The Tyler Challenge

"Day and Night"

The idea of an over scale print seems easy enough until you go out shopping for it. Nothing in my fabric stash is over scale because I work hard at keeping my dolls in prints representative of their size. So off I went on a hunting trip to “Hancocks” for inspiration but alas a disappointing adventure. At one point I did have in my hands a wonderful large scale cotton Plaid, wonderful colors... but my thoughts were, “Wow everyone will use plaid”.... ~NOT~.... No one in this challenge used plaid. That really surprised me. I should have bought it because I returned home with nothing.

(consept drawing)

I had to rethink, I pondered on doing an Asian theme and adding an over scale dragon appliqué that encircled the dress. (opps done that already) But in the end I came up with another idea...”Day and Night”...... the “Sun and the Moon”. Yes this in my mind is a brilliant idea. One side of the dress day the other night
High contrast fabrics in graphic colors were going to be needed to make this work, but I did not want black and white so yellow and blue were a perfect choice. When I returned to fabric shop I stumbled on to the idea of stripes, which in theory, I could collage together and make sun rays radiating out from my sun face. I found a wonderful yellow and yellow orange stripe. I wanted a blue that was vibrant and a live that did not fall into the gray/blue area. To add texture to that blue I found a modeled print that had a leaf design over lay, thinking that might appear as “stars”.

From the beginning I knew it was doubtful that I would find a sun and moon fabric so I did a search on Google images assuming if I found something I liked I could print on fabric to make an appliqué. I did find a lot of inspiration and even selected an image. But my printer did not cooperate and the print did not come out vibrant enough for me ....soooo what next....? Well I know myself and I figured to get exactly what I wanted I would just have to paint the design on white fabric and then appliqué that onto the dress.

I played around with the radiating strip effect and trashed it, feeling it would create a very bulky effect. But I did make the choice to junction my 2 fabrics on the skirt using a wave line. I added the appliqué but before the skirt was attached to the bodice I did a lot of freeform stitching on the fabric. I did radiating yellow an orange stitching out from the sun and all around the moon I stitched swirling curls in white thread. I LOVE this!!! So much fun...
My original drawings were extreme fantasy and “OUT” there with lots of projecting attachments. My tendency to create fantasy is strong and I had to REALLY edit myself to stay as real as possible, knowing all along that real women would never wear this anyway.

In the area of an oversized element my first thoughts were to do a necklace with very large bobbles (moon stones were my choice; again they have a little star effect when light shines on them.) I did assemble the bobbles into a 4 row necklace but the effect was wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy...over the top. Then I made a really small necklace of delica beads and wrapped it around and round the neck ... in the end I dropped the whole necklace idea all together. I found some blue and yellow stars and arranged them in the dolls hair. I think I may have dropped the ball on this one but it looked good to me. And I am going with it. I finished out the ensemble with 2 more of the stars and made an evening bag to compliment the outfit. Lucky for me some where along the line I had a pair of bright yellow shoes.. yea!

PDW Tyler Challenge....ahhhhhh yes....

Let me first state that, as an artist playing along in the “At Home” challenge I can empathies with these designers 100%. The premise of this challenge was to create a full skirt ball gown with an oversize print or design on the fabric and with the addition of one oversize element. The “TWIST” was to use cotton.....ugh...cotton.... well anyone who sews for fashion dolls more than likely feel as I do ... and I hate cotton.

While I worked on my own design I realized that this challenge lends it self easily to a Fantasy look. So I was not surprised this morning to find that a lot of the designer’s fashions did have a very fanciful feeling. So when I make that statement it is not meant in a bad way it is just the nature of the challenge.

http://www.projectdollway.com/Tonner%20Challenge%20Runway.html

My top 3 picks this challenge were Brenda, Kimberly and Magia 2000.... to me these 3 designers embraced the essence of the challenge..

Kimberly had the most unique and amazing design I think so far in project! WOW... I was instantly blown away with the whole concept. The pattern of the fabric was soft and subtle but defiantly over scale. The gowns design was wonderful a long bubble skirt and executed perfectly! But it was that bow that really caught my attention, the perfect detail placement was perfect and the color was just right. Every view of this design is lovely.

Brenda, this was her best yet while she usually makes my heart stop with those wonderful accessories this time she was DEAD on with her fashion too. The over scale geometric stripe was dazzling and how she cut and placed the pattern on the skirt made it dance. It seemed to have a movement on its own. The velvet top was exactly right on too and I love that neck line. Oh so clever is the Over size element of the wrap. I adore the Asian “Twist” paper chain idea. Cute cute cute......

