Bias and Buttons! {PR&P Sewalong 2012}

Guess what?! Last minute I decided to jump in and sew along with Season Five of Project Run and Play!

Speaking of, have you voted yet? I just did, but it was HARD to choose! All the designers are so talented and their outfits are exquisite. I'm not exaggerating this: I almost teared up when I voted because everyone's children are just so precious and each outfit was so lovingly created. It felt like a crime to choose one over another, but I did it--because what is the point of a sewing competition if people don't vote??

But still. Even though I voted for one, ALL those women are amazing designers if you ask me.

OK, so on to my contribution! If you didn't know already, you can sew along with the contestants during PR&P. There is a deadline each week to submit your outfit and then the panel of judges chooses a winner from the flickr pool. Cool, huh?

This week's challenge was to remix No Big Dill's Very Biased Skirt tutorial.  Here is what I created: Abby's Bias and Buttons dress.

She was a little tired when I took these pictures, since I bribed her with fruit snacks to go outside and model for me before 7:30 a.m. Try not to judge me for the fruit-snacks-before-breakfast. A mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do! :)

This dress was created by sewing a million bias-cut strips in varying colors to an A-line dress that buttons across the front at an angle. I drafted every little piece of this pattern myself.

The back is cinched in with elastic, which creates the slightly ruffled effect. I like where it hits on Abby's back.

I used a variety of chunky buttons that my mom brought me from The Stitchin' Post in Sisters, Oregon a couple of years ago. (Owned by fabric designer Valorie Wells and her mother). The buttons are vintage each one is unique. I think the non-matching buttons work really well with the variegated strips.

Let's look at the back one more time...

Check out this sketch of the dress from the conceptual stage. I'm pretty excited that it came out looking like I imagined! Except for the buttons, which I moved after seeing how the dress came together.

I'm working on a tutorial right now, so stay tuned! It would have been up today, but I'm having computer issues (grrr) and didn't want to miss out on posting pics of this dress before the week ends.

Here are some more for your viewing pleasure. I hope to have the tutorial up next week! Thanks so much for visiting CailaMade!