further adventures in (red) lace

Five layers later (yes, that’s five!) we are nearly done with the skating dress! We started by making all the layers, then we put them together on the doll herself (after we first wrapped her torso with aluminum foil, to help keep us from stitching the dress to her cloth body.) First was the underbodice, which is rather like a strapless swimsuit. Then we added the skirts, the overbodice, two layers of red tulle for some color help, and finally the lace, which is just basted on at present. We may also throw on some sequins for good measure — who doesn’t love a little sparkle?

As you can guess, this is a pretty intense hand-stitching project! We were able to machine the skirt layers on, but other than that, it’s been hand-stitching all the way. Now, all that’s left is to permanently stitch the lace down…

 

–Melinda and Melody

 

two new patterns up!

If you like to sew, the wait is over. Two of the dresses from Bloom 2013 are now available as sewing patterns (and the other two are in the pipeline!)

These are both really fun dresses to make (even if we do say so ourselves!) Lisianthus features lapped, topstitched bodice seams — and we’re especially proud of the way the pleats form in Lily of the Valley. They’re both intermediate level projects — hopefully not so hard as to discourage experienced seamstresses, but complicated enough to offer a challenge…

 

If you end up sewing these dresses, give us a shout-out in the comments and let us know!

 

Melinda and Melody

adventures in (red) lace

Hello everyone! Thanks again for joining us for launch last week — that was so much fun! Now that all the orders have been shipped to their new homes, it’s time to clean up and start dreaming again…

That said, in and amongst all the preparations for launch, we’ve begun working on a new custom order — an ice skating dress, to be exact. And it’s gorgeous! Here’s a picture of what we’re aiming for:

This is Ekatarina Gordeeva’s free skate dress from 1994. Isn’t all that red lace just scrumptious?

And here’s what we’ve got so far:

Since this is the first time we’ve ever made a skating dress, it’s been rather slow-going. They look simple, but there’s a whole different mindset behind them! Our client has been very patient and helpful, however (she used to skate herself, so she’s kindly pointed out important details like the exact shape of the skirt, and how judges don’t like loose sleeves). And, the lace itself has presented somewhat of a challenge — mostly because I’m very picky, it’s been hard to find something just right. So far the best option has been to color white lace motifs, cut them apart, and stitch them back together over the dress.

 

Labor-intensive? Yes.

Fabulous? Absolutely!

 

–Melinda

and…. the dresses are up!!

That’s right! After weeks of preparation for us (and for you, waiting!), Bloom is now available in our Etsy shop!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/melodyvalerie

Don’t forget, free shipping on all domestic orders with the code BLOOM2013 !

You can visit their individual pages here:

Enjoy, and happy Spring!
Melinda and Melody

special: free shipping!

That’s right — for the first time ever, we’re planning to offer free shipping to domestic addresses!

This offer will be good on all the spring frocks in our new collection (can you believe it’s only a week away now?) As you can probably imagine, we’re busy, busy, busy working to make it all come together smoothly.

But, to make things more fun for you, we’ve started putting together a board on Pinterest devoted exclusively to the new collection. We’ll be pinning images all week long… and maybe even a sneak peek or two….

Three cheers for Spring!
Melinda and Melody

announcing “bloom”

Yes, it’s that time of year again: Spring!

And our Spring 2013 collection is finally coming to fruit. We’ve been hard at work stitching up some gorgeous new designs, and we think you’ll love them (we certainly do!)

The new frocks will go up in our Etsy shop (www.etsy.com/shop/melodyvalerie) as usual, on the 13th — that’s only two and a half weeks away! So mark your calendars, and be sure to check our blog that morning as well, as we’ll have plenty of scrumptious pictures for you to enjoy…

here’s hoping your spring is off to a lovely start!
Melinda and Melody

Girl for All Time

Have you heard of the Girl For All Time dolls yet?

melodyvaleriecouturemelodyvaleriecouture

As part of our new partnership with Liberty Jane, we’re offering some of our designs as patterns in the Girl for All Time size. We just finished resizing the New Girl dress, and Matilda (who is our fitting consultant) looked so deliriously cute that we had to share…

Do you have a Girl for All Time doll? Chime in below in the comments!