Oh hello, Week 3, you’re here already??? This week was so fun!!! Sprucing up some classic denim into a fun, interactive party dress for K was a joy! She seriously couldn’t hardly keep her hands off the flowers, you’ll see that in most pictures, she’s taking off and putting on the flower heads.

Let’s dive into my Denim Challenge entry for Project Run & Play (don’t forget to vote for Lily Shine!):

I cut strips of denim on the bias and wove them into a beautiful curved bodice. I LOVE the look of the straps from the Rabbit Rabbit Creation’s Hummingbird Dress, so I adjusted them to fit the bodice length, added some width and a fun lime green ric rac trim.

The coolest waistband detail, featured in the Bow Peep Dress by Ainslee Fox Boutique Patterns, was the most perfect way to tie in some color and add some detail to the dress. I love the vivid green sash, it really dresses up the look!

I wanted you to really be able to see all the hand embroidery so I kept the stitching bold and exaggerated to really make the stems, leaves and curly q’s pop in the photos.

Kenzie loves when I make garments that are interactive and playful, so I decided to create the flower heads to all be removable and interchangeable. She was not very pleased when I buttoned the yellow flower head onto a pink button, the purple onto a yellow button and so on. Needless to say, she went right to work correcting my flowers.

Most kids are always carrying around trinkets, or finding things to stick into their mom’s pockets so I added some rose pink inseam pockets. Kenzie cleaned off the sidewalk from the fallen leaves and stored them in her pockets throughout the photo shoot.

I needed the skirt to be full and poofy to show off the embroidery and flowers, so I made a pettiskirt to match. I wanted her to have the option of wearing it under the dress when she is feeling frilly, or be able to wear the dress without for more comfortable play.

Lastly, most of the gardens on Oahu are filled with beautiful tropical flowers, not really in sync with the look of the dress. I used a tutorial I found to make fabric roses for inspiration to make my own larger-than-life denim rose for the photo shoot. I had some great sparkled denim on hand, drew up large and medium sized petal pattern pieces and went to cutting. I used some felt I had in my craft stash to use as batting to give the petals more dimension and shape. Kenzie carries her rose around the house and uses it as a pillow, so it was a worthwhile addition!

Head over to Project Run & Play to vote for Lily Shine’s Garden Party dress!