Condiments for Julie?

Julie is one of my all-time favorite clients.  She is a professional dancer, teaching and competing with her students.  She is also a retired a professional competitor, and that helps to explain the fact that this is our 53rd project together, by my count.  She picked up her new gown at the Snow Ball this weekend, and laughed in the dressing room, telling another dancer about looking at this gown at one point in our process and seeing ketchup and mustard!  Hence the silly name for this post.  

I am particularly fond of the buttons on the cuff detail. 

Julie was not on my schedule for the Snow Ball, but was taken by surprise just before Thanksgiving when both of her ballgowns sold to another dancer.  She called to explain her situation, and despite being VERY booked for the Snow Ball, I could not say no to Julie.  Our design meeting was mostly about the hunt for, and discovery of, an interesting piece of ombred fabric.  With only the vaguest of sketches, I talked with my salesman about the fabric, to confirm color and vibrancy, and sent for a piece of it.  While the ombre flew across the pond, I basted together a leotard, since we knew Julie wanted a portion of the gown to be rhinestone-embellished nude mesh.  When the fabric arrived, Julie met with me and we wrapped it around her body and watched our design flicker into life. She is a beautiful woman and this photo, while illustrating our process, does not do her justice.

Julie's confidence is a tremendous asset in design and fittings.  Even in a moment of doubt, (like seeing condiments instead of flaming gorgeousness!) she is always willing to move ahead from where we are.  I appreciate her calmness and ability to be patient until a great next step presents itself.

The design lines and details of this gown are simple, in the interest of allowing the color shift to be the eye-catching aspect of the work.  We both felt it would need an awesome piece of jewelry to provide focus and cohesion.  We tried out a few of my patterns and Julie liked one she felt was "Amazon" in character.  I reconfigured it to allow it to drop in a v-shape, both in the front and at the back, allowing it to synchronize with and support the neckline in three dimensions. Then I devised a simple means for it to attach to the gown that allows it both to move with Julie and stay neatly in place.  After testing, my paper pattern was drawn onto nude mesh fused to ultrasuede for comfort.  I edge-stitched for durability, and painstaking cut it all out.  Here it is, ready for my syringe of adhesive and the rhinestone embellishment.  As you can see, there are also a couple of bangle bracelets and a pair of as-yet-un-trimmed earrings, at the far left of the shot.

Here are the finished bangles and earrings, and a shot of the necklace connection, which I hope you cannot see!

And here is the gorgeous Julie, modeling the finished gown.

And with her awesome husband, and amateur competitive partner, Ken, wearing one of our suits.

Gown and Ballroom Suit by Made for Movement

I have not been the best blogger in 2013, and have written about only a few of the gowns I created.  I am gong to try and play catchup, (ketchup???) starting with my most recent work, and over the next few weeks, I will see if I can't get most of last years work posted so I can move on to some things I am really excited about for 2014, among them a DRAGON DRESS!  Thanks for reading and if you are imagining a 2014 project, call today to reserve time on my schedule!  

Randee's Hot Magenta

I have the most amazing clients!  Take Randee for example.  Randee is a former model and makeup artist, as well as a dancer.  She was willing to spend HOURS doing her hair and makeup in preparation for picking up her new gown and allowing me to take some photos for my blog.  I'd like to think my photography skills are improving, but in this case, I suspect it's the subject that improves my images.

Randee and I are both happy with the entire gown, but there are some particular elements I'd like to show off.

First, I have to give credit to my friend Marliss Jensen of Iris Color Studio.  Together, about 10 years ago, we worked out the process we use to create the shaded ombre effect featured in the skirt.  I choose colors (in this case, just the one) and Marliss prepares a dyed swatch to test the color accuracy and allow me to plan where I want the transitions to take place. I prepare the silk by washing it, cutting and sewing the skirt panels with silk thread, so stitches will dye with the silk, and even finishing the seams with silk surging thread.   Then I create a muslin jig and sew it to the bottom of the skirt, to give Marliss a means to control the mass of fabric at the hemline, as well as something to hang onto while dipping the skirt, upside down, into the dye vat.

In this case Marliss did her swatch on a piece of silk I had in my shop, but the stuff I ordered had been "dyed" white, infused with something to whiten the natural color of the silk.  She really had to work to get the "whitener" out and the color in as we wanted it to be, but as usual, she did a fantastic job. The color is one of Chrisanne's newest for 2011, called Hot Magenta.

Take a look at the bottom of the right sleeve, a pretty idea of Randee's.

The custom jewelry was designed for Randee to work specifically with this gown.  We co-ordinated the shape of the necklace with the shape of the necklline. The earrings were carefully planned to flatter her lovely chin and neck.  We wanted a big, chunky cuff for her bare arm, to call attention to her arm and hand styling, and I think this fits the purpose nicely.

If I told you her age, I promise you, you would fall out of your chair, and never again have a working excuse for a sagging jaw or wobbly underarm.

And speaking of pretty body parts, I think her back looks fantastic as well! And I would say the hours of hair styling paid off beautifully.

A HUGE thank you to Randee for letting me share her gorgeous new gown with you right away.  She won't have a chance to wear it until Twin Cities Open in July, but was kind enough to allow me to debut it here.  I can't wait to see some action shots.  In parting, here are a couple of other projects Randee and I have done together.