Inspired by "Glamping" - My Project Runway Doll Project Season 12 Episode 6

This week the designers on Project Runway were sent on a "Glamping" trip for inspiration. Glamping reminds me of the movie Troop Beverly Hills when rich housewife, Shelly Long took over leading her daughter's Wilderness Girls troop. The challenge was to design a high end look inspired by nature and the trip they took.

For the look I created I was inspired by a mix of the nerd version of a nature girl, aka a Celtic elven warrioress and the hippie chic style of some of my favorite eco friendly besties. What I like best about the dress is it easily transforms into shorts for tromping through the wilderness from a re-envisioned wrap dress.  Maybe the hoodie caplet is too much but the boys really liked it so I left it.

I found this awesome batik fabric and "suede denim" that everyone in the store commented on as I was having it cut. The tan corduroy was I scrap I picked up but didn't use...

 Close up of the suede denim texture...

 

Front Skirt

Back Skirt

Back Shorts

Front shorts

Cheesey photobombers

What do you think? Would Heidi love it or hate it? Would Nina have something nasty to say about the crotch or not? Let us know what you think in the comments below. 

Unconventional Team Challenge - My Project Runway Doll Project Season 12 Episode 5

The unconventional challenges on Project Runway are my favorite so this was a good season to challenge myself since this was the 3rd unconventional assignment so far. 

This week the designers worked in teams to create a luxurious mini collection from items found at a vintage wallpaper shop, a specialty grocery store, or a party/home supply store and were encouraged to spend around $1500. Brodie was wrangled in as my partner again and went to the dollar store since it's kind of like all three of those stores in one. We spent $14, so we figure that's like coming in $100 under budget.

The items we came back with were:

A can koozie, 2 plastic bats, 3 rolls of shelf paper, coffee filters, a bag of plastic snakes, a bag of fake spider webs, paper clips, tape, 2 stretchy book covers, blood splatter clings, and a bunch of fake grapes. 

Since we got so much Halloween stuff and we aren't the fanciest of people we decided to go a little goth with our designs. After all who likes to sport fancy looking clothes more than goths? However we didn't want it to look "costumey" so we kind of tried to merge goth elements into the mainstream market while using the assortment of items we had purchased. 

Brodie designed and created one look and I did the other. Here's how they turned out...

Her dress is made from a book cover. The jacket is shelf paper. The belt is shelf paper and plastic snakes ant the flower is a paperclip and fake grape. Brodie made these shoes in the first shot out of duct tape but they were really tough to balance the doll in so we swapped them out for "the runway show"

Without the jacket...

I don't know if mine is goth enough but every time I went to add something it seemed like too much. Hopefully the silhouette and shades of red give a strong enough nod to the culture. 

The dress is made out of hand died coffee filters, tape and fake grapes for the embellishments.

Here's a side-by-side look at our looks.

 So how did we do? I think Brodie can so better than Sue so hopefully we would still be in the running if we were in the actual competition. I think Nina Garcia would look awesome in Brodie's outfit but would Heidi think mine was a bit too much? Or because of the red on the coffee filters would Tim Gunn say it looked like an homage to a feminine product? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.

Bonus!

Want to know how Brodie made that cool snake belt? Since NOTHING would stick to the plastic snakes he decided to melt them. He laid out the snakes between 2 sheets of wax paper and ironed it on high on both sides until all of the snakes fused together. Then he weaved a piece of shelving paper through the plasitc and added fasteners. Viola!

Bow Tie Challenge - My Project Runway Doll Fashion Project for Season 12 Episode 4

This week on Project Runway the theme of the challenge was bow ties. The designers were supposed to be inspired by bow ties and use at least one bow tie in the garment. Many of them drew on peronal experience and so did I.

There are a lot of things people associate with bow ties but for me there is one thing that stands out, my first job. When I was 16 I got a job at the local move theater, the Brassfield Cinema 10. At this particular theater the dress code was a plastic neon bow tie and suspenders or an apron depending on if you were scheduled for concessions, box office or as an usher. As a young woman this get up wasn't my favorite, especially the suspenders which aren't made for anyone with boobs. 

So for the bow tie challenge I redesigned a uniform for a female usher at an upscale movie theater. Think back to the golden age of cinema, or the movie Annie for people in my generation, that's where I drew inspiration from for this design. Check it out...

What do you think? Is it too fashionable and not functional? Does it look classy or costumey?  Is it in or is it out? Let me know what you think in the comments below. Check back next week when Brodie returns to help with another team challenge.

Woodshop Homeschool Style

The boys are hard at work!!! Can't wait to see the awesome stuff they make!

 Brodie is sanding some blank blocks for me to paint.

 Bing is kicking up some serious sawdust with his project!

Can you guess what he's making?

 Now can you tell?

Let us know what you think of the things we make and check back soon to see the finished projects!

Unconventional Coney Island Challenge - My Project Runway Doll Fashion Project for Season 12 Episode 3

This week Project Runway designers paired off for their first team challenge so I enlisted the help of another Project Runway enthusiast... Brodie. We went to the dollar store to collect prizes comparable to the ones the designers won when visiting Coney Island. We also picked three words they heard to describe out look... tangy, happy and delightful. It was truly a team effort and Brodie contributed a lot to the construction and design of this garment. He even chose a new model for this week. It wouldn't surprise me if you see him on the real Project Runway one day. That kid has style, and a good eye.

What says winning better than a bunch of raffle tickets!?!? We got two colors, a stuffed fish and a lei for out materials in this challenge.

We sketched under the watchful eye of our own Swatch, aka Kayla our Boston Terrier. Brodie had some good ideas and I did too but we had to combine our visions to make a great garment.

We "wove the tickets together by pinning, gluing and then sewing them into a material we could use as our primary "fabric."

Brodie cut out the bodice after sewing the strips together.

If the judges hate it as a dress, we could always turn it into a hat....

Brilliant! Brodie came up with a way to make this flower out of tickets, a piece of the lei and the stuffed fish's plastic eye. We thought it was a great touch to class up the dress.

And the end result...

What do you think? Is it a crafty use of unconventional materials or does it just look like a craft project. Would Heidi be wowed or bored?

Thanks for checking out our little project. We love your feedback. Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.