Always a winner is Magia 2000 these guys have their hand on the heart beat of what collectors like. This fashion is perfect in every way while most of the designer in the challenge had a somewhat fantasy feeling about their design Mario and Gianni’s design is still realistic looking. The skirt falls perfectly, you would NEVER guess this was cotton. Just lovely.... and I LOVE love love that black bow on the back... with out skipping a beat that bow totally fits into this design with out looking like an after thought .

My vote is still out on this one but one of these 3. mostly because they executed perfect designs with in the parameters of the challenge. Hard choice here for me.

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Now my bottom 3... ugh... sorry guys.. there were some clear misses for me. Even thought I believe even in my own “AT Home” design mine and a lot of these designer faced the issue of their design looking like fantasy... and nothing is wrong with that.. real women are not likely to wear this stuff any way. But a few designers did not “PLAY” well in the over scale concept!

These 3 designers were Andrea, Brandon and Leigh. Let me say here that I am in no way bashing any of these designers I have the up most respect of them as designer and for the accomplishment they have made in this project. I hope that my critique is beneficial and is taken it with the spirit of constructiveness.

Andrea is usually one of my favorites but I feel like the pattern she choose was way tooo busy... far to fussy .. (In my field, interior design I like for my rooms to have a flow and movement yet have a place for the “Eye to Rest”) The same is true of anything in the design arena.. The eye must have a place to rest if the design is too busy then you can not appreciate the fashion. In Andréa’s case she had some wonderful ideas.. The cut out flowers on the bodice sleeves were fab and the way she centered the floral pattern on the bodice starts out great. ...but BAM... once my eye goes to the skirt I am overwhelmed with pattern. To me the pattern choice here is just tooo overwhelming..some good ideas in the design Editing would have helped but very “fairy princess in the woods” theme to me.

Another miss for me is Brandon. The color on this gown is nice but the execution is rough .While I adored Magia’s bow on the back this one was just not there. Even working in OVER scale the size still should have a good relation to the gown and yours was too big. The black ruffle on the bodice was unnecessary.. Again editing...I think this whole finial look of this gown would have come off 100xs better without this element. The ruffle totally competes with the pattern in the gown.

Lastly Leigh,.... totally off base. Seemed to me he simply made a white gown and stuck on an appliqué which had NO relation to the gown at all. The train is silly to me, I am thinking it is the Over size element and not expected but not good. I can not see much of the jewelry but looks like he picked up the colors of the appliqué. I think if this necklace had been his over size element it could have saved the day. By using a really colorful and over size necklace this would have tied the white gown and appliqué together in a much more appealing way. All of the design interest was on the floor... if the color and scale had been brought up in jewelry it could have made he gown more interesting.

The other designers who fell I the middle for me were all wonderful but for a number of reasons I felt were not as brilliant as my top 3.

I am afraid we will have to say good-bye to Jose’ nice design but clearly not the winner.. Again too much pattern for the design of the gown... For a large scale print to work well the gown design needs to be simple.. and there was just too much pattern on this dress. to effectively make the design (which was great) work ... it looked choppy

One of my favorite designers is Judith. I am one of her biggest fans. She did not disappoint me! Sooo adorable... again fantasy like. You had me at hello (to borrow the words of Michael Kors on PW). That bodice is fabulous and fits to perfection . Love the neck line and the butterfly appliqué is flawless. The way the bodice joins the dress is so cute. The large poke-a-dots were a delightful choice as well as the color scheme BRW... you never can go wrong using those colors for a really graphic effect. The accessories looked very appropriate for the fantasy feeling of the design as well. My only negative comment is that white appliqué... what is it? That stumbled my mind ... sorry. Over all really well done always perfect fit and execution... I really admire that... to me fit and execution are maybe the most important and Judith always does an impeccable job.

Debbie is also one of my favorite designers in this competition. She had an adorable gown this challenge, which also fell right into that fantasy feeling. I loved the bold horizontal stripes at the hem... and the bodice was nice bringing up the reverse concept of white w/ black. A lot of interesting detail, maybe too much.. Again editing could have been good here. The buttons on the skirt seemed unnecessary. And I am sorry to say.. in the concept of a “Ball gown” the cuffs were too much, looked cute with the jacket. But they were distracting with out it. As a matter of fact this was a beautiful gown and did not need that jacket at all.

