simple modifications to or I used a pattern set from Simplicity as my base for the skirt.  To start, I gathered all of the materials I thought I would need and the patterns (Simplicity 2768, Liberty Jane's t-shirt pattern, and Liberty Jane's Denim Jacket).  

1. T-shirt: Up-cycled from a preexisting shirt. I made the sleeves longer so they would reach the elbow, which is a personal preference of mine with the vest. The iron on gemstones are a visual element to tie in the buttons of the boots and vest and to give a simple t-shirt a little something extra. 

2. Vest: Made from the Denim Jacket pattern from Liberty Jane. I just removed the sleeves part of the pattern and added gem stone clusters on the collar. The buttons and button holes are functional. 

NOTE: seam rippers work well to make button holes… a little to well.  I shredded right through the fabric waaaay way too far  on the first one I made and had to make repairs as best I could…. and then actually BROKE the seam ripper on another hole….. work was put on hold for a while after that….

3. Skirt:  Based off of a Simplicity pattern set.  I used it to gauge how much fabric I needed to create that amount of fullness. Otherwise I free handed it.  I made it from a dress into a skirt, shortened it, added my ribbon detail, and custom created the waist band so it sloped down in the front and rose up higher over the back. I choose to make the front of the waist band a smooth, upward curve to reflect the shape of the necklace. The ribbon was attached by pinning it onto the fabric and then stitching it on with the sewing machine.  THEN I sewed the skirt together.

4. Head band: Free handed with ribbon, fabric, and elastic.  It was influenced by the hair ribbon Alice wears in Disney's animated version.  i choose to make it from the same fabric as skirt the repeat the color throughout and I added the white ribbon to repeat the mock pinstripes I did on the skirt.

5. Necklace: I spent some time fiddling around with beads and chain and the end result was this.  I am very pleased with it. I wanted something to compliment Addy's permanent earrings, and it makes a nice added element when the vest is removed.

6. Petticoat: A simple, elastic band skirt design with lace attached to the bottom. Designed to give the blue skirt more poof and to show a little lace peeping out the bottom.

Final Piece

I want to give a little shout-out to my older sister for allowing me to borrow her food and table set for the photos and my mom for letting me use her sewing machine once again. And thank you to the awesome moderators of The Doll Wardrobe for hosting the contest

If your interested in more of what I do, please follow me on my blog at www.18inchstitch.blogspot.com, where I post my sewing projects.

Thank you for taking the time to view my entry for round two! 

18 Inch Stitch

18inchstitch.blogspot.com

Thank you for your entry!

Vote for this outfit via comment on this post or by emailing us 

at nora.demington@gmail.com.

One vote per person.

You can vote for yourself.

You can vote for more than one outfit.

Hence, you can vote for multiple outfits. :-)

Voting for Second Outfits ends September 25th, 2013.

Information about this contest:

http://thedollwardrobe.blogspot.com/2013/06/dw-2013-fashion-design-challenge-starts.html

First Outfit Tasks Due July 14th, 2013.

Second Outfit Tasks Due August 25th, 2013.