A Cute Dress for a Cute Girl

I've decided to christen this week "Children's Clothing Week!" because when Gracie and I went up to the capitol to take her baptism dress pictures, we also took pictures of her in all the other clothes I made for her in my Sewing for Children class, so why not post them all in one week?!

I absolutely love this dress. It was my first project in class and definitely my most favorite one. It fits Gracie's style perfectly and I also see my design aesthetic in it as well. Favorite parts about this dress include the peter pan collar, the piping on the sash, and the little pocket on the skirt (I ended up putting pockets on 3 out the four projects I did, because we had to incorporate things we learned in class and pockets were always easy to add. Haha so there's the pocket disclaimer!).

Man, I totally love this dress, and Gracie looks just adorable in it. Kids clothes have been really fun to make! They are cute, and they also use less fabric and are easier to make because they don't require darts and such. Yay, so fun! I think I'll be making more children's clothing again in the near future. :)

Gracie's Baptism Dress

Gracie got baptized this past Saturday and it was a super special day for her and the rest of the family. Kinda crazy because being eight years old means she's not really a baby anymore! :(

I took a sewing for children class last semester and for one of my projects I decided to make Gracie's baptism dress. It was a lot of fun and I'm glad I had the chance to do it for her. I think I would have redone a few things for sure, and it was really sad because the zipper in the back broke, so if she were to ever wear it again I'd have to put in a new zipper. Overall though, I think the dress turned out really beautiful, probably mostly because it was on a beautiful little girl! It was a simple white dress with tulle on the skirt, and then I sewed gold beads as though they were cascading on the dress. The beading took FOREVER, but I'm so glad I did it because it was really cute.

We went up to the capitol building in Salt Lake City to get some nice pictures with my new Canon camera. We had fun, though Gracie was definitely getting tired by the end. Anyway, enough talk! You can see the pictures for yourselves and decide what you think.

Isn't she such a cutie? Man, I love this little girl SO much! We had so much fun spending three whole weeks with together over the break and I'm so proud of her for making the decision to get baptized! I sure am lucky to have Gracie as my sister and best friend for eternity. :)

RAW Artists Fashion Show--June 20, 2013

In June, I got the awesome opportunity to participate in a RAW artists show and showcase my spring 2013 collection (the same collection I showed at the BYU show in February) again. It was held at the Complex in SLC and was super fun! RAW is a nationwide organization that lets artists get their work out there, meet other artists, and show their work in a professional atmosphere. I actually only showed six of the seven outfits, because I didn't have time to find another model, but I think it worked out pretty well.

We were told to get there pretty early, so my models and I had a lot of down time that we spent doing makeup, hanging out and talking in the dressing room, and walking around the Complex looking at all the other work by the artists.

My models and I (not in their outfits). Are they gorgeous?!

I'm so lucky to have awesome support in my designing and fashion shows. This show was $15 so I knew it was little pricey for people to come, but I was so happy they did. Some of my roommates and friends came, as well as my parents and sister, Sidney (my sister Carina was modeling in the show). They are the best for being there and giving their support, it seriously meant the world to me.

(l to r) my roommates Heidi and Katie, our friend Sergio, and me

I would just love to say how much fun it is to have models around...I feel like they don't get enough credit for what they do (which is more than walking on a runway in cute clothes and heels--and let me tell you that walking in heels is definitely a talent). I had a lot of fun with my models at the BYU fashion show and I had fun with them at this one too. They were so much fun and being crazy and made the whole experience a lot more enjoyable than stressful. Fashion shows (for me at least) would be so boring if all they were was putting your clothes on a mannequin. Models bring life to the garments, have to be willing to put up with what you want them to do, and need to be able to be relaxed and easy going, since fashion shows are usually the opposite of that. I just wanted to give a shout out to my models and thank them, because the shows I do would be way less fun without them!

And they sure can walk that runway, am I right?

It was such a fun night and I'm glad I got to be a part of it! Thanks to RAW, my friends and family, all the artists, and my models for helping to make it the great night that it was. I love what I do. :)

[thank you RAW for the runway photos! Check out their facebook page and website if you are interested or want to show with them]

Cutting Fashion Look #3: Red Shorts

So maybe it's a not so secret of mine that I love shorts, and despite the sometimes craziness it is to sew them, I love making and designing shorts. I had actually only made one pair before the show (here they are!) but they are like one of my favorite things ever, fit perfectly, are super cute, and are totally modest. I have been waiting for summer and warm weather so I can wear them again! Luckily, I think that day will be here soon. :) But yeah, anyways, shorts are great. I like making them too because a lot of times you can't find cute shorts that go to your knee. There are plenty of shorts out there that are cute OR that go to your knee but there are far and few between that contain both.

