Project Run and Play- Week 2
September 9, 2011 7:03 amI’m so happy to have made it through the last round! Thanks, voters! This week we got to work with, what I’m sure is, one of all of our favorite patterns. I have made countless dresses from this Siena Dress pattern. I wanted to take it up to the next level and make something slightly costumey and over the top, which is not something I normally do. I envisioned this dress for a vintage circus themed themed birthday party. (You can see my inspiration board here) I wanted to incorporate the bold stripes of the tent and the wide front opening, the bunting flags, circus lettering and some black for that vintage circus costume element.
It has rust and cream colored stripes on the skirt with a grey ruffle around the bottom with pick ups on the front. The top has a sapphire silk initial ‘A’ on it in circus style font. The sleeves are another stripe with pick ups and they have teeny grey bows at the shoulder.To top it off, a black and grey headband to match.
The back has a big detachable dupioni silk bow. The socks are little bunting flag socks.
What I love about this is you can take it up a notch with a tutu or take it down by removing the big bow in the back and letting down the pick ups. It’s exactly what I love about this pattern- you can use it for anything! I hope you like this look as much as I do!
Head over to Project Run and Play to see all the other amazing designs and to vote for your favorite.
Tags: children's clothing, circus, girls dress, Original Designs, project run an play
Posted in children's clothes, Original Designs, other | 6 Comments »
Project Run and Play- Week One
September 2, 2011 6:12 amI’m so excited to be a part of Project Run and Play, 2011. If you haven’t already gone over there, go over and see all the other amazing participants. We have Jen and Autie from iCandy Homemade, Jessica from Me Sew Crazy, Jessica from Happy Together, Nicole from Coles Corner and Creations, Liz and Elizabeth from Simple Simon and Co. and Leisel from Brown Paper Packages.
Whew! What a great group of creative women!
The first theme was a back to school outfit. Now, my kids wear uniforms so I had to use my imagination on this one. I kept two things in mind for this back to school outfit. 1. My kids are always mismatched- stripes on polkadots with all sorts of off colors and prints. It’s what I love about them. So I wanted this outfit to reflect that sort of childish combination. 2. I don’t know about you, but whne my kids start school, it’s still warm, actually probably our warmest months. So I didn’t want to make an outfit too fall weathered, I wanted it to be more transitional pieces. That being said, here’s how we do back to school.
The top has a pleated bodice and goes to a V in the back with several small pleats to create some movement towards the bottom. For the bodice top I made small pleats or you can use a pleater board. I baste them together then just proceed with your top as you want. I attached the bottom half of the top then the back and added straps. I’d have Bel wear this over a long sleeve shirt in the winter.
For the shorts, I did a brown linen in a sort of paige boy style with oversized pockets and tabs at the leg band. The pink buttons feminize it. We happen to love shorts and tights in the winter, maybe paired with some boots, so I knew the brown would transition great into the Fall and Winter months. For the shorts, I cut it from my only other pattern then the Sienna Dress, this Oliver + S one. I do all my own variations, but I love the basic shape of this short. Then to top it off, a frivolous headband.
(headband tutorial coming soon, and I’ve been informed the oliver + s pattern is out of print. I will do a post on how to make these shorts soon)
Don’t forget to accessorize with the perfect dotting of summer freckles.
I love it with the leopard flats. One more print thrown in the mix.
I hope you’ve all enjoyed my back to school look! I’m so thrilled to be a part of project run and play. Head on over to cast your vote for your favorite look. The other women did such great jobs!
Tags: back to school, children's clothing, DIY, girl's outfit, project run and play, shorts, top, tutorial
Posted in children's clothes, Original Designs, Uncategorized | 20 Comments »
Bondage Inspired Sweater
September 1, 2011 11:38 am
I had a cozy, lounging sweater that was on it’s last life. It was too oversized and kept falling off. But I couldn’t let go of it.
In comes two sources of inspiration.
One- This sweater I saw on pinterest. I just loved it.
via middlechildcomplex.tumblr.com
Second- this bondage trend I saw in Elle this month.
So here’s what I did with my sweater. I cut the back into a deep v. Then I sewed it wround the opening so it wouldn’t fray.
Then I just added three leather straps to the back.
