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Monday, September 30, 2013

Passion For Fashion, The Story

I'm fading fast! Actually, I've been a bit of a zombie all day today. I think the weekend took a lot out of me :) So, by now you have probably read the post I did on my eventful start to the weekend. I told my husband that he has been elevated to saint status for driving five hours just to bring me my clothes. He's always been my knight in shining armor, always rushing in to save the day. I'm lucky! I had hoped to post a little of my progress as I went along, but I was just too exhausted to even think once I got back to my room. So, a little catch up is in order.
The contest actually starts on Thursday night when we choose our models. I was so happy and lucky to once again have Gabrielle as my model. I thought for sure when I drew number eleven that I had lost her. Once we had the models chosen, we had a little bit of time to take measurements and then say good-bye to them until they would return on Saturday at three in the afternoon.
The good thing about picking a number eleven was that I was the second to choose my poster on Friday morning. At first I was going to pick the Grateful Dead poster, not because I like the group, but because I liked the poster. There was a big skull and roses, I love anything that reminds me of The Day of the Dead, but just before I chose that poster, I looked over and saw Kiss. Boom! that was it!
So what to create. Initially, I was going to create a dress. If you look at the second guy on the left, there's and arrow pointing down. I wanted to do a real asymmetrical dress and recreate the arrow down the side of the dress. As I started to drape, I began to think that maybe I should go in a different direction. So I threw the muslin to the side and started working on a jacket. The pictures that I have aren't all that good, but you can at least get an idea of what the outfit looked like. The jacket looks as though the fur is longer on one side than the other. It isn't, it's just the way she is standing.  
 It's difficult to see, but the back is longer than the front and it is also quite full in the back.
You can see the back a little better in the picture below. There are studs at the waistline and I did leg-o-mutton sleeves to keep all the attention up around the face.
 Underneath I did a bra top and a pair of skin tight pants in a snakeskin print.
We were supposed to create a look inspired by the artist in the poster for an up and coming artist. So the tricky part was "inspired by," not a recreation of the original artist. Below you can see the fur that I used and get a better idea of the print in the pants and the bra top.
I found the chains at one of the vendors booth and I even found the star. If you look at the poster,two of the guys have stars painted on their faces. I told the judges that the star represented the star that my client was destined to become. In the picture below you can also see how the back of the jacket cascades down.
All in all I was happy with what I created. That was not the story the entire time though. On Friday night I began to have a melt down. You would not have known it, but our mentor sure did. I started beating myself up for not carrying through on my original idea. I had talked myself into thinking that I had created just the worst thing. I was a mess. The next morning I was still shook up, but by then I had decided that it was what it was, so just get it finished. Actually, I was pretty much finished on Friday night. I had enough to keep me busy on Saturday, but I didn't have to panic about getting it finished. I did begin to calm down when people would come by and say, "I need that jacket in my wardrobe NOW!" The problem though is that you never know how the judges will interpret the challenge. In the end, I won third place. If I'm honest, I REALLY wanted to win, but I did my best and that is all that I can do.
The best part about the weekend were all the lovely people who came by to say hello. What a treat that was for me. Thank you for all of your encouraging words. A few weeks back, Rochelle of http://smokingneedlesknitting.blogspot.com/ had said that she might come to the expo. When she walked up to my table I immediately knew who she was. What a delight it was to meet her in real life :) She was wearing an incredible bracelet, rhinestone scissors. What person who sews wouldn't want a rhinestone scissor bracelet?!! I was joking with her about how easy it might be to get it off her wrist when she took it off, gave it to me and said, "here, I want you to have this." I wore that bracelet all day yesterday. It is my trophy. I couldn't have been given anything that would have meant more to me. Thank you so much Rochelle!!! I'll post pictures of it later this week. I'm going to the opening of the opera season on Saturday night and I plan to wear the bracelet and I will take pictures!
I also need to thank Chris, a lovely, lovely woman. On Friday morning she brought me a bag of Cliff bars. I lived on those Cliff bars for two days. Thank you for keeping me alive Chris! And last, but not least, I am so very happy that I had the chance to spend the weekend with Kristine of http://www.kbdesigns74.blogspot.com/ She is the loveliest lady, kind, giving and so very generous. Here she is with her incredible creation.
So all in all, it was a great time.
Before I close, I need to thank so many of you for all the encouragement that you sent my way. It meant so much more than you'll ever know.
So on to the next adventure. I will be flying to Denver next Monday for the taping of the Sew It All program. Exciting!!!!!



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Monday Morning Inspiration

Good Morning Everyone!! I'm back, a little worse for wear, but I'm back :) I'll do another post a little later on my experiences at the American Sewing Expo, but since I had already downloaded all of the pictures for this post, so I thought I would go ahead start the day with it. 
I cannot remember how I came across this book. If my memory serves me right, the book was sent to me. I have never purchased an Armani outfit, books like this are usually sent to customers, so beats me why they sent one to me!! Anyway, it's is lovely. The catalog is inside a case and even has a dust jacket. Incredible. This is from their fall/winter 1990/91 collection. As I went through the catalog, I found it interesting that over 20 years later, there is nothing in this collection that I would not wear today. The shoulders are a little exaggerated, not much though and the coats are a little over sized, but I love an over sized coat. The collection is a very menswear inspired look. The photography is interesting as most of the catalog was shot in sepia tones. Hope you enjoy scrolling through the pictures as much as I enjoyed downloading them for you!











