What Happens Next

What Stella Wore ~ Waxed Flower May Day Crown

 

Oh, Happy May Day!

Stella is marking the occasion with a waxed flower crown, just right for celebrating on this gorgeous Spring day!

 

Small silk and velvet flowers have been dipped into a candle wax mixture and allowed to dry. They are then woven onto a wire stem and formed into a circular shape.

A full crown would be overwhelming on someone so small, so we left it as a coronet with long ribbon streamers.

 

We love the soft and vintage look that the wax gives the flowers, creating an heirloom headpiece, worthy of a place among the crown collection.

 

A pepperberry spray is always a favorite accessory.

 

Pinned into a simple, tousled hairstyle.

 

This is our May child, completely in her element on an early morning stroll, on her way to a celebration of flowers and the bounties of Spring.

Footwear optional.

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Organza Dress ~ Baby Gap

 

 

What Stella Wore ~ Vintage Lace Easter Dress

 

It's such a wonderful time of the year to be sewing for a child. In Springtime, my thoughts always turn to soft linens and lots of lace.

And diminutive, flowing silhouettes, of course. Then, suddenly it's Easter, and a girl simply must have a new dress...

 

Bits of lace, both old and new (mostly old), and doilies carefully recycled and repurposed... the very essence of rebirth and renewal!

 

A tender child in her moment of quiet before the festivities begin. Surveying the surroundings and sizing up the egg-hiding possibilities.

 

Gathering just a little of the floral bounty that the new season has brought to our area.

 

It's always so amazing to see the new flowers springing up among the pinecones and the heavy mulch of Winter.

 

In the early hours of the day, boots and jeans are in order for a walk in the woods. But we are only hours away from leggings and flip flops, which makes this one very happy.

 

This dress was created entirely on a child-sized mannequin, "Project Runway" style. No pattern, just pinning and adjusting on the form and stopping once or twice to fit the bodice on her.

This type of garment is a very organic process, dependent upon the materials on hand and never the same twice.

 

This one was like walking a tightrope, not exactly sure that I had enough bits and pieces at home with me to complete it.

 

I would have liked an extra row, and I still may add one. But for now, it is the perfect length for jeans and boots.

 

This dress was sewn entirely by hand. It was a process that took many hours, but as you may know by now, I love hand sewing. I actually felt more confident with a needle in my hand on this project, rather than a sewing machine. It was so much easier to ease and adjust as I went along.

 

I love to get these little mini-portraits while we are photographing the clothing, and for the most part Stella indulges me. I cherish this way of documenting our time together.

 

 Happy Spring! xoxo

 

What Stella Wore ~ Velvet Shamrock Headband

 

In the midst of an incredibly busy week... we are launching registration for Spellbound 2013 this coming Monday... we made time to celebrate St. Patrick's Day! Since it falls on the weekend this year, the schools are enjoying their festivities today.

Green is not high on Stella's list of preferred colors to wear, but she was excited about the idea of a velvet shamrock headband paired with a pink smock!

 

Throw in a pair of skinny jeans and pink metallic leather flip-flops, and you have the perfect Friday "not-too-dressy" "not too casual" outfit!

 

The headband was so simple to make! I covered a plain metal band with green ribbon by wrapping it and gluing the ends.

 

Using two similar colors of velvet, I simply cut shamrock shapes in two different sizes, seven in all.

Taking a stitch in the center of each shape creates a ruffled, realistic look to the petals. Then I simply glued them close together onto the band and put a chaton rose rhinestone in the centers.

 

Viola! Our ode to St. Patrick's Day in less than an hour! Perhaps all the girls in our family will be wearing one of these on Sunday... :)

Have a festive, fantastic weekend!!

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Pink Smock/Dress ~ H & M

Skinny Jeans ~ H & M

Pink Sandals ~ Downtown Los Angeles Fashion District

 

 

Spellbound 2 ~ The New Dream Team

 

This is a very happy day!

Planning is in full swing for the second edition of "Spellbound ~ create your dreams"! We are now gathering the projects at our studio for photography. They are spectacular, and we cannot wait to share them with you, but that will take a few more days to accomplish...