(ps- do you know this is me? I think a lot of people think the blonde that I have modeling all the time for me is Lex. But it’s actually my sister. She is living close by in San Francisco so she can’t model at my disposal anymore. I have to do it myself a little now. yikes!)
I love the edginess of it. To do it over, I wouldn’t have cut it so low. But it stretched FAR more than I thought it would, so keep that in mind if you try it.
I love the ease of oversized sweaters. They’re so versatile because you can wear them as loungewear or style them up a bit for an “I-don’t-care” kind of look.
And don’t forget my fall line of scarves is 25% off for a bit longer.
Tags: bondage, DIY, fall sweater, leather, sweater, tutorial, women's clothing
Posted in Original Designs, refashions, Uncategorized, women's clothing | 6 Comments »
Fall Line of Scarves for Sale
August 29, 2011 11:04 amI’m so thrilled to show you my new scarves for Fall and Winter! I’ve worked hard on creating the perfect colors and just the right fabric. If you follow me on facebook, you’ll notice them.
These scarves are all hand dyed with varying color tones. They are 85 inches long, made from cotton batiste with lots of body and texture. As you’ll see, you can wear them long or as an infinity scarf. The leather bound makes it easy to style different ways.
The first is this blush scarf with gold leather. It’s a perfect neutral color.
Next, is slate with silver leather.
For some more color, coral with silver leather.
And finally, a gradient dyed navy with brown leather.
To buy one, you can go to my “Shop” page and send me an email with your order.
This is the first debut and they’re not even out in stores yet. So for my readers, this week, they will be on sale for 25% off.
Hope you like them!
Tags: fall 2011, fashion, leather bound scarf, Lex Designs, Original Designs
Posted in Original Designs, other, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
Twisted Strap Maxi Dress
August 12, 2011 8:12 amBefore I could post the loungewear tutorials I new I had to get the maxi dress tutorial up. This time I used a couple videos. I hope they are easy to understand. First off, I apologize for doing the tutorial with black jersey. It’s a little hard to see all the details.
Ok, let’s begin. Before we start, simplify this in your head. You’re making a top. You’re making a skirt. You’re connecting them. That’s all. You can do this.
For the top I cut a triangle piece of fabric out. You want it to extend over your shoulder a couple inches and about an inch past your natrla waist. It will be large. That’s ok. Dont worry about that part yet. I put a pin at the top shoulder part so I don’t get confused with what point goes where.
You will need four of these. After I cut the four I put them up on my form so you could see what we’re going for.
The next step is to connect the top of the dress at the shoulders. Here’s what you’ll have.
Now for the twisted shoulder strap. All you need to do is twist each top at the shoulder strap until you like the way it looks.
(note: I wasn’t happy with the way mine looked. They looked really thin. So what I did was twist an extra piece of fabric around it to bulk it up. Just keep that in mind if you want it thicker.)
Now what we’ll need to do is sew the front, back and side seams. Make sure you take in to account how low you want the front and back to be.I made a video to help explain it easier.
After sewing them together here’s how I refined the armholes.
Now that the top is complete, we need to attach it to the skirt. Make a waistband that’s slightly larger than your waist. That way it will still be fitted but you can get it over your head. Then gather the bottom of your top so that it fits the length of the waistband. Sew it together.
Last step! Figure out how long you want your skirt. I make it the width of my waist band plus half. Gather it to the width of your waist band and attach.
Here’s the finished dress. I love the look of ease with this dress. It looks relaxed and flowy and still has great style.
I think the twisted straps add a nice, different detail.
That being said, let me point out it’s flaws- My stripes got all goofy and I ended up not being able to do anything about it since I ran out of fabric.
But that being said, I still love the dress and hope people don’t notice when I wear it 
I hope you guys have liked the tutorial and go make your own version!
In other news, I have a new line of leather bound scarves coming out soon! I have a sample sale going on of my Spring/Summer line. Out of these, I have the army/fushcia, navy stripe/silver, black/brown, grey/aqua and orange/silver left. Since they’re my samples they are over half off and on sale for only $30!
Email me at lex@madebylex.com if you want one.
If you head over to my facebook page you can see some of my new designs for the Fall/Winter line, too. I’d love to hear what you think.
Tags: DIY dress, jersey, knit, maxi dress tutorial, women's clothing
Posted in Original Designs, other, women's clothing | 19 Comments »
