Children's Stylists: Art Gallery
/Welcome back to Top Stitchers! The Iron Chef-inspired sewing contests that asks talented bloggers to compete side-by-side here in our "Pattern Revolution Sewing Stadium". (Get all the contest details here!)
You're in for a treat today, as we see Alexis and Melissa flex their "Stylist" muscles!
Who is your favorite artist? What do you love most about their work? Their vibrant use of colors? Their use of repeating patterns and geometrics? Their soft flowy painting techniques? Their subject matter? Their mood?
Let their overall style, or a specific piece of work from their portfolio, inspire a modern-day head-to-toe ensemble.
Time to watch you do your thing, ladies!! Good luck to you both!
I don't think words can explain how excited I am to be a part of this competition. Being up again Alexis definitely made me up my sewing game. The Stylist theme is a fun endeavor for me because I have had a love of fashion since I was a little girl. It always plays into my thought process, though I am drawn to the more off-kilter designers.
The prompt that was given to us made me giddy and also made the ADD come into full effect. I wish I were good at narrowing choices, but I am not. Favorite food? You mean foods, right? Band? Wait, which genre or music? Song? forget it! See, that became my #1 challenge is saying, "Melissa, slow your roll!"
Like everything else in my life, which I call the Libra curse, I have to pick at least 2. Georgia O'Keefe is my original spirit creature who made me fall in love with art, florals and paintings. Salvador Dali feeds into my weirdness of seeing what others don't. Seeing the beauty in the obscure. So for this inspiration, I chose to match flowing fabrics with harder fabrics, and use the geometric shapes to add to the simplicity.
My inspiration were these paintings: Georgia O 'Keefe - Second O'Keefe - Dali Santiago - Dali 2
The petals of the flowers spoke to me, and I was trying to figure out ombre, layers, or color blocking. After lots of consideration and scratching ideas, I downsized a women's vintage pattern with a twisted, pleated neckline to my daughter's size: girl 7. I used kelly green chiffon and navy blue georgette to color block each side. I wanted her sleeves full and voluminous like something an artist would wear. It is a statement piece, but also a comfort piece. I hacked a tee to make an undershirt since it is sheer.
I was obsessing with the idea of leather pants, leather shorts, leather something. I knew it had to be better fitted since the blouse had volume, so I made asymmetrical pleated shorts modified from Filles a Maman Agathe & Theo pants. That was a little tricky and the asymmetrical pleat could have been more pronounced. I love the classiness of the ivory, but the harder exterior of using the vegan leather. I also made fringe ankle cuffs to wear, and metal headbands and a metal charm bracelet. It tied everything together without being over the top.
I stuck with my beautiful desert as the backdrop because both artists use the desert in lots of their paintings. It is simple, yet beautiful. I do wish I could have found something more Salvador Dali inspired though. to see the remaining photos, go to my blog here.
Hello! What an exciting challenge to be apart of. So lets jump right in and get this party started! For my prompt, Art Gallery, I choose as my inspiration the painting Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh. Why? Well it’s really more then just an appreciation for the painting, it is the emotions and memories that the painting carries with it. This painting hung in my husband’s room when we were dating (don’t let your mind wander-hehehehehe) . So when I see the painting not only do I see the beautiful night sky but it brings back the emotion of two people meeting, falling in love, marrying and raising two children. The painting itself is also an inspirational piece of art work. During the last few weeks as I looked at this painting preparing for the competition, I found it brought a sense of calmness to my otherwise stressed and overwhelming day. The flow of the hills, swirling stars and even the lighted town are so peaceful and comforting. Which is crazy because he actually painted this while spending time in the Asylum.
So, lets break down the dress and why I did what I did!
Fabric : I choose to use Art Gallery Fabric all except for the tulle. I thought this would be fun play on words with the prompt. Also, The Wild and Free Collection by Maureen Cracknell/Art Gallery has a dark blue and gold metallic star print that worked perfectly with the theme. For the underskirt I used an AG solid in Nocturnal. I also used another Art Gallery solid in Honey to make the sash. If you noticed the sash has been painted. My amazing husband painted soft swirling clouds and a few stars to bring in elements of the painting to the dress.
The Light Blue Tulle was purchased from JoAnns and was the perfect substrate to show off the lighting underneath.
Yes, those are real lights. I used solar lights that I found at Walmart. The lights for me represents two things- 1. The stars that light up the night sky in the painting are amazing and I wanted to bring an element of light to the dress. 2. - You know those glow in the dark star stickers that kids have in their room? My husband had them on the ceiling of his bedroom and while we were dating we’d sit on the floor and eat popcorn while watching movies (how old was he really?). He thought it was the coolest thing to have real working lights as part of this dress.
So, why this style of dress? I thought about what I would wear if I was attending a gala at the Museum of Modern Art. I would want a one shoulder ball gown that was sophisticated, elegant and a piece of art in its own right. The Stella Dress Pattern by Violette Field Threads was the perfect fit for my vision. The dress features a ruffle down the front and a tie on the right shoulder which representative of the large Bright Yellow Moon you see in the Starry Night Painting
- Hair- I choose to put my daughter’s hair up in a high bun. Again representing the sophistication of an Art Gallery/Museum soiree. I hand cut several stars out of metallic faux leather and placed them around the bun to continue to theme.
- Telescope prop- Well, why not use a telescope? How else are you going to see the stars up close silly?
- Shoes- I finished off the outfit with Navy Flats from one of my favorite shoe brands, Joyfolie .
I really lucked out the evening I took the photos. It had rained all day and by that evening the rain had stop and the clouds were just gorgeous. Thank you to the Heaven for that prop!
Thank you so much and I really hope you enjoyed my vision of Van Gogh’s Starry Night.
My word!! These are some seriously artistic creations! Before we weigh in on each look, let's have a quick refresher of the rules:
- Please vote for each challenger, and every category. Max of 5 stars, 5 is highest.
- Challengers will receive an average score for each category, and an average score overall. (You can see an example here)
- Your votes help each challenger recognize areas that they can improve their craft, and celebrate those areas that they already excel.
- It is SUPER DUPER NERVE-WRACKING to put work on display for others to judge, so let's remember to leave some love and encouragement for our challengers in the comments!