Today we are incredibly happy to announce the teaching staff for this event, and we are sure you will agree that this is an absolutely amazing lineup of talent joining us as instructors for 2013! We are seriously a bit giddy with all the excitement, and with the quality of the work they are bringing to share with all of us!!

 

Kaari Meng

Kristen Robinson

JoAnna Pierotti

Terri Brush

Pamela Huntington

Cathe Holden

Debbie Murray & Shea Fragoso

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My goodness! We are wondering how you will ever choose your favorite classes!!

Please be sure follow our website SpellboundEvent.com for all of the lastest updates and detailed information... and to register beginning March 15th! 

xoxo Debbie & Shea

 

What Stella Wore ~ A Valentine Coat

 

Valentine's Day. Poignant and heartfelt when there are littles in the house.

Such a flurry of activity to get cards and goody bags and teacher gifts together for two rather large classrooms. So much self-imposed pressure to be fabulous and organized and generous.

And... then this. The real deal. The true meaning. A Valentine personified.

 

Stella is still in pre-school. Unlike her brother, she can choose to go or not. Most days she goes for the sheer love of the experience. She is well cared-for and nutured there, and she dearly loves it.

But then there are the days that belong to us. Three generations of girls, stealing time in the middle of the week to celebrate the enormous gift of each other.

Stella recently got this dress at H & M. All of the profits went to Unicef, and we loved the idea of that.

And, even though this is Southern California and most days even in February are warm and pleasant in the afternoon, there is still a chill in the air in the early hours as well as the evenings. 

 

A coat was in order. I have daydreamed about this coat for awhile, although I knew there would be many hours of handwork involved, and time is always the struggle when special projects are involved.

This past week, the time finally arrived. 

The coat itself is a basic, classic shape, sewn in ivory fleece with a satin lining. Stella has inherited a slight allergy to 100% wool, so a good quality fleece substituted quite nicely.

The embellishments were chosen with Valentine's Day in mind, although there are no hearts. 

 

Hand sewing is like prayer for me; a meditation on love and comfort and relationships. The luxury of time spent stitching something special for a precious child, adding memories with every thread.

A coat seems especially appropriate. Creating warmth and softness... hoping that she will feel wrapped in love and know how much of a treasure she is to me.

 

A twirl in the park is always a must. It's how Stella likes to test-drive a new outfit...

 

 

She seems pleased.

 

 

A velvety millinery flower and palest pink rumpled seam binding. Our favorite tarnished silver lace trim.

 

 

Large lace medallions, painstakingly sewn around the major details with metallic silver thread, and then cut away in the center.

 

 

Pink leaves, cut from a piece of lace and appliqued on. Rosebuds created from 100% wool felt, dyed the palest pink and hand-formed. Pink beaded leaf details.

 

 

We are not afraid to sit in the leaves. Nothing is too precious to be truly lived in.

 

 

It all brushes off nicely, ready to leave the park and head to a special Valentine's Day girls-only luncheon.

Where we will feel the love, and the comfort, and the threads that stitch our lives together so beautifully. We are blessed.

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Dress ~ H & M

Boots ~ Baby Gap

Tarnished Silver Lace ~ A Gilded Life

Pink Lace for Leaves ~ A Gilded Life

Millinery Flower ~ A Gilded Life (listed soon)

 

Valentine Wishes

 

Things have finally begun to return to some sense of normalcy in our little world.

Everyone is healthy (finally), travel is at a standstill for the moment, and the weather is just glorious.

 

Stella would like to send a shout out, and wish everyone a truly happy Valentine's Day! After a round of pre-school festivities, she took her favorite heart pillow to the park to show the ducks.

It may seem silly, but we figure ducks need a little sparkle in their world. It can't all be sticks and rocks.

 

They were not all that impressed, but we think they may just be a little shy.

Next time, less bling, more bread. It's a duck's world at the park, after all. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We will be back tomorrow with a new installment of What Stella Wore!! This dress is just begging for a coat...

What Stella Wore ~ Sequined Sea Maiden

 

In the early morning calm and solitude of the Pacific, if you are very quiet and believe with all your heart, you just might catch a glimpse of a tiny Sea Maiden who has come ashore for a brief moment.

Especially if she has just had a birthday, and would like to wear her handmade dress one more time...

