My Altered Couture May Feature!

Hello friends...

Look what came in my mailbox this week!!!!

The May 2011 issue of Altered Couture

And looks who's on Pages 66-69!

ME!!!!!

They had an Alice in Wonderland themed challenge.

I submitted my red felted children's vest with needle felted hearts and they accepted it for a feature.

It is being featured as a technique based feature so I got four pages!!

Good Grief...did I just say the word 'feature' three times???

I love the publishing house of Stampington & Co. because they trust me to write my own text.

The editor of Altered Couture, Beth Livesay, is a real doll to work with. 

This issue is chock full of creative and beautiful altered garments and accessories.

I love this skirt with lace embellishments, by Valentina Ferguson.

How about this refashioned tee by Disney Powless, for romantic bliss?

I'm in love with these restyled high heels by Pattie Donham Wilkinson. 

A cross between Alice in Wonderland and Marie Antoinette.

Love the before and after photos.

Yes...the shoes even have a matching choker...so feminine.

The whole magazine is filled to the brim with beautiful photos and the works of many talented artists.

Altered Couture is on the store shelves now, so go pick one up and enjoy.

Once again, I send out a huge THANK YOU to Altered Couture editor, Ms. Beth Livesay.

Thanks Beth, for making me look so good.

Until next time...be kind and stay creative.

sharing with a few good friends this week:

              

La Petite Trianon Couture Apron

Hello friends...if you are new here, welcome.  If you are a returning visitor..happy to have you back again.

Today I would like to introduce my latest couture apron.

My inspiration for my newest apron is the beautiful French estate of Marie Antoinette, La Petite Trianon.

Image courtesy of Castles Crowns and Cottages Blog

Have you seen Sophia Coppola's movie depicting the life of the teenage Queen...it is visual eye candy.

When Marie was at her beloved Petite Trianon, she enjoyed a much more informal lifestyle...privileged still and lavish, but more casual.

Marie hated the constant peering of the French court.

While away from the formality of Versailles, Marie favored softer country frock type dresses, minus all the boning and stiff fabrics.

I'm drooling over this floor!

Kirsten's pretty cute too.

The fabrics used at Petite Trianon were a nod to Marie's love of pinks, pale blues and striking florals.

Fabrics from the estate

Gorgeous wallpaper from Petite Trianon.

That was my inspiration.

I found this dress for only $4.75 at my local Salvation Macy's and immediately knew I wanted to transform it. This is a Clues Collection dress with a New York/Paris tag...coincidence, I think not.

The pink..the flowers and the thin mother of pearl buttons all reminded me of a sitting room a Petite Trianon.

And so it began......

I didn't want to lose any fabric, so instead of cutting, I removed all the stitching with a seam ripper. It took a very long time because this dress had double seams and surging. 

Anyone need some pink thread???

I carefully removed the back of the dress from the waist up and made a straight cut up the middle of the back skirt. 

After tailoring the bodice, I cut an antique embroidered doily in half and pinned it to either side.

Very reminiscent of the lowcut, flounced bodices of the more common dresses worn at Petite Trianon.

I found a long antique dresser scarf with some gorgeous embroidery on either end. I cut that in half and sewed both of them on each hip to mimic the first layer of my hip bustles. My apron would have a total of three layers of fabric to create the bustles

Very feminine

Introducing...

La Petite Trianon Couture Apron

Her skirt wraps all the way around and she has a soft challis rose floral bodice tie. I used fabric from another thrifted skirt for the neck tie.

Of course she has a very long waistband/tie in the prettiest robins egg blue/rose print.

Marie Antoinette loved her pale blues and pinks.

The hip bustles were fashioned from the fabric I salvaged from the sleeves and back of the dress.

As a little nod to the Queens love of detail in her wardrobe, I embellished the waistband with some very pretty stitching...in pink of course!

Beautiful stitching

This is a closeup of the beautiful floral embroidery on each hip.

So there she is...the final touch was a tiny pink satin bow at the bodice.

I think Marie Antoinette would say

"J'adore mon nouveau tablier"

The gardens of Petite Trianon are not the only gardens that are blooming.

My tall bearded German iris', knockout roses and creeping phlox are all getting very showy

Marie would have loved this Iris..one of her favorite colors and the aroma is heavenly!

I love these  flowers for their show stopping regal beauty

I will never be able to replicate this kind of beauty.

Mother nature at her best.

Until next time...be kind and stay creative.

Sharing here this week

Todays Creative Blog

All Things Heart and HomeBetween Naps On the PorchSavvy Southern Style

Lets Make Finger Roses

Hello friends, so glad to have you visiting again. Hope you all had a lovely weekend.

The other day, I was reading one of my favorite blogs, Hope Studios. Jennifer was featuring all the cute ways her sister-in-law had prettied up the guest bathroom for company.

Jenn took photos of the toilet paper rose that had been fashioned from the roll on the holder.

I still want to know why Jenn had a camera in the bathroom

I loved this idea and it got me thinking.....

I wondered if the same technique would work with fabric scraps. 

You know I had to try it...
I have to admit..this tutorial is so simple, I'm slightly embarrassed to even call it that.

So I took a 2inch wide strip of fabric. The length of the fabric strip will determine how large your rose will be.

Using your index and middle fingers, start wrapping the fabric around them both until you get to the end of your fabric. I tried to photograph myself wrapping my fabric around my two fingers, but it was not happening!

Take that last 2 inches and tuck it up through your finger opening from bottom to top.

This is the bottom of my fabric rose. You will poke the tail of fabric up through this opening.

See that bump of fabric in the middle of my fabric rose? That's the tail I pushed up through.

If you have wrapped the fabric snug enough, it should hold your rose together pretty well. 

These would be great if you want to create some temporary roses for a tablescape of a photo vignette.

To create a permanent rose, simply glue or sew in place.

Aren't they lovely?

These roses take literally seconds to create. I used scrap pieces of an old hankie to form the leaves or you could use more fabric scraps.

So come on...it's Springtime..go make some roses!

Until next time...be kind and stay creative.

Showing off at Hope Studios this week for Tutorial Tuesday