Project (Pageant) Runway

Love them or hate them, pageants are a part of life for many American girls. I'm a former "pageant girl" with a boatload of state/national titles from my younger days. So it was a natural progression that my children would be in pageants.

And when you "do" pageants, there are a bunch to choose from. Natural or glitz, scholarship programs or beauty pageants, and so on. Click the link to listen to Kathy Morningside take FBI Agent Gracie Hart to task over mistaking the Miss United States Scholarship Program for a beauty pageant.

Which pageant system you choose depends largely on your personal taste/comfort levels. When my girls were babies we did a few pageants, but I drew the line at plastering them with makeup and wigs. A hair scrunchie was one thing. A wiglet or fall was a totally different animal. When my girls were older (7 & 9 respectively) we did a couple of small local pageants. My oldest decided they weren't for her, but the younger wanted to continue. So we did some more small local pageants, mostly of the free entry variety. When we received a letter in the mail from the National American Miss program for an open call, we decided to check it out. My daughter made it throught the audition program and was chosen to be a State finalist. 

Interview Suit - Made by ME!

She also won free entry into the Royal Dynasty International pageant and so our summer was really busy prepping for these two events. These two events cemented my daughter's wish to continue with pageantry. Both programs above are natural pageants. NAM is far more strict with makeup/hair than Royal Dynasty, but both look for girls with clean, fresh faces who look their age.

1st Runner Up at Royal Dynasty International 2012

We are currently prepping for two major pageants this spring: Little Miss Citrus Nationals and Dream Girls USA State Pageant. If you know anything about pageants, you know that you need a WARDROBE. Many pageants have a "theme wear" division that is either required or optional. Little Miss Citrus has a required component called "Citrus Wear". For younger contestants, it is an anything goes category.

I'm in the process right now of finishing up her Citrus Wear. Typically I don't post pictures of pageant projects until the day before the pageant to avoid anyone copying our ideas. We're close enough to the pageant date that I'm comfortable sharing this design with you. It is based on the national dress of Indonesia, the kebaya, as a tribute to her mixed-ethnicity.

Inspiration Picture - Source

Since we are limited to a "citrus" colored pallette of tangerine/orange, yellow and lime green for "Citrus Wear", I chose a lime green and gold sari silk for the sarong/skirt and an orange crepe-back satin for the corset top. I had in my possession this amazing bordered embellished organza that I wanted to use and the colors worked out perfectly. I was even able to hand dye some more organza to match the embellished yardage in case of "emergency". In any case, I drafted this completely by hand with no assistance from a preprinted pattern block. I saw the image above and interpreted it as you see below. The yellow jack is not finished because I've been having "issues" drafting the pattern. It's a definite "Make It Work" moment since we're 2 weeks away from pageant time.

Fashion Fabric - In Progress

Muslin Attempt

The lovely peach confection above has been outgrown and so we needed new Formal Wear. For Formal Wear, the mainstay of every pageant wardrobe, I had designed a gorgeous green and gold ballgown but life got in the way.

Initial Design

Fortunately for me, my oldest daughter's previous bespoke ballgown was in pristine condition and needed only to be cut down for her sister. I'm still working on the finishing touches and waiting for more rhinestones to arrive from Hong Kong, but here's a fairly good example of both girls in the same dress:

Oldest Daughter - Dec 2011 - Age 9.5

Younger Daughter - Dec 2012 - Age 8.9

Please note that both girls are fairly close in age in the two pictures. I won't ask you to answer the question "Who Wore It Better?"

This week I am going to finish sewing all the things so I can relax and get our bags packed.

Road To...

The Runway, not Zanzibar!

I've watched every season of Project Runway and have wanted SO badly to audition for it myself. With the support of my friends, I've decided to work on a collection to present. Who knows whether or not I'll make it, but the opportunity to work with Tim Gunn is too much to pass up. That and the chance to be given $$$ to shop at Mood.

