Art Inspiration: Daughter of Man

So this week Project Run and Play started All Stars week.  The theme of the week is Art Inspiration.   This is the second outfit I made.   I loved the first one, but for something different.  So I went back to the painting I had originally wanted to do but couldn't figure out how to make it work.  
I chose the painting "Son of Man" by Rene Magritte painted in 1946.  It is one of my favorite paintings for its story and just plain oddness.

 

So after extensive thought this is what I came up with

 

 

I used the idea of a suit and made it for a girl with a circle skirt and a ruffled vest.  I had been blog trolling and found Shwin and Shwin's post on the "vest of friends".  It inspired me to make the ruffled vest to go with this outfit.

 

 

I used some wool dressy material that I had found at a garage sale a year ago.  To bring in the idea of the green apple I used a sheet I got for $1 at the Goodwill to do all of the lining, the waistbandm, and the apple applique on the front of the skirt. 

 

 

Then I knew that I needed to make a red tie.  I followed the tutorial from I'm Sharing the Wealth and used one of my son's ties as a pattern.  I wanted it to be long to bring in another dramatic piece.   To keep the front part of the tie attached to the back part I used a button as a faux tie tack. 

 

I didn't have the time to make a shirt, so I used one that I had in Aria's closet that I had gotton on clearance.  It worked perfectly and saved me a little bit of time!

 

Lastly, I had to make a bowler hat, since finding one wasn't going to happen.   I make a three dimensional one using stiff felt and put a green and red bow with buttons on it. 

 

Aria loves the outfit and is still wearing it!



Spring Fever Remix: The Cat's Meow

So it is the eleventh hour and I am once again posting for Project Run and Play.  This week we were given the Spring Fever Dress pattern from Jessica at Me Sew Crazy.  I loved the dress, it was so pretty and frilly.  I must admit, in general I am not a frilly girl.  At least not in a traditional sense.  I am more likely to gravitate toward a solid or crazy pattern rather than a floral.   So when I set to come up with an idea of how to remix this dress, I thought about five hundred different options.....I hated all of them!  All of them just didn't seem to capture who I was and what I like for my daughter to wear.  

So I gave up!

Until Wednesday.  I sat doing a particular boring task....which shall not be named.  My mind wandered and I started thinking about this picture I had pinned on my pinterest board.  It is from the brand Bang Bang Copenhagen.  It floated around pinterest for a while and I just loved the cat collar. 

Suddenly it hit me that this would be a perfect adaptation for the Spring Fever Dress.....so The Cat's Meow was born.  

I kept the bodice front the same and simply lowered it a little bit.  I also kept the back portion of the bodice but just removed the insert creating a scoop in the back.  

When I tried the bodice on it did not quite fit, turns out it was bigger than I expected.   So I cut the back and overlapped it creating a button up section. 

Then I created the bib portion and appliqued on the nose of the cat.  Then I simply used a zig zag stitch to create the whiskers.   Finally, I finished the face with two blue buttons for the eyes.

I attached the collar while seaming in the bodice neckline so that it was completely encased in the dress.  

I really liked the little sleeves on the Spring Fever dress, inspiration hit me and I decided to make them a little more triangular so that they would look like the cat's ears. 

Instead of a layered ruffle skirt, I added a circle skirt to the bottom.  I love circle skirts because they look so sleek and twirl amazingly.   Because I wanted to add a little more color to the outfit, I paired it with a pink pettiskirt underneath that I already had. 

I wanted to add some more pink accents, so I created a headband wrapped in pink ribbon, added some black kitty ears, and put a pink bow on the ear.  

The bodice was still a little big so I put a pink long sleeve shirt underneath it for now.  She will have plenty of room to grow into it.  I also think that I will add a tie to the waist so that I can cinch it in a little bit (didn't have time though).  

I finally found some sun to take pictures in......by a hill of all places.  The kids had fun chasing each other though! :-)