Polka Dot Bow!

I bought this satin polka dot fabric almost two years ago. A little over a yard was all they had left in the store, so it's not really enough to make a dress out of. So it's been sitting around while I try and come up for a good use for it. Viola! The belt is cotton-poly with contrast thread as a trim. It fastens behind the bow with two sets of hooks and eyes.

Little Bow Tweed

This started out when I was trying to create an accessory for this pleated skirt I had made.

I made a bow out of the same tweed fabric, which was initially going to be made into a headpiece. I was also experimenting with other jewelry that would be modeled with the outfit to create a specific look. With strings of pearls came an idea from a happy accident.

This of course took forever because this necklace is comprised of three long strands of hand-knotted pearls. Who has time for that? Besides, if I were going to sell it, I'd have to charge about 90 dollars just to make it worth my time. I added Czech glass beads with magenta centers as the spacers between the faux pearls, instead of the knots. I'm pleased with the addition of color, and it's a nice little detail.

Ocean and Sun

After my husband Matt was brought on to Direct Yong Jin Kim's MOS project for AFI, "Ocean and Sun," I very happily agreed to come on as costume designer. I had the age old challenge of trying to create a very specific look for very little money and even less time. He wanted dresses that were not time specific, one bright blue, and the other a saturated shade of red. A good portion of the footage was going to be shot under water, so we wanted the dresses to have specific shape and texture to maximize the effect. If you spend all day shopping the thrift stores, you'll notice that this presents a problem. So I had to get creative.

I found one piece I really liked. This skirt was perfect in shape and color. The problem was that I could not find a top for it. Oh, and did I mention I needed to pretty much duplicate the blue outfit for a stunt mannequin?

This white dress at least had a similar silhouette. So I grabbed it, a lacy beige tank top, and some spare white fabric I had laying around to make a sash that would unify the skirt and tank. The three non-color items are plunged into a dye bath (in my bathtub) as I hope for the best. This will be only my second time trying to dye anything at home. My only previous experience involved turning a pair of satin gloves yellow. Dying a whole article of clothing, whose life story I know nothing about, will be a first. 

The three non-color items are plunged into a dye bath (in my bathtub) as I hope for the best. This will be only my second time trying to dye anything at home, and my first time trying to achieve a saturated hue.

This piece, while being a dismal color, looks a lot like a specific dress Yong Jin showed me that he really like the look of. So it will get the same treatment, but in red. The result is surprisingly successful.

The colors and textures looked really good on film, and we were all very happy. Here are the screenshots pulled from the footage.