Cassie Stephens: gladys presley

Thursday, July 19, 2012

DIY: The Gladys Presley Poodle Dress

Look, ma, no arms!

Today I can proudly say I accomplished somethings. That's right, plural. Most days I'm lucky if I can accomplish a good hair washing (which, ahem, today was not one of those days) but today I was all about finishing somethings off: decorating the thematic area of my art room (cannot wait to share that with you!) and this here dress.

Now you can see the real reason I was hiding my hands. And why I couldn't wash my hair today -- I'd never remember to pick up bananas if I did!

You might recognize this dress pattern if you've been reading for a while. It's the same pattern I used to create my Empire Strikes Back dress for Star Wars Weekends. You remember, the one where I almost got Boba Fett's digits if hubs hadn't blown my cover. Take a look-see here if you need a refresher.

I'm currently on a big time 1950's poodle kick. When I share my art room decor with you, you'll see what I mean.

You might also recall this little prissy poodle. This was my traveling DIY I worked on while overseas. I based the poodle off of the little pups found on the wallpaper in Gladys Presley's bathroom. You can read all about that and my trip to Graceland here.

How do you know when it's time to wash your hair? When hubs refers to it as "troll hair". Since when do trolls rock bump-its, I ask you?

I was so excited when we returned from our trip to finish this dress. I've decided to create a couple of thematic dresses for this school year and this one ties in perfectly with one project idea I have in mind.

A close up of the wallpaper in Gladys Presley's bathroom. Do you see the poodle I used as my inspiration? I added the beret.

Despite the fact that I've now sewn three dresses from this same pattern (what? practice makes perfect-ish), I struggle with it every time. I blame bad memory and an inability to understand long sentences that don't involve multiple pictures. In color. With cute cartoon characters. Talking poodles would be good.

Did I mention that part of the problem might also be my undiagnosed ADHD?

Oh, look, I'm having another one of my pharmaceutical-drug-ad-photo-moments: If you suffer from the inability to read multiple sentences without talking cartoon poodles, ask your doctor about NotBeingaCrazyPerson. Possible side effects of taking NotBeingaCrazyPerson include: acting like a grown up, not wearing bump-its, and washing your hair. Use as directed.

But it all came together. Finally. I can actually say that I no longer dread putting in the armhole facing-thingies. I mean, as a self-taught sewer (well, with the help of my Memphis bud) but I can easily say that sewing from a pattern really is just a matter of following the directions. And seam ripping. Lots of seam ripping.

I am so in love with this puppy print. I'm sending some off to the amazing Jen of Peachy Tuesday. I cannot wait to see what adorable hair accessories she creates with this.

Along the way, I discovered this fabric designer: Tammis Keefe. Have you heard of her? This fabric is actually a reproduction of a printed pattern from many years ago. It's funny, without my knowing it, I have recently purchased three of her fabric designs. I love her style, it' so stinkin' cute.

El Fronto.

La Backo. Looks like someone needs to add a hook and eye to the top of the dress. Or just lay some dirty hair over it. Which is most likely.

Well, now that it's finished, I wonder what Gladys would have thought of my dress...or better yet, her hunky son...

Well, that looks like a wink of approval to me, E. Thank ya.

I keep having these dofus moments where I don't make it in front of the camera in time. Which results in these kind of shots. Whatcha think, E?

Yeah, it's a stare I'm used to.

Do you know this lady? Elvis did, if that give you a hint.

So, there you have it. My completed Gladys Presley Poodle Dress. Now, if I could get my hair to Priscilla Presley Perfection, I'd be out of Troll Hair Land and into Mushroom Cloud Hair Territory. It's good to have something to aspire to.

Be sure to drop by within the next couple of days to see my art room. Here's a hint on the theme: it is Tres Magnifique!

Monday, June 25, 2012

DIY: Crafts that Travel

My Prissy-Presley Poodle inspired by the wall paper I saw at Graceland.

One of my favorite traveling crafts is embroidery. I love to work on it during our occasional road trips and flights. Surprisingly, I've never had any trouble making it through security with my embroidery scissors and needles. Now that jar of Reese's peanut butter we tried to smuggle to Germany was a different story...

For this trip, I brought along three embroidery projects and I was so excited to finish this one yesterday. This little embroidery is going to be apart of a much bigger DIY that I'll be certain to share with you once complete. For now, here's the back story behind this embroidered piece.

A snapshot of a recent girl's trip to Graceland. You can read more about it here, if you like. That's Emma on the left and Quincy on the right.

Earlier this summer, I had the pleasure of traveling to Memphis to visit Graceland. I had not been to Elvis' crib since college (which was many blue moons ago) so it was a delight to visit again. Especially with Quincy who is the biggest Elvis fan I know.


Elvis outside Graceland, circa 1957. He purchased home and the land for $90,000. The name Graceland came from the original owner who named it after his daughter. Elvis liked the name so much he kept it. All images of Elvis via pinterest.

Elvis with his mother Gladys. Elvis said the most important woman in his life was his mother who passed away shortly after the purchase of Graceland in 1958.

About his mother, Elvis said, "My mother, she never really wanted anything. She stayed the same through it all. There are a lot of things that's happened since she passed away. I wish she could have been around to see them. It would have made her very happy and proud, but that's life, and I can't help it."

Elvis' parents chose Graceland as it had plenty of land (for the animals they wanted) and was off the road and had privacy (for the crazed fans they were trying to keep at bay).

Elvis' parents bedroom which is located on the first floor, to the right of the main staircase at the entrance.

This bedroom of Gladys and Vernon didn't become open to the public until 1997. After the death of Gladys, the room was occupied by Millie Mae Presley, Elvis' grandmother.

I love this little peek into a world of purple velvet, white French-reproduction furniture (which I totally had in my bedroom as a kid), nifty 1950's lamps, rubber-stamped poodle wall designs and a brassy chandelier.

Emma and Quincy outside of the bed and bath of Gladys and Vernon.

I immediately fell in love with the poodle wallpaper you can see over Emma's shoulder. It's just darling! So I snapped a couple of close ups in hopes that I'd be able to do something with the design.

When I got home and started doing a little research, I was surprised to learn that this is not the original wall paper. Apparently a restorator, after studying many layers of paint and wallpaper, discovered that there once was poodle paper in the bath. After chatting with a Presley relative, he was able to get a description of the design. Memphis artist and designer Thomas Malic was hired to recreate the paper. He studied poodle images of the '50s and designed rubber stamp images which he printed with black ink over an off-white background.

Can you find the poodle I tried to replicate?

I flipped and redrew the image of the poodle on the top left of the wallpaper photo. I'm going for a Parisian Poodle theme, hence the beret. Because of the small scale of the poodle and the fine details, I embroidered this guy with one strand of embroidery thread.

Just a little close up.

Like I said, I cannot wait to share with you the final result of this project...but that will have to be once I return home and have access to my sewing machine. Until then, I'll be working on embroidery project #2. After some sight-seeing, gelato-eating and souvenir-shopping, of course!