DIY: A Kandinsky-Inspired Dress, Part 1

I have officially gone off the DIY deep-end. I mean, I always knew I had a lil bit of trouble with focus  (if you read any of my posts for more than five minutes AND are able to follow the three different tangents I have constantly running, you deserve some sorta metal. Although metals are overrated, doncha think? You deserve a lifetime of chocolate. Or maybe a chocolate metal! Which, by the way, I don't recommend wearing on a hot day. Cuz people look at you real funny like when you're caught licking melty brown stains off your clothes. Not that THAT'S ever happened to ME. Ahem.) Er, wait. What was I talking about?! Oh, yeah. Focus. Or lack thereof, in this case.

At last count, I had about a dozen DIY's in progress. I keep starting another one then another one then, you guessed er, another-freakin-one. It's pretty much ridiculous. But when I get an idea, especially one that I'm excited about, I get this urge to start it right away. You know, before the excitement fades and I never get around to creating. So, like, I've got 99 craft projects but a completed one ain't 1. Well, that is, until this weekend when I forced myself to sit down, focus for more than five minutes and finish this Kandinsky-inspired number.

I was inspired to make a Kandinsky-dress for a coupla reasons. Our local art museum, The Frist Center for Visual Arts is having a great big exhibit of dude's work this fall/winter and I plan to take the kids field trippin'. Ole Kan's also been one of our weekly Artist Inspirations and an influence on some of our Dot Day projects. He's, like, kinda a big deal in my art room. So, despite a kindergartener telling me today, "Mrs. Stephens, you have too many art dresses!", I decided to make Kandinsky's Composition VIII into a dress.

Now, y'all might recall that last school year, I got it in my big-fat-Bump-it-wearing-head that I should make an artist-inspired dress a month. Before I go any further with this Kandinsky-can-can, I thought I'd (re)share these lil numbers with ya. 

My very first ever art-inspired dress was that Hokusai Great Wave number. Then I scored some splatter-tastic fabric online and stitched up that Jackson-Pollock frock on the right.

One of my fave ways to alter a dress is with appliqué. For both of these dresses, I cut out the letters/shapes, attached them to the fabric with a wee bit of Stitch Witchery (which is like iron-on glue for fabric) and then used an appliqué stitch around the edges. I'm not gonna lie, stitching the Warhol dress was a huge drag but the Magritte birds were a snap. 

These two dresses, like the one I'm sharing today, were needle felted. And I think that spending a coupla back to back hours hunched my Kandinsky dress could explain the unpleasant pain I've had in my neck all day (hello and thank you, Advil). That Starry Night light up number took a while but The Scream took For-Eve-RRR. I really was screamin' for mercy in the end.

But enough about all that, let's talk about this wackiness, ermkay? So I'm kinda on this 80's revival kick right now. All the fun and funky florescent clothing and accessories I've been seeing around lately have really been makin' me happy. Not to mention inspiring me. So when I got the sudden notion that I needed a Composition VIII dress, I drug the hubs down to ole Target, snagged this dress and that belt from the clearance rack and set to work. 

Now, usually, I just create what I like to refer to as "Reverse Mullet Dress"es. You know, party in the front, all biznatch in the back. Howevers, with this dress, I had to make it 360 crazy. I mean, there's just so much happening in that Kandinsky painting...and I wanted to include it all. However, when doing so, I had to be very careful with what shapes I placed near the rear. I mean, I didn't want some huge target on my tush. I don't need to tempt the kids to take aim on me anymore than they might be inclined to, know-what-I'm-sayin?

Oh, that Kandinsky. Do you know the guy didn't take up painting until he was, like, 30? That's about the same time I took up sewing. And look! He became "the Father of Abstract Painting" and I became, um, "that Crazy Lady who Dresses Weird." 

Oh! Here's a lil look at the dress before. It is a lil on the short side so that's part of the reason I'm wearing the crinoline underneath. I'll probably wear a black t-shirt under the dress when I wear it to school so as not to frighten the children with my bat wings.

Now I've shared with ya all the deets of needle felting before (and if you need a refresher, you can visit here) so I won't go into it too much. I did my usual trick of sketching out my design in chalk before attaching with the wool roving.