That just leaves Karen...This was a well executed gown as well. I don’t know what "cotton lawn" is (From her blog) but what ever it is beautiful fabric. The problem I had with this design is only that I feel like it did not follow the challenge out line. To me a ball gown is not something that has caprice pants under it and I feel like print was hedging on OK for the scale of the doll. I think these are things that you may have lost points on the grand scheme of things. All that said ...WOW.. I really did like the overall finished product.... so smart and fresh. This dress will defiantly sell well ... easily. Well made and fit is wonderful it has a broad appeal. The hat was unique and fanciful and I liked that it provided a big punch of color. The belt was a good choice too. Over all well edited and a gorgeous garment

Once again Thank you TED for bringing us this entertaining and fun project... well done!!!

WOW......I won!!!

This challenge was about the total look based on the classic Little Black Dress. It was called LBD + One (color). The challenge was to create a cocktail party dress with a contemporary and strong silhouette. Accessories were very important to this challenge and could be used as part of the accent color.

I was privileged to have been selected as the winner for this “At Home” challenge.

Alexandra said in her critique: “DESIGN SEVEN: Simply sensational. The balance of the accent color throughout is wonderful because of its muted tone. A brighter color might have dominated everything, Wonderful silhouette, and a stunning new interpretation of the basic shirt dress.

Durelle Brown is the winner of the Barbie At Home Challenge. This outfit has all the elements required in this challenge, plus a fresh approach to the LBD. Reinventing a classic design is never easy, but this design does it with subtle color and a modern twist.

Thank you Project Dollway

TED ~ Alexandra ~ Happy Ever After for the Gift Certificate

This fashion and Accessories are for sale!

As for my own approach to solving this challenge I wanted to make sure I kept a flavor of the classic but yet keep in mind the contemporary twist requirement. I knew I wanted a sexy neck line and the silhouette was also an important requirement. Barbie’s small waist is very distinctive and makes her a good muse to model anything.
Knowing me and how I get stuck on color I knew straight up that I would NOT use citrine again. So to resolve that issue with myself I began my mock-up design in that color. I will show that dress later. I decided that Fushia would look perfect with the design ideas I had. But I also knew I must tone it down or mute it some way.

I began sketching at work and narrowed down my idea to one look. Mainly because my co-workers kept telling me over and over that they loved this design and would wear it to a cocktail party. The look I started with was a classic trench coat / shirt dress design. The twist comes from the collar and sweetheart neck line. Also I adore the drag-el-ly (my word) dripping lace look. Scale is always the enemy in lace and trim for Barbie. I contemplated the idea of layering black and fushia tulle (right scale) but I knew that shirring tulle would result in a Tu-tu effect. So I had to come up with a compromise some way to get the look but at the right scale.

I Love thinking and problem solving how to scale things for Barbie. I am an OOAK artist and I have on many, many occasions styled doll hair by heat setting it in hot water. I am thinking to myself.. hmmmmm doll hair is just synthetic fiber and tulle is nylon a synthetic fiber surely I could heat tulle to achieve the pleated look I want .

Everyone has been asking me how I got this pleated effect sooooooo..... Here ya go..

I layered 4 layers the tulle with the black on top and loosely pinned it together. At the sewing machine I ran rows and rows of basting stitch ½” apart. I gathered up all of the lines of stitching (no easy task) as tightly as I could and tied them off. The next step in the process was to heat set the tiny pleats I had created. This was accomplished with my steam iron set on wool and using a pressing cloth. YEA....it worked!!!!


By removing my lines of stitching and releasing the tulle I had heat set pleats and all I had to do was measure the length I wanted and cut it free. Wall-a underskirt peeking out from under the over dress ½” giving it the contemporary look I was wanting.

"Little Black Dress" Challenge

This challenge was about the total look based on the classic "Little Black Dress". It was called Black plus ONE (color that is). The challenge was to create a cocktail party dress with a contemporary and strong silhouette. Accessories were very important to this challenge.

http://www.projectdollway.com/Silkstone%20Challenge%20Runway.html

My top runners were Judith, Kimberly and Debbie. All three of these ladies embraced the LBD challenge through classic styling with at twist.

I am torn between these three for my #1...