Love the hat pictured below as well as the skirt and the jacket.


Check out the interesting closure on the coat.














Beautiful classic styles.
Wishing you all a week full of abundance!
Rhonda



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Sunday, September 29, 2013

Sunday Night Reflections





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Thursday, September 26, 2013

What A Day!

Just a little update about my first day. About halfway into my journey, I saw that the air in one of my tires was low. So, I stopped and put air in the tire and went on my way. Well, that wasn't the end of it, the tire continued to loose air so off to another gas station where I found a shop that changes oil but not tires. They sent me to a mechanic/tire guy who was able to fix the tire. It had a nail in it so it really did need to be fixed. So lucky thing number one.
Next up, I arrived and as I began to unpack the car, I realized that I had left ALL of my clothes at home. In a panic, I called my very dear husband who proceeded to throw my bag along with both of our dogs in the car and is now on his way to rescue me. Lucky thing number two.
We chose our models tonight. We won't be given our challenge until tomorrow morning. My lovely model had told me that she would be participating again this year and I really wanted her, but I drew number eleven out of twelve. Bummer. I just knew I would loose her, after all, she's gorgeous, but lucky thing number three, she's mine!!!!!!!!!!
All of the wonderful luck you are sending my way, it's getting here!! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
I'll try to check in tomorrow.



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Today Is The Day

Yes, the day has arrived and in just a couple of hours I will once again be off to Novi, Michigan to compete in the American Sewing Expo's Passion For Fashion contest. Pictured below is the garment I created last year. It's a little surreal to think that it is now on the cover of 1000 brochures. Just incredible and truly an honor! 

If I'm honest though, I must admit that I'm nervous. I once had a 747 captain, who had thousands of flight hours under his belt tell me that "fear is a good thing. Worry when you aren't at least a little nervous. Complacency will kill you every time."  Yes, it is good to be a little nervous, used well, it can propel us forward. I can use any and all good thoughts that you can send my way. I will try to blog my process over the next few days, just so you can see how it's going. Thanks so much for all of the support so many of you send my way on a regular basis. No one moves forward all on their own, so any success I may have is in part due to you. Your encouragement is like fuel for my creative engine :)
Rhonda



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Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Butterfly Kisses

Still catching up on posting the pillowcases that are a part of our 731 donated cases for the Mary Bridge Children's Hospital pillowcase drive. Penny from Indiana sent in seventeen pillowcases! 

The gentle sweep of butterfly kisses sounds like a lovely way to gently fall off to sleep.
She also added fun flamingos swirling through a daisy background.
And I really liked the combination of a bandanna print with the flowers.
So often we go through life, just living our days and feeling as though we don't make much of an impact on the world. You can imagine my surprise when I read this lovely letter from Penny. This was like my own personal "It's A Wonderful Life" moment. Thank you Penny for such lovely words.

So butterfly kisses and and flamingo fantasies rounds out our 731 cases. I've received two more donations and messages that more are on the way. 900 is fast becoming a reality instead of just a dream. Thank you to all of you for making this happen.
There is still time to participate. If you would like to make even just one pillowcase, it will be greatly appreciated. Here are the instructions for the simplified pillowcase instructions, http://www.rhondabuss.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-simplified-pillowcase-instructions.html If you do decide to participate, email me at sewbussted@yahoo.com and let me know. You can also wait and email me once you've finished and I'll let you know where to send them. Our project is becoming part of an even larger project. I'll share more about that next week. I am just amazed as I see all of this unfold!



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Tuesday, September 24, 2013

An Apple a Day!

Happy Tuesday Everyone. Today I am doing another combo post of donated pillowcases. First up are five cases from Jeannie. Jeannie is such an interesting person. She spent a year in Paris, lucky girl, and while she was there she created 365 little dresses. Check out her blog here, http://www.365creativedresses.blogspot.com/ The dresses are made from all sorts of things like wheat, candy, even a bottle. If you have not taken a tour of her little dresses, you really should as they are so very creative.
Jeannie made five cases for Mary Bridge Children's Hospital. 
 An apple a day. Let's hope it does its magic and keeps the doctor away!
She also trimmed two of her cases with this delightful fabric. 
Up next are two pillowcases from Diane P. She had told me not to photograph them, but hey, when someone is so generous to make a donation, it deserves to be recognized :) I especially love how she combined the polka dots with the fabrics. Just lovely.  
Thank you to both Diane and Jeannie. Both of their donations were included in the numbers I gave you yesterday, 731 donated pillowcases. No sooner than I posted the total number, two more boxes arrived, so our count continues to grow. Exciting. More on those cases later.
So as always, here is a link to the pillowcase instructions,  http://rhondabuss.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-simplified-pillowcase-instructions.html If you would like to participate, email me at sewbussted@yahoo.com and let me know. Just in case you are just finding my blog for the first time, the pillowcases are going to the Mary Bridge Children's Hospital in Tacoma, Washington. Each child who is admitted to the hospital is given a lovely pillowcase of their own to keep. The hospital goes through 900 pillowcases in a month. If you would like to read more about the project, here is a link to all the past posts that have been done, http://rhondabuss.blogspot.com/search/label/Mary%20Bridge
Have a wonderful day! I'm hoping to be back later today with a tutorial on the zebra dress. I have not forgotten:)



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