 

A vision in sparkly tiers and flowing fringes, stitched together to evoke the romance of the sea.

 

She is that rarest of maidens... one who began in the imagination as a mermaid, and then evolved in the making from costume to couture.

A Sea Maiden. An Ocean Princess.

 

This seems more fitting, somehow. An ethereal confection that adapts to it's surroundings.

 

Row upon row of iridescent sequins on an organza background. 

Layer upon layer of fringe for movement and to evoke a dreamy underwater feel.

Cascades of pink flowers and golden beaded anenomes hand-stitched under the fringes.

 

Seam binding ribbon ties instead of a zipper to keep it dreamy.

 

Every Sea Maiden needs a crown of beaded starfish.

 

Alas, her time ashore is fleeting, and she must return to that special place in the heart... that place where dreams and memories reside. She may indeed appear again as the Sea Maiden, but nothing is guaranteed so I will cherish these moments of watching her frolic on the sand in her party dress.

Happy Birthday, Stella! You are truly an inspiring muse, and I look forward to everything that this new year has in store for you. xoxo

 

What Stella's Ottoman Wore ~ Linen Slipcover

 

Stella asked for something different this week.

She has noted lately that the house is going through a bit of a makeover. New paint colors, a few new accessories and some rearranging of the furniture. 

Through all of the changes, one thing remains constant. She loves this ottoman. It is just the right height for her to stand at and play, and she totally holds court here for hours almost every day. At a very large 3' x 5', it provides lots of great surface area to play, and soft edges for those "oops" moments.

 

This is how it has looked for over ten years. Patterned chenille has served us very well during the early childhood stage, but it is beginning to show wear and tear and the color no longer works with the new, freshened-up and lightened-up decor.

Stella asked me to make a "skirt" for it, after seeing a ruffly one in a magazine, and it seemed like a perfect design decision to us!

 

So this is what we made. Seven yards of the most beautiful, heavyweight upholstery linen and a serious stint at the sewing machine, and Stella's beloved ottoman has a skirt.

 

I won't pretend this was easy. The sheer weight of the fabric alone was daunting. I doubled the layer on the top to provide stability for the ruffles, and even my usual workhorse of a Viking machine was not happy sewing so many layers of such a heavy fabric.

I felt it's pain, but I perservered and the payoff was totally worth it.

 

It has totally transformed the room. We are all a little smitten with it, and we anticipate many a tea party and elaborate dolly soiree will take place on top and around it's soft, ruffled tiers.

Try not to look at the gold frames on the wall. The photos are getting a makeover, too... :)

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**Stella will be back this Friday with a very special "Sea Maiden" birthday dress!!**

 

What Stella Wore ~ Upcycled T-Shirt and Linen Dress

 

This week was all about the upcycle. One of Stella's favorite soft, ruffly shirts suffered a "misfortune", and needed a new lease on life.

(You might recall this particular shirt from this post, just last week.)

I also had some linen that I was anxious to use, so a project was born!

 

The shirt needed to be a soft cream color to coordinate better with the linen, so into a quick dye-bath it went...

 

There was no pattern necessary for this dress. I simply cut the front and back panels in a very slight a-line shape, adding enough extra width to allow for five pleats.

 

I then cut an oval shape out of the bottom so that I could insert a ruffled section cut from a Battenburg lace table runner. I also used the edges of the runner for a lace trim all around the bottom of the skirt.

 

 

Some velvet ribbon rosettes and a few pearls for a pretty detail. 

 

A vintage brooch in the front for a tiny bit of sparkle.

 

 

We are not usually big fans of "matchy-matchy", but couldn't resist fashioning a simple headband out of a few of the rosettes. These are merely ruffled circles in two sizes. The headband itself is also wrapped in the ivory ribbon.

 

 

A girl in a new dress has got places to go, even on a warm, damp, foggy morning.

And whatever her plans, they required a glass glitter cone on a pearl chain casually hung on her shoulder like a purse.

She must be planning to collect some extra-special treasures in there. We can't wait to see...

xoxo

Debbie & Shea

 

Thankful

Thankful for so many things today.

For family, friends, and faith.

For all of you, who help to make our creative dreams come true.

Happy Thanksgiving!! 

xoxo Debbie & Shea