I only hope that my Road To The Runway is less slapstick than Bing & Bob's travels. Wish me luck and hopefully you'll see me on the Runway!

Cinderella's slippers

Finished!

I'm not entirely thrilled with them, but for a first attempt, they are quite passable. They look a wee bit strange in the toes, but she who will be wearing them pronounces them "SOFTIE INSIDE". Win?

On to the how to...

I followed the instructions in the book as closely as possible, all things considered. Some of the instructions didn't make ANY sense at all, so I had to wing it. I think my biggest issue was lack of a decent last. When I make a different pair, I will definitely make a better last.

The patterns cut out on card stock

The guts cut out

The guts sewn together

The uppers sewn together

The uppers on the last

The finished product

I didn't have a heel counter, so the heels are a liiiiitle soft but I can remedy that by using the fabric stiffener. I used craft foam for the soles instead of leather or suede since these are costume and not to be worn outside. The toes could have been smoother and I think it's becuase the fabric wasn't long enough in the toe area.

Mama needs a new pair of shoes!

Actually, middle child needed a new pair of shoes to go with a "denim-wear" outfit. And as these things normally go, we don't have a "spare" pair of shoes for me to cover in denim and I'm not going to the store to buy a NEW pair to cover(!) and the realization came at midnight and nothing was open.... What's a mom to do?

Crafty moms cover shoes. Crazy moms MAKE shoes. Yes. Make. Shoes. [cue ominous music]

Theoretically, it is NOT hard. I had all the supplies on hand because I wanted to make me a pair of shoes and never got around to it. So how does it work this shoe-making thing? When I first got it into my head about 18 months ago to make shoes for myself, I googled and found this book:

Image Courtesy of Amazon.com
Click on the picture to go to the author's website

and Craig Corvin's blog. For the record, I have received no compensation from anyone related to either the blog or the book.

To start making shoes you need a last (foot-shaped thingy). This is the foundation that you will build the upper (fabric part of shoe) on. Since it was in the middle of the night and I didn't want to cast my kid's foot in plaster while she slept, I used the next best thing... A pair of shoes she pronounced "a smidge too small". This turned out to be excellent because by building the last around the shoes, I was able to make them a smidge larger. Win/Win as far as I'm concerned.

To make the lasts, I used a product called "Rigid Wrap" plaster cloth. Basically it's like what they use to put a cast on these days, only plaster instead of fiberglass. Cut it, get it wet, apply to form, VOILA! Since I didn't want to ruin the shoes forever, I wrapped them in cling film (aka saran wrap) and plastered only the uppers, leaving the sole free. Once the plaster stuff had dried pretty well, I cut the cling film off the shoes and popped them out. I had to stuff them with plastic grocery sacks and then plaster over that to make them solid enough to build on. I let them dry overnight and then wrapped the plaster casts in cling film because I'll be working with water and fabric stiffener later and water + plaster = mess.

Here is the result of my progress so far:

size 12 shoes, size 12+ lasts.

(Fan)Boy In The Hood(ie)

My son is a Thomas the Tank Engine Fanboy. And Christmas 2009, he got this Thomas hoodie as a present.

Before

Well, it didn't take long for his little 傻瓜 (sagwa: lit. "melon head" or "fool") to outgrow the head hole, much to his consternation and dismay. He begged me not to donate it. So what's a mom to do?

I figured that I could mod it so that it was a zip up hoodie since the body and sleeves were still the right size. So off I went to the local fabric mega mart this morning to acquire a zipper that would work.

One Perfect Zipper

Amazingly enough, the first zipper I laid my little hand on was the right size *and* color. That NEVER happens. I figure that his guardian angel was looking out for him.

Ready, Steady, GO!

A quick run up the center to split the hoodie, pin the zipper in, stitch close to zipper teeth, turn the edges back and topstitch the front and VOILA! instant zipper hoodie. Thomas is a wee bit crosseyed, but in the immortal words of Oswald Fielding III, "Well, nobody's perfect!"

A really useful - if crosseyed - engine!