Rainbow's End

I thought I had completed my Rainbow Collection but after the last dress, I had this urge to do another piece but this time having all the colors of the rainbow. I initially planned to make a tiered short skirt but upon checking my fabric stash, I seemed to misplace my yellow fabric. Lucky I found another way:  I could dye/draw/paint the design on a white fabric! I did this with the help of Pentel's Fabricfun dye stick.

I first copied the pattern lines to the fabric. I didn't want to waste the dye stick so I only colored the parts that's going to end up on the outfit. Another detail that I labored in is the french seam. It's silly to have this kind of blouse to be lined so I'd better treat the edges. I don't have an edging machine. I could burn the edge to keep it from fraying but the (oil in the) dye made the fabric to burn easily. I had no choice but to make a french seam if I wanted this blouse to look clean inside-out.

But it didn't look clean as I wanted. Even though the dye have been properly set by ironing, some dye rubbed off on the white parts of the blouse especially the collar. The lighting didn't make it visible but the stain is there. Hmmm... maybe I could color it white again! I'll try that later.

For now, here are a couple of pics of the final dress for the rainbow collection. I was thinking of something one can wear to work when I made this blouse and skirt. The tandem looks too costume-y but fun nonetheless which rainbows are supposed to be. Maybe they would look "normal" if mixed and matched with a neutral pants or shirt. 

When I Think of Rainbows

...I think of hope

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14Sep2011 Update:

I haven't done any doll projects lately but I have been enjoying taking pictures of this collection of dresses which I recently finished. Instead of posting the new pictures in my blog I'd rather update this entry to describe the picture above for those who can't see it.

In this picture there are 7 dolls having different face molds wearing 7 different dresses. Each dress represents a color of the rainbow. I have limited fabric options so the closest color was chosen. The dolls are arranged in a circle lying down on a white background. The heads of the dolls are in the center with their bodies are aligned radially outward.

Let's start with the doll with the red dress. She is a repainted Kira head on a skinny model muse body. Although her torso is completely covered by her red dress, her dress is short, higher that the middle of her leg but lower than her crotch, of course. Hehehe. One thing I find interesting about the dress is her sleeve which is only one. It has a peek-a-boo cut-out showing parts of her arms. The sleeves are long (as long as the bodice) and are almost shaped like rectangles somewhat similar to Japanese kimonos.

The orange dress is worn by another hybrid doll, a Gabriella head (High School Musical) on a model muse body. What I find interesting in this dress is it's texture. Strips of fabric with fraying edges were used to embellish the dress. It has a turtle neck collar. A pink belt with flower shaped buckle is used as an accessory.

The yellow dress is worn by a Barbie Basics doll, model 4, if I remember correctly, the darkest skin tone in the Basic black series. I really like the yellow dress on her. What I find interesting on the yellow dress is the neckline. It has this inverted V-shape. A strap of fabric, is sewn on the top corner of the neckline and the other end of the strap is sewn at the back of the dress. I also added a belt with a peplum detail made from the same fabric as the dress.

The green halter dress is worn by Monte Carlo Barbie. The green dress is all about showing some skin. It has a deep V-neck line (almost down to the belly button) showing lots of cleavage and the skirt part has a thigh-high slit.

The blue dress is worn by another Barbie Basics doll with the Midge/Diva head mold. It is actually a blouse and skirt made from the same fabric. The blouse is a simple loose fit top. It was intentionally made simple to create a contrast to the heavily ruffled skirt. One thing I find interesting about the blue dress is the contrast of the texture of the top which is smooth and the skirt which is ruffled.

The indigo (which I think is really just dark blue because I don't have the right fabric) is worn by another Barbie Basics doll with the Mbili face mold. It started out a a simple tube dress which is a little short (mid-leg) and tight fitting. It is embellished by the same fabric shaped into a large leaf covering the bust area. This fabric extends below to the right side of the dress forming a flap on the right portion of the skirt.

The violet dress is worn by another OOAK doll. It is actually a Generation Girl Barbie with bright red hair on a model muse body. She was repainted and her smile was closed using the dental extraction method. She also has a blouse and skirt. Her blouse has slightly puffy short sleeves and a V-neckline. Her sheath skirt has a ruching or gathering detail at the center to give it some texture.


random thought:
Was that a thousand words? Nope. Just a little over 600. I did a word count. Hehehe. But I left out describing the jewelries. Oh well, it's about the dresses.

Hello Yellow

I intended to make a simple yellow dress with a distinct neckline. Other than the neckline, the dress looked too simple even with a gold chain belt. Not that it's bad but I wanted to complicate it a bit more. One thing I like about simple dresses is that one can adorn it and make it look slightly different (whereas it's a risky idea to take apart a complicated dress).

This yellow dress, I thought, is not something you'd like to wear with a necklace as it distracts from the detailed neckline although I think it's a good dress to show off the belt. I was suppose to take a picture of this dress along with different belts including the narrow blue belt that came with the Barbie Basics fashion pack but I think I misplaced mine. I was even thinking of making an obi belt but I wanted to post this entry right away. I did make a belt from the same yellow fabric with a peplum detail that makes it look like it's part of the dress. It doesn't look too simple anymore.

The next color will be red. I initially wanted to make it an overtly sexy dress with a deep V-neckline but then I thought it would be more challenging to make a sexy red dress and have the torso completely covered. We'll see...