Batik Babydoll

I really like how these batik-style fabrics look when used for small dresses, the patterns become a whole new design element. I had a hard time deciding how to embellish this because the pattern is so prominent. Finally, while looking through my beads I found a tiny glass flower with a slightly blue tint. Perfect. Available on Etsy.

Circle Game

Isn't Max stunning in this? I remember singing "The Circle Game" by Joni Mitchell when I was in high school. The Women's Chorale had to wear high-waisted uniforms that remind me of babydoll dresses, although they were some weird wrap-dress-huge-collar seventies thingies...

Available on Etsy :)

Back to the Shop

I'm back to stocking up the Etsy shop. Here's the first two in a series of babydoll dresses. Although I altered the Skipper pattern for this dress, I'm not entirely happy with it, I just don't like this bodice. I may have to use the bodice for another dress and just shorten it to give me a better result.

Yay! Leanne Wins!

I was totally cheering for Leanne over the past few weeks!

To be perfectly honest, I wasn't too impressed with her work during the first few challenges. But she won me over during the course of the season, and when she was announced as the winner of season 5 I got a little choked up. I think she is remarkable for her personality (as being rather subdued, serious, and not egomaniacal) as well as for her designs.

And she has an Etsy shop! Leanimal. Even though I'm sure she won't need Etsy as a venue any longer, I hope she keeps it up and running at least a little, the Etsy community deserves to have its "star."

So, I didn't finish the season on time here at Project Blythe, but I will continue to work on the challenges until I do, just because I want to. I am currently working on challenge number 11 - design a look inspired by a musical genre. Max's genre is Gothic Bluegrass. ;)

Challenge 10 results!

Here is my outfit for Project Runway challenge 10, in which the designers were asked to design professional looks for young college graduates.

One of my favorite "work" outfits is a two-piece suit from Chico's with frayed edges on the jacket. So I decided to do a "frayed edge" outfit -- the top is a two-layer crumpled silk blouse with the neck and hemline frayed with pinking shears, the neckline is asymmetrical and intentionally "messy" looking. The vest/tunic also has frayed edges and the seams are on the outside. I stayed conservative (hems) with the gingham checked flared pants.

Full size photos available for viewing at my Flickr account.

Granny Dresses

Since I've been into the "Blythe" thing, I've noticed a lot of party dresses and current looks, but I haven't seen many of the "Granny" or "Peasant" style dresses that I see most often as the 1972 Kenner dolls' original clothes.

So I thought I'd play around with a vintage Skipper pattern to develop a good Blythe "granny dress." Here are the results. I've tweaked the neckline, the size of the bodice, and lengthened the skirt. I also designed a neckline facing to avoid having to do one of those tiny hems (I'll never been good at 1/4" neckline hems, ugh).