Hubs walked in and was all, "why are you using such a small tool? Don't they make bigger ones?" I told him yes AND that they also make a needle-felting-MACHINE! "Why don't you have one?!"...um, because you've not bought it for me yet, I replied while batting my eyes. All I got was a "huh". So much for that idea! I really do need to upgrade my needle tool though. Geesh.

So much for following my lines. I mean, I really coulda gone without drawing them. It is abstract. I don't know why I was trying to be such a stickler. 

Yay! Kandinsky-ness, complete! But, even before this dress was done, I got the grand idea for THIS NEXT Kandinsky dress:

That's right. In true "oh, look, squirrel!" fashion, I got the idea for this dress, shoved Composition VIII to the floor and dove into felting this guy. I just happened to have this little black thrifted dress in the back of my closet waiting to be DIY'ed. Now, the only prob I've found with felting this dress is making it so it doesn't look like a dress of areolas, ya know? Like, ew.

And there you have it! Another artist dress complete. I cannot wait to be the giant dork that I am and wear this to the Kandinsky exhibit. Cuz you know I totally will. Until next time, y'all!

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DIY: The "Uh, Are You an Art Teacher?" Ensemble

The other night I was meeting up with a group of non-art-teacher buddies (yes, I have those. Two, actually, thank ya vury much) for dinner. I was just coming from my first day back at school so I was in my normal art teacherin' garb. Paint palette in mah hair, pencil-y shoes, some sort of embarrassingly obvious art teacher dress...you know, the norm. When I wear this wacky tackiness, I honestly don't think twice about it. In fact, I often forget that I look rather ridiculous. My non-art-teacher buddies, however, never forget. 

NATB: When we go out, people seriously look at you funny.

Clueless Me: No they don't!  

NATB: Um, yes they do. It's like they are trying to decide, "Is this a crazy person? Does she realize there are crayons in her hair and she's out in public?!" And you don't even notice!

Okay, so I totally thought this was bogus until yesterday. I got it in my big fat art-teacherin head that I needed to create some miniature art supplies. I'd seen some amazing ones here (gah, y'all! This artist must have magical fairy fingers!) and was totes inspired. So I ran to the nearest big box craft shop and loaded up on Sculpey. When I got up to the register, I realized I didn't have my teacher ID for a discount. Then this went down:

Me: I'm sorry, I don't have my school ID. Can I please get a teacher discount?

Not-Looking-Up-From-Scanning-Countless-Sculpey-Blocks Check Out Chick: You have to be a teacher.

Me: I am a teacher, I promise! I just left my ID at school. 

Still-Preoccupied Check Out Chick: I'm sorry but I don't have any way of knowing if you're really a teacher. 

Me (remembering my convo with NATB): Look at me.

Check Out Chick, startled: Huh? Oh. Wow (taking in that number above). So, you're an art teacher, huh? Kay, I believe you!

And I actually think she gave me double the discount, y'all. As she should all crazy art teachers.

Thank goodness for that wee discount otherwise Ida never been able to make these mini-masterpieces. You know, cuz every approaching-middle-age lady needs a set of Art Supply Shoe Clips, amiright? More on those in a minute, for now, let's talk about that discount-gettin dress, shall we?

You might recognize this fab fabric from my Dreaded Art Supply Order post (which I will be posting a revision of. Y'all made SO MANY super duper suggestions that I've already rewritten my order!). I decided to pair it with some orange and red chevron fabric I thrifted years ago that were curtains in it's previous life.

As for a dress pattern, I settled on that 1970's number on the left. I totes loved the bodice (I fer realz have a thing for dresses with a midriff band. In case you've not noticed every-freakin-dress-I-stitch has a midriff band. Band? Belt? Thangie? You know what I mean). However, I wasn't loving the skirt options. Here's the deal, that mini is just a lil too mini. I don't believe in shaving above my knee caps so I pretty much look like an orangutan from there up. Just ask the hubs. Good thing he's into primates. As for the maxi, y'all, I can't do a maxi in the art room. Every time I squat in a maxi (um, that sounded bad. I mean squat down to pick something up off the ground, not like, to pee outside or something. I may look like an orangutan but I'm not an animal, geesh), I inevitably step on my hem, start to stand and fall over. It's quite classy. For that reason, I decided to go with my skirt standby, good ole Project Runway Simplicity 0320.

