K.I.D.S. – iCandy Handmade

November 15, 2012 11 Comments

Today’s guest is a good friend of mine, the lovely Jen from iCandy Handmade. Jen is constantly amazing me with her creations, and I am particularly fond of her style.

Her attention to detail is always amazing, and she never shies away from the hard projects which I love. Dress with different petals all over it? No problem. Hot glue a million sequin on a costume…yup.

And I can only imagine that her kids just love it all! I mean look at that butterfly costume above, or see her costume made with fur from last year.  Amazing.

So with a daughter just the right age, I was super excited to see just what she might draw for KIDS…

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Hello, Me Sew Crazy readers!  I’m Jen from iCandy handmade.  Can I just say how excited I have been for this series?  I think it is such a brilliant idea.  I am really loving the creations that have been shared so far and am excited to see the rest!
I have a six-year old daughter.  Her name is Emily,  She loves to draw, and she has been known in the past to draw outfits that she “wants.”  So for the first time, she actually did get something she drew!  
Emily, since the age of 2, has been very selective and opinionated about her clothes.  She wouldn’t touch jeans until skinny jeans were popular, and of course now they are the only ones she will wear.  There have been several things that I have made her over the years that she never wore… but I am starting to learn my lesson.  Now she collaborates with me on the design/fabric before I make anything for her.
I really had no idea what she would come up with for this challenge.  I handed her a piece of paper, and told her to use her markers.  This is what she came up with:
*ok…I cheated a bit, because the first version was kelly green and white stripes…not my favorite…
so I gently suggested another color combo and this was the next version.*

Isn’t it shocking that she drew stripes? Ha! 
Well she is my daughter after all…
If you don’t know what I am talking about, go check out my blog :)

At first, I was super excited, because I have a thrifted knit black and white striped adult tunic waiting for a refashion, so how easy would that be?   But no.  The stripes had to be as wide as the cable box.  That was her unit of measurement.  Ok.  So I dug into my fabric stash and found some kona cotton – ivory and black.  I guess I was going to piece the stripes.
I sewed those strips together, and used the bodice pattern I created for my Sailing into Autumn dress, paired with an A-line skirt.  
Because I didn’t want to see any seams, I lined the whole thing with leftover sheet material from this dress.
Boy, getting the stripes to line up perfectly is MUCH harder to do with cotton than knit!  
(Mine did NOT line up perfectly!)

She wanted a flower on a belt.  As I was finishing the dress up at 11pm, I decided to use one of her existing skinny belts and just add the flower as a pin.  That way she can wear any belt, with or without the flower.
The flower was made similar to this felt flower, but using fabric and sewing, instead of glue gun.  For each layer, I just ironed on some heat ‘n’ bond to the back of fabric, and bonded a second layer of fabric.  
So it is nice and stiff, and won’t fray very much.
I added a subtle trim to the neckline, sleeves and hem to finish it off.
I asked her what she would call this dress.  She mentioned zebras, then said, “no! ice cream.”  Thus the name.
I think we are both happy with the way it turned out.
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I am dying Jen!!!  I was so wondering if your daughter’s dress would have stripes or not…it DOES!  Lol, I love it!  Seriously though – she did a great job designing, and I love your interpretation.  The ric rac trim is fantastic to add some softness to it.  Very very cute!

You can find Jen hanging out at iCandy Handmade:
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Thanks so much for stopping by, and until next time…

Happy Sewing!

Filed Under: guest post, icandy handmade, k.i.d.s., kids inspiration and design series

Comments

  1. Max of Max California ★ says:
    November 15, 2012 at 11:14 am

    I LOVE this dress! Absolutely in love with it. Great going mama!

    Reply
  2. Alida L. says:
    November 15, 2012 at 11:35 am

    So pretty!

    Reply
  3. eat. sleep. MAKE. says:
    November 15, 2012 at 12:40 pm

    Gorgeous dress, I love the flower belt. It’s so perfect with this dress!
    -Jen

    Reply
  4. Melissa (Melly Sews) says:
    November 15, 2012 at 1:27 pm

    So cool! I love that it’s girly but unexpected at the same time.

    Reply
  5. Heather Feather says:
    November 15, 2012 at 2:10 pm

    Wow, she put so much work into that dress! I love it! I can’t wait until my son is old enough to draw something for me to make for him!

    Reply
  6. Simple Simon & Co says:
    November 15, 2012 at 3:54 pm

    Absolutely beautiful!!!!

    Reply
  7. Katie says:
    November 15, 2012 at 4:18 pm

    Her daughter has GREAT taste. And a wonderful future as a designer. I LOVE that dress! And the flower.
    Thanks for showcasing these wonderfully talented ladies.

    Reply
  8. Lucinda Poel says:
    November 15, 2012 at 6:28 pm

    what a great little dress! love the pop of pink against the black and white. quite an eye your little one has:)

    Reply
  9. Summer says:
    November 15, 2012 at 7:00 pm

    I love it!!! And that flower just pops up against those bold black stripes!

    xo
    summer

    Reply
  10. Disney says:
    November 15, 2012 at 9:18 pm

    Can you make me one??? So cute and comfortable looking! Great job!

    Reply
  11. marissa | Rae Gun Ramblings says:
    November 19, 2012 at 6:36 am

    super cute!

    Reply

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