Kimberly, to me, fit the challenge to a “T” reinventing the classic pencil skirt by staying true to her own design style with the addition of that wonderful Red pleated gusset. The matching purse was adorable. I disagree with the judge’s comment on the necklace... pearls were the first thing that came to my mind in this challenge. I applauded the simplicity of the design. Love the back and the fit is superb. By adding one simple element and color you recreated the LBD silhouette with a renewed interest. Bravo!

Judith, always a winner in my book, thus far has brought to each challenge a winning design. This weeks LBD was wonderful...... what can I say...?..... lime green as an accent color... yea!! So fresh and fun. Your accessories were precious... especially the shoes, so delicate. Were they painted or ribbon? Fit was impeccable... (I am a stickler for fit) But of course what took you to the winning level was that wonder full jacket. The slight hint of green in the lining was subtle and classy. I loved the neck line and the simple use of beads. Great design just what I would have expected.

As I am writing this I am realizing that my over all choice for #1 will have to be Debbie. I loved this design. My winner! Again lime green... yea!!! But where you surpassed the others for me was the silhouette. You did create a new silhouette. The hem line was brilliant and “contemporary” which was part of this challenge. The button detail in the back....yummy.... But I have to say... what really made me ohhhhhhhh and ahhhhh was that HAT!!! WOW... talk about YUMMY.... I think that you considered the model (silkstone) and took the challenge to just the right level. Congratulations!!!

Another design I really liked was Andréa’s. Although I felt like you could loose the sleeves completely the basic dress design was unique and looked great on the model. I think the problem with this design was it was over accessorized. I feel if you had stepped back and really editing yourself you could have won this challenge with this dress. The belt was perfect and the hat was great. But you did have too much over scaled jewelry.
I haven’t read all of the designer’s blogs yet but I did read Magia2000 this morning.. I adore the detailing on this dress... tooo bad the judges could not have seen this... Wow! This dress was wonderful and even though I can see the shawl being used in Europe I think this was what lost this challenge for you. (I want to reach into my screen and straighten that bow)

Brenda, as always, you blew the accessories out of the ball park. Wonderful purse...yummmmm! The color combo was dramatic. The shoes were so creative...thank you for posting a good close up of them I was wanting more detail when I saw the runway show. Neat neat neat.......

Karen and Jose were in my bottom three.
Karen I have never cared for bulky, glittery stretchy fabric, even on humans and on dolls... ugh...never a good choice! It is difficult for the fabric to relax enough to hang to the scale of the doll. With the correct fabric the silhouette could have been interesting. Your accent color was good, subtle and classy and the neck line on the back of the dress was great. Loved it! I liked the way you used the necklace to accent the back and I wish I could see the shoes better ... but loose the hat.
What can I say...José? You are one of the BEST designers in the competition, but big disappointment this time. It was an Interesting experimentation with the silhouette concept but ...OH dear... toooo much on a small doll. I have confidence that you can come back and win the next challenge and stay in the game. We want to see more of you!!!

"Star Wars" & Human scale Sewing......

I am taking a quick break from my “Project Doll Way” blogging to share some family fun. In my first blog entry I expounded on the fact that I was sewing in “full” human scale making a Princess Leia costume for my gorgeous Daughter in Law. My son and DNL both work for Space Center Houston, my son in exhibits and my DNL in education.

The last few months the education “Camps” were designed around a “Star Wars” theme. To cap off the series the finial event was a full blown costume party, Jack was Han Solo and Patricia, Princess Leia.
So finally weeks later Jack has sent me some of the pictures that I have been begging for.

Jack came over every night the week before the party to work on his costume. He is soo000 very clever. See the “Blaster” he fashioned from spare parts he found in the garage. (Looked everywhere but can not find the picture I took of it) I picked up a leather skirt at a thrift store and we recreated the famous Han Solo holster together that week.

Could you just die? Aren’t they wonderful and cute!!!
No.... gorgeous!!!!
My kids are talented, clever, fun and gorgeous!!!!

Makes a Mom proud!!! All those years of science projects, Halloween costumes and play practices ...good to know that it all bubbles back up in the form of fun and talent when they grow up!!!

I am looking forward to this morning. My doll buddies Dot, Beth and I are getting together to view the “Project Dollway” runway show.
We have all worked really hard the last 2 weeks to participate in the “At Home” challenge by making our LBD. Can’t wait to show off mine and see what the girls have done....
Tomorrow I will post my thoughts on the runway show and then next I will post pictures of my home challenge and the making of......