Now, let's address the big fat hairy elephant in the room...those 1970's bat wings...

Yeah, those. Y'all know I'm not really a lover of stitching sleeves but I was willing to forego my hate for these guys. I mean in the sketch they looked so hippie and cute! In fact when I wore this dress the other day, all my flower-power teacher buddies reminisced about the dress they had as teens with "wings". However, these guys should really come with some sorta warning label. The entire time I wore this dress, I could see those wings outta my peripheral view and kept swatting at 'em. Once I thought there was a bug on me, another time a bird and I swear I even saw a group of dancing bears. But that was after accidentally consuming some of that Sculpey clay (hazards of eating and crafting). So there's that.

I also have decided that absolutely no dress is complete without pockets. However, I really hate where the pocket are placed in this particular dress pattern. It's impossible to have your hands in your pockets and NOT look like you are piddling (scroll upward, y'all and tell me I'm lying). I opted to use some more of that chevron for pocket town.

Oh! Can we talk about that vintage pattern for a pinch? Cuz it was just about the weirdest pattern I've ever used. Tell me if you find this odd: it had me separately create the front and back of the dress...

And then stitch the front and back together at the side seams. Huh? I mean, I've always done it where you make your bodice and your skirt and attach those together. I actually kinda liked it this way as it made gathering the skirt portion a lot less taxing. I just found it kind of odd...have y'all every sewn a dress this way? What are some of the pros and cons cuz I'm thinking of going down this road again when it comes to other dress patterns.

Oh, look, crafting shrapnel. This is what you don't want your dinner table lookin like, FYI. Not unless you want Dancing-Bears-on-Shoulders hallucinations. 

To make these into shoe clips (and sweater, hair, nipple, whatever clips) I simply glued a little alligator clip on the back. I'm kinda addicted to making these right now (well, as of last night) but I'm in need of more mini-suggestions. Whatcha got for me?

And there you have it, kids! An ensemble that will most definitely get you stares and the occasional discount. Off to see if it'll work at the liquor store! 

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DIY: A Purrr-fect Valentine's Day Dress (and Sweater!)

If you happen to be a teacher, and/or the proud owner of school-aged children, then you know come winter: EVERYONE loves a Snow Day.

Especially the teachers. 

And if they tell you otherwise then they are Big Fat Hairy Liars who only speak such untruths to convince you that they simply adore having your child in their room day after day after OMG-is-it-STILL-ONLY-WEDNESDAY day. Don't get me wrong, Ima teacher and I love what I do...but I also love a little surprise break once or four times a winter season. 

Now those of you that happen to live everywhere but Tennessee have gotten more snow dumped on you than Antarctica. Here we've had na-freakin-da. It's been goin' just north and south of us like we're covered in some sort of invisible force field. And for that reason, things have gotten real desperate in elementary-school-land...

But more on that in a sec.*

For now, let's keep this DIY train on track, shall we? 

I found this totes amazing kitten-n-hearts fabric last spring at JoAnn's. I scooped up the only three yards just knowing that it'd be the The Purrr-fect (sorry, I had to) Valentine's Day Dress, second only to last year's Poodletastic Valentine's Day Number. I decided to go with this vintage McCall's 6221 because it's pretty simple and super cute. Says me. If you've been reading this nonsensical blog for a while and you have a good memory, you might recall the barbequed version of this here dress (blog post complete with Barbequed Banana Bread. Check it.)

I did forget that this dress needed to be lined and I thought a coupla seconds of just forgetting about that step. But, in an effort to be a Big Girl Sewer, I sighed, stomped my foot and made the lining. Which took me all of 45 minutes with one bathroom break and three separate EMERGENCY chocolate breaks.

Now, I don't know exactly what went wrong with my measuring and cutting but this dress is very well fitted in the waist. Like, no-more-emergency-chocolate-breaks well fitted. I don't recall the other dress I created from this pattern being so tight...so I'm guessing that the pattern shrunk. I've heard that can happen. When you eat a lot of chocolate. Ahem.

Now since it has been a chilly, albeit snowless, winter, I can't go around wearing no sleeveless dress. I scooped up this sparkly sweater at the thrift store recently with intent to felt it. But then the kittens spoke to me and said, "screw felting, stitch me on that tacky sweater!" (they are very mouthy cats, fyi) and I was like, "um, okay."

