Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Tie Dye Elisalex


When I was living in my grandparents house I had a pretty set routine when it came to sewing and blogging. With ready access to a washer and dryer I could wash fabric as soon as I bought it and get straight to work sewing, and easily work on special dye projects. Once I made something new I would just head out to the back porch with my tripod and camera for some blog photos. 

My new apartment has made a change in my routine. I have to wait patiently for our trips to the laundromat in order to prepare my fabric for sewing, it's torture! But on the other hand, I'm finding that having to search for a special spot for photos is rather enjoyable. Yesterday while we were out on an evening run I spotted these hydrangeas and knew they would make the perfect backdrop for my latest Elisalex dress!

I recently purchased the book "Tie Dye: Dye It, Wear It, Share It," by Shabd Simon-Alexander. I've been in awe of her work for quite some time, so I was excited when I found out about her book. This dress is made from an out of use curtain that I tie dyed using a technique from the book that involves folding like a fan, binding with string, and then dyeing. Once the dye process was complete, I reached for my Elisalex Dress Pattern from By Hand London. I love the bodice of this pattern, but yet again my fabric didn't lend itself to the structured skirt so I substituted a simple gathered skirt. This finished dress is exactly what I imagined for the fabric, so I'm one happy camper.

PS: Any of you other lovely sewing bloggers have tips for feeling comfortable taking project photos out in public? I'm still feeling a bit shy!






12 comments:

  1. beautiful!! i'm a bit afraid of the idea of tie-dye, all i can picture in my head is the horrible neon-coloured tshirts from when i was kid. but this is soft and subtle and lovely! also, i'm with you about the akwardness of taking pictures in public. i think you're very brave to do it by yourself with a tripod. i make my boyfriend photograph me...

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  2. your new dress is beautiful, as well as your tie dye job!

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  3. The dye job is sooo dreamy, it soothes me! The dress is obviously gorgeous by association and because it's flawlessly sewn, as always. :) I have only done photos in public once, and I felt weird about it so I will also be watching this space for tips!

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  4. Awesome dress! I really have to try dying. I still feel silly taking photos in public, especially on my own, but the more I do it the less self conscious I feel. When I get my children to take the pictures I can pretend to any passers by that it is for their benefit and I am indulging them. Alternatively alcohol helps - it is shocking how many photo shoots I have done in pub gardens :)

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  5. I love your dress so much! The tie-dye is beautiful. Yes, I feel ridiculous in public! No tips here. I just try to do it quickly.

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  6. Glad to see you back with a finished project! This dress is fantastic. I'm too shy to even take photos with a photographer (boyfriend) in our own backyard. Last time I tried, a neighbor came out and laughed at us. This dress is awesome, though, so passersby should understand why you want photo documentation of it!

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  7. I love this! It looks great! I do my photos out in public, but I'm already used to my neighbors staring at me all the time (they're all old people and are very suspicious of me and my little dogs) so what's one more thing for them to stare at?

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  8. Super cute! I really like the colours of this. Just found your blog through Kollabora, this project to be exact, so looking forward to seeing your other makes! :)

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  9. wow you've been creating some awesome dresses :-) was looking at the blog of the author who wrote the tie dye book you mentioned and some of the student samples look like constellations!

    happy sewing

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  10. I forgot to comment on this dress when it first popped up into my blog reader, but I'm glad you're back to blogging! I also love how people are dying their own fabrics these days. So fun! I still get all nervous taking photos outside. Usually I look for places where people aren't likely to be early in the morning when the sun is at a nice spot. It's been harder after the move since I'm just not used to the area, the sun, or my husband's new work schedule (since he's my photographer often)! I wish I had a nice lovely well-lit room inside so that I always had a back up plan...

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  11. So pretty! And definitely worth braving the outside world for photos... this little location is stunning and really helps bring the colours of the dress out - looking lovely :)

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  12. This is a great article and I love the dress you are wearing. There are going to be a lot of new designs and styles coming out this year that are going to be amazing. I personally think styles such as Day Dresses is a design that will be a huge hit for women of all ages because they can be worn for many different occasions.

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