Project Run and Play, Week 1 {The Beaded Owl Dress}

It's here everyone!

 Project Run and Play is up and running, and week 1 voting is in full swing! You are going to love ALL the entries, but we're here to talk about my offering, The Beaded Owl Dress!

For this first week's challenge I began by finding the most amazing owl print, rayon fabric; it has the most silky soft texture, and a beautiful drape! (Little did I know at the time the fabric is IMPOSSIBLE to photograph well.) 

In making my own version of Lindsay's Party Dress, I knew that there were several elements that I definitely wanted to keep, (such as the shape of the bodice, the band at the hem, and the button loops used to close the dress.) Because it's winter and has been below -4F where we live, I decided to add sleeves, (my daughter has been begging me for a yellow dress with puffed sleeves ever since she read Anne of Green Gables) and because it's for a bigger girl to wear casually, I decided against the sash. (Well, admittedly I decided against the sash when she wrinkled her nose at me when I held a piece of fabric up to her waist to see how it looked!)

I love to make things that look deceptively simple, but are in reality full of challenging details! The neck facing, wrist cuffs, and skirt band, are all held in place only with the decorative pewter beading, that was all hand done in seed beads (fitting the inner curve of the neck facing, while including seam allowances and a perfectly spaced gap took some head scratching and smoke coming out of my ears!) 

(It's easier to see the print here, and the detail of the beading around the neck.)

(Beading around the cuff, and bonus welted pocket!)

(And then here is the hem beading, Emmie's reading the Harry Potter series for the 6th time, she's a SUPER fan. )

There are 31 charcoal pearl buttons and small button loops between the back and sleeves of this dress, all done in the opposite colored fabric to the section they are on, (blue on yellow, and yellow on blue.) 

(Here's a pretty decent view of the buttons, and a bonus shot of the zip that closes the skirt!)

(The button loops are pretty obvious in this shot!)

The skirt has single welted side pockets, and the bodice and sleeves are fully lined too. I am so pleased with how this dress turned out, Miss Emmie calls it her Anne of Green Gables/Harry Potter dress (I guess it's the white owls?) and excitedly wore it to the first day of school after winter break along with her own handmade Harry Potter beaded necklace! (a gift from her best school friend from the US)  

Sorry, now I shall spam you with some different views of the dress (by the way, the hipster glasses have no glass in them, they came from a Clark Kent costume, and she loves them and wears them around all the time (even to school,) she says she feels "intellectual" in them!

 And this last one is from the first of two photo shoots, I was trying to go for something cool out in Korea, but it really has been FREEZING here, so we went to a fantastic furniture store to take pictures, but there was really just too much going on in the background, and NOT enough light, so no cool Korean background for me with this dress, but I thought I would throw this one in for luck!!

So PLEASE go on over and vote for your favorite look (I'll still love you even if mine isn't your favorite!) 

AND the results from So You Think You're Crafty week 1 "On The Wall" are in! Did you guess that I was the French Country Fireplace? I am super excited for my week 2 project on SYTYC, I don't think many will guess which one is mine it's a little out of the box for me! (I'll post here when the polls open next week)