Dude, this applique bit took less than 45 minutes with a possible chocolate break or five thrown in the mix. I simply cut out the rectangles and adhered 'em in place with some Stitch Witchery.

Set my sewing machine to zigzag and adjusted the width and length between stitches. Now I do have a computerized machine but I could do this very same applique stitch on my ole manual Kenmore.

Penny for your thoughts, kitty? 

"Ima gonna eat your face when you are sleeping."

Wow. Just. Wow.

Outfit details: sweater and belt: thrifted; tights: Target; shoes: Modcloth, old; crinoline: Amazon (it's one of those cheapo costume ones); heart hair clip: made by me

*So just how did I manage to get all this dress -n- sweater making done? Well, I tell ya, it was lookin like it wasn't gonna happen until yesterday when I had a serious talk with a 4th grader as he was getting on the bus:

4th Grader: Mrs. Stephens! For a snow day, I know what to do!

Me: Yeah, yeah, I know. White crayon on the window sill, pj's inside out, flush ice cubes down the toilet (shaking my head with a sigh)...I hate to tell ya, dude. None of that stuff works. 

{For you non-teachers out there, this is the stuff of Playground Urban Legends.}

4th Grader: (stepping onto bus) No, no, that stuff doesn't work. You gotta sleep with underwear on your head! I promise we'll get a snow day if you do!

Me: Really?! Like, REALLY? (bus begins to pull away) But wait, WAIT! DOES THE UNDERWEAR HAVE TO BE CLEAN?

Um. So. I never got my answer. Let's just say, hypothetically, I slept wearing both kinds, just to be safe. 

And...I got my Snow Day/Sew Day. Which I say was worth it.

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In the Artroom: Happy Halloween from Madeline!

Because I dress pretty outrageous most days, the kids seemed to be more surprised by my hair than anything else. I think I heard an equal amount of "Did you cut your hair?!" and "Hey, it's a giant Madeline!" hat and Madeline book: thrifted; dress: DearCreatures; tights and skirt: Target; shoes: Clarks; big red bow: added by me

 Bonjour, Trick or Treaters! Despite the fact that we have a no-costume rule at school, I decided to dress as Madeline today. It's educational, fun and gave me an excuse to pick up this super sweet dress. Which I wore as a tunic because, well, I didn't want to turn my lesson into the Madeline Peep-Show, if you know what I mean.

“In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines
Lived twelve little girls in two straight lines
In two straight lines they broke their bread
And brushed their teeth and went to bed.
They left the house at half past nine
In two straight lines in rain or shine-
The smallest one was Madeline.”

 I had so much fun reading Madeline to the kids especially since we are still on our Parisian kick. I used this amazing bulletin board created by one of my practicum students. Under each leaf, there were facts all about the Eiffel Tower that the kids enjoyed learning about. I added my own fun facts. For example, we learned that the Tower is 59 giraffes tall and as heavy as 1,341 elephants. That's one big Iron Lady.

 I adore the illustrations in this book. They are the perfect mix of messy and retro. I did some research on the author behind the Madeline books that I thought I'd share with you.

Above is the author, his daughter Barbara (said to be who Madeline is modeled after) and his wife Madeline or Mimi. Born in Austria in 1898, Ludwig (best name ever) Bemelmans spent the early years of his life in the hotel business. He became a US citizen sometime in his thirties. Ludwig always had a passion for art but not so much for writing. It was at the suggestion of a friend that he write a children's book. His first was written in 1934.

Love this image of Notre Dame. Another one my practicum kids created a bulletin board featuring it and we used it today as well.

Poor little Madeline's appendix burst! But she ends up with that super sweet scar to show for it.

 The author wrote seven Madeline books (the last one was not discovered until after his death) and other children and adult books. Although Ludwig became famous for his Madeline books, he always considered himself more an artist than a writer. In fact, he has works of art on display in the Metropolitan Museum in New York and the Museé National d'Art of Paris.

 I still love Madeline the best. Especially if it means a big read bow and a sweet sailor dress. Merci, Madeline! Au revoir and Happy Halloween!

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