Challenge Dress #1 - "The Gracyn"

A week ago, I mentioned the Lil Blue Boo / Dharma Trading Design Challenge (remember this post?).  My goal was to get 10 dresses made last week because for every 10 dresses entered in the challenge, Ashley (Lil Blue Boo) would donate one of her dresses to a girl in need.  Well unfortunately it didn't happen - I only got 7 completed, but 7 out of 10's not bad, right?  With my two little girls (both under 2 years old), I'm lucky if I can get anything done these days, so I'm quite pleased with my accomplishment this last week.

I am going to break down my blog posts about the different dresses, just so this doesn't end up being the longest blog post EVER.  I worked really hard on these dresses, so I hope you enjoy them and find some inspiration as well!

So, here we go........

Challenge Dress #1 - "The Gracyn"

I used the Sienna Dress Pattern from Lil Blue Boo for this dress.  I wanted to design something that had a real sweetness to it, but was still somewhat earthy.  This dress was made from two recycled t-shirts & knit yardage.

To add some uniqueness to the dress, I added this organic looking bird & tree applique that is made from a thick bronze metallic fabric.

 

On each sleeve I added a band of light pink & purple fabric from the recycled t-shirts.  I left the edges raw to give the dress a somewhat earthy feel in keeping with the tree & birds.  The great thing about recycled knit t-shirts is you don't have to worry about the fabric fraying!

My friend Megan took all of these wonderful pictures for me and her daughter's name is Gracyn.  If you knew Gracyn, you would see this dress and know how much it is "so her" and was designed with her in mind.  After we took all of these photos, I gave Megan this dress for Gracyn as a "Thank You".  Here is Gracyn wearing her new dress:

How cute is she?  I just love that little smile and I love that she loves her new dress!

Cottage Mama's Note:

• All pictures of the challenge dresses were taken by Megan Abelard Photography.  More of her work can be seen on her website:  http://www.meganabelard.com
• The Sienna Dress Pattern is an incredibly well-written and easy to follow sewing pattern.  I highly recommend it for even the most beginner sewer or anyone who is interested in starting to sew with knits.  Click here to find out more information.