CHA project and more...

Hey Friends!
Things have been crazy since my return from Los Angeles and I apologize for once again leaving my blog unloved. Even after being gone for a week of work, I had more work to get done when I returned. I had so much fun and it was great to see everyone from Prima. Tami opened up her home to four of us and she was an amazing hostess! She put up with our craziness and late night laughs. I got to see so many old friends and new ones too-thats my favorite part about CHA. It's nice to connect with everyone in person, give them a hug and catch up a little. And a big thanks to Pom for taking such good care of us while were there-love her!

I arrived a day early to help with preparations for CHA. I had no idea I would be altering a life sized dressform. This is by far the largest project I have ever taken on and I surprised myself with the results. I named her Lucy. She is adorned with gorgeous Prima papers (Botanical Collection), flowers, trim and metal trinkets. Sandi brought in her sewing machine (thanks Sandi!), some muslin and embroidery floss--then I got to work. We had one day to get our dressforms made and ready for the booth.

I cut long strips of patterned papers, sewed them together end to end, and added a strip of gathered muslin down the centers. Then I weaved the long paper strips through the metal. I put Pom to work and had her cut out the postcard images from the papers, attached them to lace ribbon and made that the bottom of her skirt. Some metal flower trinkets were added along the lace strip too. I tied long pieces of tulle under the postcard skirt and fluffed them out to give the skirt a little softness.

I took skinny long pieces of patterned paper and sewed them end to end. I crumpled them to make them look like fabric swags and attached them to the metal with strips of muslin. Between each paper weave, I added rows of flowers, trim and lace to give the skirt a finished look. The bust was made with strips of paper, with pleats added to look like a corset, topped with gorgeous Prima trim that has rhinestones running along the center-it finished it off perfectly!

And the back of the bust was completely covered with Innoscence flowers-all white and different styles mixed in. You can see them in the packaging on the top right corner displayed in the booth.

I was so happy with the results and she was a star in the booth! Would I do it again? In a heart beat! It was so much fun!

There were three other dressforms in the booth that were just as stunning and all so different...I will post them once I get some photos together.

Thanks for stopping by-hopefully i will get a moment to update again soon.

xoxo Cari