Dress #278 Pumpkin

Another Halloween-ish party dress. This was inspired by a young lady working at the fabric counter in Joann's years ago! She'd made her pumpkin costume with an orange skirt and a green bustier. She looked adorable. This one is silk, some ribbon, and a touch of paint.

Dress #277 Candy Corn

Obviously inspired by candy corn, this dress is just white lace painted with acrylics for the orange and yellow. A fun and cute party dress!

Dress #276 Ruched Ribbon

I had so much fun making this dress. The bodice fabric is gathered ribbon yarn, done on my new Ikea sewing machine. It is a great little machine, and I'm sure I'll find someone to give it to when we leave. The ribbon is from Eileen, and the skirt is a polyester chiffon.

Dress #275 Mme. Papillon

I never knew making Halloween costumes could be such fun! This is for the All Hallow's Eve costume ball. Fabric motif, recycled fabric, and two scrapbooking rhinestones.

Dress #274 Treat!

Another Halloween dress---a different skirt, a bit of color blocking. Paper, fabric and ribbon.

Dress #273 Autumn Dance

The perfect dress to wear to the Autumn Dance at the country club---if one does those things in one's social life. I was delighted with how this little dress turned out---right down to the perfect little bow. (You do know how to use forks to make small bows, don't you?) Cotton fabric, and ribbon yarn from Eileen's gift.

Dress #272 Elegant Halloween

Sometimes orange and black is too childish. Peach and gray are just different shades of those colors, and one of my favorite color combinations. Fabric and ribbon.

Dress #271 Miss Muffett

Another Halloween motif, this one is from an old paper napkin. I was never much of a Halloween fan until Martha Stewart started making it fun. Then Mick and Deb had pumpkin carving parties, and then we started having a block party with our neighbors while we are handing out candy. Now I like the holiday. I'll miss that this year!

Dress #270 Mummy

A mummy dress as a costume. Nothing else to say on this one. Recycled one of Jeff's shirts, and an Asian looking jewelry fixing. I really wished I'd had a scarab! 

Dress #269 Grown-up Tutu

This dress is for all those women who'd still like to dress up in a tutu once in a while. I think we can get away with it, don't you? A ruffly trim, a bead, ribbon, and recycled black fabric.

Dress #268 Orionid

Last night was the peak of the Orionid meteor shower, and although I'm in too much of an urban setting to see them myself, the glories of technology allowed me to share. This photo and the time-lapse video were stunning and inspired this dress. Fabric, trim, a bead, and another snippet of Blue Heron yarn.

Dress #267 Shogun

All paper and all recycling today. The dress "fabric" is from a page of a copy of Shogun in Japanese found on the used book table, and the black scarf is the wrapper from chopsticks at our last sushi dinner.

Dress #266 Vintage Style

This fabric is from a handkerchief found at flea market. I liked the colors and the design. The necklace is an earring of white, yellow and rose gold that I had forever, too. So vintage all around today.

Dress #265 Blue Mesh Lace

This interesting fabric is from Reine in Montmartre. Not only do they have the most wonderful dresses on 1/2 scale mannequins, they always have some exotic fabrics to tempt me. This is very airy, light, yet still holds its shape. Continuing my exploration in black, white and deep blue, I used it as an overlay. The belt is a small piece of blue ribbon yarn.

Dress #264 Smocked

Today is an experiment in smocking. I suppose it worked, but not quite what was in my mind. I love the fabric---a silk tie from Goodwill---and a piece of twill ribbon.

Dress #263 Blue Half Peplum

This dress is made of a luscious blue art paper. I liked working with it, and I'm sure it could be sewn just like fabric. Is it a half peplum? Or just a waist accent? Inspired by a dress in the window near the Buci Market in St. Germain de Pres. Paper with a decorative bead.

Dress #262 Back to Work

This looks to me like a casual work dress---so back to work it is! Cotton, from the Hometown collection by Sweetwater and some scrapbooking brads.

Dress #261 Dessert Day

I read that today is National Dessert Day. Luckily, I carefully carried this small ice cream cone home from Ikea yesterday. The cone and a piece of white chocolate make the dress along with a belt of ambrosia. What? You don't know what ambrosia is? To me, it is creme de marrons or chestnut cream/jam.

Dress #260 Paris Toujours

I love this postcard! Red dress, one-shouldered, Eiffel Tower sparkling, and the Alexander III bridge sculptures. It sums it all up for me.

Dress #259 Gray Fantasy

I was so thrilled when I found this bit of trim in the remnants, thinking it would work perfectly with a dress chiffon dress. The illusion sleeves are especially for Tim Gunn. Fabric and a piece of trim.

Dress #258 Elegance

A damask white top, heavy black skirt and a contrasting belt. I love the combination. Actually, every belt color I tried with this looked great, but I chose to go with the autumn gold this time. Paper, fabric and ribbon.

Dress #257 Pink Bubbles

I'm experimenting with some skirt shapes here. The results are not quite what I wanted, so I may try again. This dress would work for a bridesmaid dress, don't you think? Silk dupioni and a tiny silk ribbon bow.

Dress #256 Suit

A dressmaker suit in gray with touches of black and red. Can we pretend that the gray linen is really a more seasonally appropriate lightweight wool tweed? "Leather" trim is paper, as is the black.

Dress #255 Umbrella Day

It is a gray and rainy day in Paris. A perfect day to use this gray umbrella fabric and to experiment with a different sleeve shape. The belt and buttons are insulating fabric, such as you would use for an ironing board cover.

Dress #254 Color Block

I'm not certain that this attempt at color blocking met my mental image. However, it is black and tan, and therefore, OK in my book!

Dress #253 Paper Bag

Well, I was totally without inspiration today. I started playing around with a paper bag---my favorite color!----and I'm pleased with the final result. Not only that, but I'm inspired to try several other things. Paper bag, adhesive nail art, and Sharpie.

Dress #252 Plaidurday

Someone out there in the Internet world has decreed today as Plaidurday. Since I am fond of plaids, and had this fabric in my Parisian stash, I decided to play along.

Dress #251 Numbered

I brought the three little disks with number to use today, but I'd forgotten all about them. In a real act of synchroncity, they jumped out at me. Since this was the only day I could use them, I feel very lucky. The dress is "knot" special, but the numbers made me happy.

Dress #250 Over the Top

I wanted to use this fabric, and the bead on the belt matches so perfectly. But what else can I say? Cotton fabric with gold veining, recycled packaging belt, and a bead.

Dress #249 Gold Quilted Jacket

Here's a dressy outfit---perhaps for the grandmother of the groom? Gold "quilted" paper, and cotton from the stash.

Dress #248 Pin Stripes

Why the gold star on this dress? Because I really like it! The fabric is a gray linen pinstripe from Joann's and I can easily imagine wearing this.