The shirt part of this look was not my favorite. I think had I given myself more time, it could have been more interesting, but in a time crunch I made a white shirt with a cool stripe in the back. The shorts were the main thing I wanted to showcase so I suppose it was okay.

Sketch:

Oh and it didn't happen with the first few looks, but you'll notice that some of my designs were changed as I made them. Obviously that happened somewhat with this one.

In person:

Also, I know they don't look super fitted here, but I took them in a bit after the photoshoot.

On the runway:

What do you think? Sound off in the comments! (Oh and thanks to Emily for being the gorgeous model!!)

kaileemade: A Lace Skirt

I made this skirt the week before school started this year. It was actually just done on a whim (a Wednesday--haha whimsical Wednesday??) where I was looking through my September issue of Vogue, got inspired, and decided I wanted to make a cute lace skirt that day. So I did! Once again, it was made with no patterns, I just used another skirt I had to know the length and approximate size needed. I have a box filled with fabric, so I just used some of that, as well as thread, a hook and eye, and a zipper I already had, and voila! A skirt! :)

I adore this skirt! It's super feminine and my favorite part is the pattern on a pattern (lace over floral). I seriously love things with patterns on top of patterns, I think it's such a great look!

And yep, this is my skirt. Love it lots. And already we are getting started on fashion show stuff, I'm so excited! Today we had modeling auditions. I need to get the rest of my collection designed within a week and a half. Yippee!

kaileemade: Printed Shorts!

I finally decided to give a name to all my designs I make. kaileemade. As I started making these shorts, I started to think of them as "kaileemade" and the name just sort of worked. I made a tab so people can check out all of my kaileemade stuff :)

And now..I'd like to introduce you to my printed shorts! I made these with no pattern (but used another pair of shorts that fit me well as reference) and they took about 10-ish hours to make. This cotton fabric was actually found at a home fabrics store for like $2 a yard (all the fabrics there were really cheap, it was amazing!!) and when I saw it, I fell in love and a vision of these shorts came into my mind.

I love these shorts...they are simple, uber-comfortable, modest, and definitely unique. My favorite part is the pockets. They're just on the outside of the shorts lined up with the material which makes them very subtle.

I tried to pair them with a black shirt, but it was a lot of black, so they ended up going with this white blouse, one of my favorite tops I bought from the bookstore where I work. These shorts are great because there's a clean front so it's easy to tuck a shirt in, but at the same time, you could definitely wear them with the shirt untucked as well.

These are probably the most well-made garment I've done. They literally fit me perfectly! I've never sewn any fitted bottoms before, so I am extremely pleased with the way these turned out.

I am really trying to focus on honing my design and sewing skills this year, so I hope I'll be sewing a lot! Of course, if school gets busy it gets a little harder but I will be trying my best. I love these shorts. They are a great start to my new (and last) school year!

Fashion Friday

vest: thrifted, dress: made by me!, shoes: Marshalls, bracelet: Bahamas

I bet some of you are just dying for an outfit post, huh? I know, I know, you all are just so obsessed with my life that not knowing what I wear every day is killing you. So sorry (especially if you really do feel this way haha). Well for none all of you wanting outfit posts, I'm gonna try and do them every Friday. It's not that I don't dress cute, I do! (at least I think I do) But I just haven't been taking pictures. And honestly, I really think that's okay. Outfit pictures are fun to take every once in a while though :)

I don't know if I've ever actually featured this dress on my blog before, but it was made by me (back in April)! The top came from a man's shirt and then I made the rest myself. It has a zipper in the back, the pictures just don't show it. You can tell the bottom isn't ironed very well, but I promise I spent forever on those pleats! This is probably one of my favorite dresses. It's a really cute color and I think it can be worn pretty casually or dressy. It also fits me very nicely as well.

At this point in my life, I've decided that what I really want to do "when I grow up" is fashion design, so I'm focusing on that a little more seriously this semester by practicing my illustrating skills. I'm also taking textiles, which means I'll know about every fabric out there, and patternmaking, which means that instead of just freehanding all of my designs and clothes that I make, I can do patterns for them and make them for other people as well! I'm super excited. Someday I would really like to sell my clothes so I'm trying to learn as much as I can about all of this!

But I just want to ask you, would you buy the dress above? And also, what kind of things do you look for in clothes you buy? I would absolutely love your honest opinions!

(linking up at Modern Modest Beauty!)